LCA Report

www.pwc c.
com
Lif ife cyc cle as sses ssm men nt o of CF FGF F Co ont tinu uou us Fi ilam ment Gla ass s Fi ibre e Pro P ducts s
Feb bruary y 201 12
Report prepared p for GlassFi ibreEurope e Rue Belli iard 199, B-1 1040 Brussel ls
by PwC Sustainable S e business solutions 63 rue de e Villiers F-92208 8 Neuilly-sur r-Seine cedex x
GlassFibreEurope
Executive Summary
GlassFibreEurope, the European Glass Fibre Producers Association commissioned PwC to prepare the following report that presents the cradleto-gate life-cycle inventory and life-cycle impact assessment results of several continuous filament glass fiber products (direct and assembled rovings, wet and dry chopped strands). Data were collected from 13 plants based in the European Union. Companies who took part to the data collection include: Ahlstrom Glassfibre Oy, 3B the fiberglass company, Saint Gobain-Vetrotex Deutschland, Johns Manville Europe, Lanxess Deutschland, European Owens Corning Fiberglass, P+D Glasseiden GmbH, PPG Industries Fiber Glas bv. Continuous filament glass fiber products are mainly used in the reinforcement of thermosetting and thermoplastic resins. These composite materials are used in a wide variety of applications: the automotive and transport sectors, the electrical/electronics industry and the construction industry. Other markets for composite materials include pipes and tanks, agricultural equipment, industrial machinery, wind-turbine blades and the sports, leisure and marine sectors. The second most important end-use is the manufacture of yarns, which are used in markets similar to those of composites, although clearly for different applications. The study has been conducted according to the requirements of International Standards (ISO 14040 and ISO 14044). An external critical review was carried out by an independent LCA expert, PE International. Results show that most of the energy consumption, depletion of non renewable resources, increase of greenhouse gas emissions, acidification come from the glass melting stage. By contrast, downstream process stages, where CFGF products are adapted so as to correspond to the customer requirements (coating by chemicals, chopping, ) play a limited role on the LCA results. Consequently, the LCA results of the CFGF products studied are only 10-20% apart.
Distribution and use of this report This report has been prepared for and only for GlassFiberEurope in accordance with the agreement of 14th June 2011 and for no other purpose. We do not accept or assume any liability or duty of care for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come. We remind you that this study is only based on facts, circumstances and assumptions which have been submitted to us and which are specified in the report. Should these facts, circumstances or assumptions be different, our conclusions might be different. Moreover, the results of the study should be considered in the aggregate with regard to the assumptions made and not taken individually. For all matters of interpretation, the original paper copy of our report takes precedence over any other version.
2 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products
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Table of Contents
Section I - General introduction ............................................................................................................................ 5 1. Context of the assessment .................................................................................................................................... 5 2. Goal of the study ................................................................................................................................................... 5 3. Structure of this report ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Section II - Definition of the assessment scope ................................................................................................. 6
1. Methodology used ................................................................................................................................................ 6 2. Functional unit and products studied.................................................................................................................. 6 1.1. Functional unit ................................................................................................................................................ 6 1.2. 1.3. 1.4. Presentation of the studied system............................................................................................................ 6 Definition of the system boundaries ......................................................................................................... 6 Allocation methodology for the various products ..................................................................................... 8
3. Environmental impacts and flows studied .......................................................................................................... 9 1.5. 1.6. 1.7. Environmental flows and energy recovery indicators............................................................................... 9 Selected environmental impact indicators .............................................................................................. 10 List of excluded indicators ........................................................................................................................ 11
4. Data quality requirements .................................................................................................................................. 11 Section III - Data collection method and modelling ......................................................................................... 13
1. Data collection method ...................................................................................................................................... 13 1.1. Generic data used .......................................................................................................................................... 13 1.2. 1.3. Specific data collection ............................................................................................................................ 13 Data consolidation ................................................................................................................................... 13
2. Transportation of solid raw materials ............................................................................................................... 14 1.1. Transport model............................................................................................................................................ 14 1.2. 1.3. Source of generic data used ..................................................................................................................... 14 Transport steps taken into account in the study ..................................................................................... 14
3. Water treatment ................................................................................................................................................. 14 4. Waste management ............................................................................................................................................ 15 5. Electricity production......................................................................................................................................... 15 Section IV - Results ........................................................................................................................................... 17
1. Reading guide ..................................................................................................................................................... 17 2. Natural resources consumption ......................................................................................................................... 18 2.1Total primary energy..................................................................................................................................... 18
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2.2 Natural resources depletion ..........................................................................................................................20 2.3 Water consumption....................................................................................................................................... 21 3. Water eutrophication ......................................................................................................................................... 22 4. Air emissions ...................................................................................................................................................... 23 4.1Greenhouse gas emissions ............................................................................................................................ 23 4.2 Tropospheric ozone formation ..................................................................................................................... 25 4.3 Acidification .................................................................................................................................................. 26 5. Total eliminated waste ....................................................................................................................................... 27 Appendices............................................................................................................................................................... 28 1. Impact assessment results ................................................................................................................................. 28 2. Data sources for modelling ................................................................................................................................ 29 3. Methods for calculating environmental impacts ............................................................................................... 32 1.1. Non renewable resources depletion.............................................................................................................. 32 1.2. 1.3. 1.4. 1.5. Greenhouse effect .................................................................................................................................... 33 Acidification ............................................................................................................................................. 34 Formation of photochemical ozone in the troposphere .......................................................................... 34 Eutrophication of water ........................................................................................................................... 35
4. Questionnaire for data collection ....................................................................................................................... 36 5. Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................................40 6. Peer review report .............................................................................................................................................. 41
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Section I - General introduction

1.
Context of the assessment
GlassFibreEurope, the European Glass Fibre Producers Association, represents approximately 95% of the European production of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre. CFGF has been commercially manufactured and marketed for more than 60 years. During this time, it has become one of the world's most useful and beneficial man-made materials. Continuous filament glass fibre is produced and supplied in a variety of forms: roving, chopped strand, yarn, mat, fabric, tissue, etc. The main end-use of CFGF products is the reinforcement of thermosetting and thermoplastic resins. These composite materials are used in a wide variety of applications: the automotive and transport sectors, the electrical/electronics industry, the construction industry. Other markets for composite materials include pipes and tanks, agricultural equipment, industrial machinery, wind-turbine blades and the sports, leisure and marine sectors.
The second most important end-use is the manufacture of yarns, which are used in markets similar to those of composites, although clearly for different applications. Over the past decade, the improvement of the environmental performance of products across their life cycle has been a growing concern. In the construction sector, the development of green buildings has led to an increase in demand for information on the environmental impacts of building products in different EU countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany. Major companies are now heavily involved in product eco-design. As a growing number of Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) are being carried out for applications of continuous filament glass fibre, GlassFibreEurope launched a LCA study of the CFGF products, in particular the following four products: direct roving, assembled roving and chopped strands (dry and wet). 2.
Goal of the study
The study aims at obtaining robust LCA results at the European level for several CFGF products, in order to inform manufacturers and users of the environmental impacts of their production. In addition, GlassFibreEurope intends to publish the results on the European Commissions LCA database, ELCD. The study was divided into two main steps: Phase 1: Perform the life cycle assessment of the upstream part of the production. The LCA study was carried out by using data obtained during a site visit. The results allowed GlassFibreEurope to obtain a first overview of the environmental impact of CFGF products. Phase 2: Extension of the LCA study. In a second part, the LCA study has been extended to thirteen European sites, in order to obtain a more precise and representative image. This LCA also covers different types of products such as chopped strands and rovings.
3.
Structure of this report

Sections I and II present the goal and scope of the study; Section III presents the assumptions considered and the data collected; Section IV presents the results.
This report presents the methodology applied for the second phase of the project and is structured as follows:
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Section II - Definition of the assessment scope

1. Methodology used
The present report was produced in accordance with the methodological guidelines developed in ISO standards 14 040 (Environmental Management Life cycle assessment Principles and Framework) and ISO 14 044 (Environmental Management Life cycle assessment Requirements and guidelines). The General guide for Life Cycle Assessment published by the European Commissions Joint Research Centre (JRC) has also been taken into account, in order to comply with requirements for integrating environmental data into the ELCD database.
2. Functional unit and products studied 1.1. Functional unit

The environmental impacts are calculated for a same given service: the functional unit. The functional unit defines the quantified performance of a product system for use as a reference unit . In order to compare various production sites and take into account the manufacturing, the conditioning, and the distribution of the product, the chosen functional unit is: Producing 1 kg of CFGF product in Europe. The product can be referred to as dry chopped strands, wet chopped strands, direct rovings (single end rovings) and assembled rovings (multi end rovings).
1.2. Presentation of the studied system

The studied system corresponds to the industrial process of CFGF production. This process includes the extraction of resources necessary to produce the components (raw material, energy), the manufacture of the raw materials and the glass fibre product, and the delivery to the glass fibre production site. Therefore, the analysis is a Cradle-to-gate approach: it is an assessment of a product life cycle from the raw material extraction and manufacture ('cradle') to the factory exit gate (i.e. before it is transported to the customer). The use and disposal phases of the product are not covered. In this second phase, the perimeter of the project includes thirteen glass fibre production sites, each producing at least one of the four studied products. Table 2 in paragraph 4 provides more details on the breakdown of products per site.
1.3. Definition of the system boundaries

1.3.1. Cut-off rule Cut-off rules have been applied to include (or exclude) into the system boundaries the production or the transformation of a raw material, a component, a waste or a by-product: For a raw material or a component: The inclusion criterion proposed in the ISO 14040 and 14044 standards is the weight. All raw materials and consumable inputs are included so that at least 97% of total inputs are covered. This means that the sum of excluded inputs must account for less than 3% of the total mass of the systems inputs. For the life cycle of a waste or a by-product. The predominant treatment (landfilling) was taken into account. Incineration was not included, because exact composition of waste to be incinerated was unknown. For energy flows: whole energy consumption has been included in the calculation, even if the quantities were low.
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1.3.2. List of 1 f the life cycle e steps excluded from the e studied system A According to o the ISO 14 4 040 and 14 4 044 standa ards, certain n operation categories c can be excluded from th he s systems prov vided, if expli icitly stated. The studied system T s exclu udes the cons struction of the t buildings s of industria al sites as we ell as the man nufacturing of o m machines and d tools. This s general assu umption is ju ustified from m previous pr rojects where e constructio on of buildin ng s sites proved to be neglig gible compared to the en nvironmental l impacts dir rectly related d to the man nufacturing of o i industrial goo ods (e.g., raw w materials and a energy co onsumption) ). It is indeed considered that I t the env vironment of f each system m is stabilized, meaning g that the im mpacts on th he e environment t related to th he construct tion and the demolition of o the buildings and the equipment are a amortize ed o the whole on e utilization period. p For example, e refr fractory brick ks used for th he furnace a are amortized d over the lif fe s span of the fu urnace, whic ch can reach several deca ades. As a res sult, assumed primary en nergy consum mption due to t t productio the on of refractory bricks ha as been evalu uated as infe erior to 0.1% % of the overa all impacts of o the produc ct life cycle. In addition, bu ushings have e been exclud ded from the scope of th he studied sy ystem, altho ough their us se m represen may nt an increas se of about 10 0% of primar ry energy con nsumed and greenhouse gases emitte ed. Note: Enviro N onmental dat ta from the Ecoinvent E Da atabase (cf. Appendix A 2) have h been us sed for most of the generi ic d data sources. Ecoinvent data are rep presentative of raw mate erials produc ced in Europ pe. This data abase include es t construct the tion of buildi ings and inst tallations in the t calculatio on of environ nmental imp pacts. 1.3.3. System 1 ms boundarie es of the prod duction step T This LCA stu udy covers the e following glass g fibre products: Dry chopped d strands Wet chopped d strands (7 to t 14 % of hu umidity) Direct roving gs (dry produ ucts) Assembled rovings r (dry products) p
F Figure 1 Cho opped strands s (left) and rovings (right)
I excludes ot It ther types of f CFGF, e.g. yarns, y texturi ised fibres, technical fabr rics, etc. Production P n process. C Continuous F Filament Gla ass Fibres co ontain silica sand, limest tone, kaolin and a dolomite and are pr roduced usin ng t same bas the sic production n process. Sm mall amount ts of specialty y chemicals may m also be a added. R material Raw ls are blende ed and then melted m in a furnace fu at approx. 1500 C to form mo olten glass with w a uniform m c controlled vis scosity. T molten glass The g is then drawn throu ugh a multi-h hole heat res sistant precious tray call led a bushin ng, which ha as u to a few thousands up t of f precisely dr rilled openin ngs through which the gl lass flows to o form thin filaments. fi Th he f filament's dia ameter range e from 5 to 30 3 m. They y are treated by various chemical c and d physical pro ocesses calle ed "sizing", wh hich alter thei ir properties and make th hem suitable e for a wide ra ange of speci ific reinforce ement uses. T This sizing, for example e, helps to protect p the filament f dur ring weaving g or braiding g. It also de etermines th he a adherence of the glass fibre to dif fferent resin ns and there efore the qu uality and p properties of f the end-us se a application (e.g. if the en nd-use applic cation is ther rmoplastics, the sizing makes m it have an affinity for f polymers). T type of si The izing depend ds on the furt ther processi ing (pultrusion, winding, , moulding, w weaving, etc.). F Figure 2 sum ms up the main steps tak ken into acc count in the LCA study. This figure e explicitly describes whic ch p production l lines are co onsidered in n the scope e of the stu udy, as well l as the on nes excluded d. The CFG GF
7 P PwC LCA of o CFGF Co ontinuous Fila ament Glass Fibre F products
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manufacturing process is globally divided into upstream process (mostly blending of the raw materials and melting in the furnace) and downstream process (incl. sizing, forming, chopping, drying, packaging).
Production and transport of fuels Production and distribution of electricity Production of raw materials
Transport of raw materials
Batch house
Furnace
Sizing
Forming
Winding
Chopping
Binding
Off-line process (via production of cake)
Chopping
Waste transport
Drying
Drying
Drying
Drying
Drying
Waste management
Winding
Chopping Waste water management
Packaging
Packaging
Packaging
Packaging
Packaging
Packaging
Packaging
Packaging
Packaging
Texturised fibres
Yarns
Assembled rovings
Semi-dry chopped strands
Dry chopped strands (off line)
Wet chopped strands (off line)
Direct rovings
Dry chopped strands (on line)
Wet chopped strands (on line)
CFGF production site boundaries
LCA System boundaries
Figure 2 System boundaries of the data collection in CFGF production sites and LCA system boundaries
Notes: Depending on the sites; wastewater management can be performed fully on site, with possibly an additional treatment from municipal sewage treatment plants or is totally performed off site. In all cases, wastewater is treated before being released to the environment. Wastewater activities performed on site as well as off-site were included in the data collection. Transport of raw materials and transport of waste from the production site as well as type of waste treatment considered were also part of the data collection.
1.4. Allocation methodology for the various products

The industrial system studied often manufactures several products on a same site. However, only the consumption of resources and the emissions related to the functional unit have to be taken into account. 1.4.1. International standard recommendations ISO 14 040 and 14 044 standards recommend several solutions classified as follows: 1. Avoid allocations: By collecting data at a more precise level so that it may be possible to follow the steps specifically related to the product studied; By enlarging the system boundaries in order to include co-product production routes. When 1) is not possible, dispatch the flow between the various products by using an allocation rule, which reflects the relations between the flow and the various products When 2) is not possible, dispatch the flow between the various products by using an allocation rule based on economic or physical criteria (weight, energy, etc.)
2. 3.
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1.4.2. Allocations performed in the framework of the study Most sites produce several products for which some parameters cannot be differentiated or be specifically measured on an individual basis: energy consumption, water treatment, air emissions, waste etc. Thus, when product-specific data were not available, the mass allocation was used for all sites. This consists in allocating a part of the impacts in proportion to the respective mass of the co-products. Notes: in order to compare the results between the different products, all allocations have been calculated on a dry product basis. Mass allocation was preferred to allocation based on price, in agreement with the ISO 14040 preference order (see 1.4.1). If an allocation based on price had been chosen instead, results would not have been drastically different, as prices of CFGF products are within a price range of 20% (typically between 1 to 1.25 /kg).
In the following table, allocation methods are detailed at each stage of the process.
Tableau 1 Allocation rules
Process stage
Type of allocation
Allocation rule (conversion factor) weight of specific endproduct/total weight of melted glass, i.e., mass-based allocation weight of specific endproduct/total end-products weight weight of specific endproduct/total end-products weight weight of specific endproduct/total end-products weight (excl. wet chopped strands) weight of specific endproduct/total end-products weight weight of specific endproduct/total end-products weight
Furnace and batch house
Mass allocation
Forming fiberizing chopping
Mass allocation
Utilities
Mass allocation
Sizing Drying
Product-specific data collected Mass allocation
Packaging Water treatment
Product-specific data collected Mass allocation
Waste
Mass allocation
3. Environmental impacts and flows studied 1.5. Environmental flows and energy recovery indicators
All environmental flows (i.e.: water consumption, emissions of pollutants into the air, water and soil) have been assessed as part of this project. The results related to all environmental flows can be examined in the LCA inventories presented in the Appendix. The flows which have been more precisely identified as significant are the following:
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Natural resources: consumption of oil, coal, natural gas, uranium, and water Emissions into the air: CO2, CH4, N2O, NOx, SOx, hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds, photo-oxidant formation Emissions into water: nitrogen and phosphorus discharge, COD, BOD5, metals. Note: BOD5 is part of COD. Only COD is taken into account to calculate Eutrophication (see Table 15), Generation of non hazardous industrial waste.
Water consumption refers to the consumption of water used in the process. This corresponds to the gross quantity of the total water volume surface or underground that is not used for cooling. The generation of non-hazardous waste may correspond to incineration or landfill waste treatment. Indicators of potential impacts associated with these significant flows are analyzed more precisely in section 3.2 of this report. In addition to these basic environmental flows, the consumption of total primary energy1 is also calculated and presented in the following section.
1.6. Selected environmental impact indicators

From the resource consumption and environmental flows, the following impact indicators are calculated and analyzed: Indicator Environmental category AIR Calculation method IPCC2, 2007
Greenhouse gas emissions of fossil origin (direct, 100 years) Impacts on climate change over a 100-year time frame is assessed using the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent. It specifically takes into account the "fossil" emissions CO2, N2O (these emissions are derived, for example, from the combustion of fuel and from natural gas) and CH4 emissions (for example from the fermentation of dumped waste) but does not take into account CO2 "biomass" emissions, resulting for example from the combustion of waste in incinerators. The greenhouse effect is expressed in kg eq. CO2. Emissions contributing to acidification The acidification impact category represents an increase of acid compounds such as nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides in the atmosphere. The characterisation factor of a substance is calculated in gram equivalent SO2, which can be produced per mole. CML3 developed the characterisation method used by PwC.
AIR
CML-IA
Total primary energy can be divided into non renewable energy and renewable energy on the one hand; and combustible energy and material energy on the other. The following equation illustrates this definition: Total primary energy = non renewable energy + renewable energy = combustible energy + material energy Combustible energy corresponds to the part of primary energy used by the production procedures or transport. It is a quantity of energy that will not be possible to be recover later. Material energy corresponds to the part of primary energy contained in the material (when it can be used as fuel). It is a quantity of potentially reusable energy at the end-of-life period, if there are collection and recovery methods. 2 IPCC: International Panel on Climate Change. 3 CML: University of Leiden (The Netherlands).
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Tropospheric ozone formation Under certain climatic conditions, the atmospheric emissions from industries and transport can react in a complex way under the influence of solar rays and lead to the formation of photochemical smog. A succession of reactions implicating volatile organic compounds and NOx, lead to the formation of ozone, a super-oxidizing compound. The potential for the formation of photochemical oxidizers is expressed in g eq. ethylene. Water eutrophication Eutrophication is defined as the enrichment of waters in nutritive elements , as a consequence of human intervention. Oxygen depletion is the possible consequence of such enrichment. The characterisation method used by PwC is based on the method developed by the Centre of Environmental Science (CML), Leiden University. It is based on the capacity of a substance to contribute to algae profusion. This contribution is translated into oxygen depletion taking into account the quantity of oxygen consumed when algae decompose. Characterisation factors are given in gram equivalent phosphate.
AIR
CML-IA
WATER
CML-IA
Depletion of abiotic resources RESOURCES CML-IA This is the depletion of the environment in terms of its mineral and fossil resources. Living resources and their associated impacts such as the disappearance of species or the loss of biodiversity are excluded from this category. This indicator provides more information about the depletion of different subjects than on the impact caused by their extraction from the natural environment. The calculation is made in comparison with estimated remaining stocks and with the consumption rate of the current economy. This indicator is expressed in kg eq antimony (antimony is a chemical element, atomic number 51). As an example, 1 kg platinum ore corresponds to 1.29 kg eq antimony, and 1 kg of coal corresponds to 0.0134 kg eq antimony (source: CML). Characterisation factors from CML for acidification, tropospheric ozone creation and eutrophication are those available from the CML website in February 2012. Concerning depletion of abiotic resources, coefficients date back to 2005.
1.7. List of excluded indicators

The following indicators have not been selected for the environmental performance assessment of the CFGF products. 1.7.1. Human toxicity and aquatic toxicity (CML methods) The robustness of these LCA indicators is sometimes criticized. Indeed, assessment tests carried out on several toxicity indicators lead to differing results between the indicators. The explanation is the relatively important sensitivity that the indicators attach to the organic or mineral pollutants. Given the explanations above, these indicators have not been selected. 1.7.2. Biodiversity Currently, the consideration of biodiversity in LCA studies is not deemed robust enough. This indicator is usually not included in the existing studies in this field. Therefore, this indicator has not been selected.
4. Data quality requirements

The purpose of the study is to analyze the life cycle of CFGF products. In accordance with the ISO 14 040 and 14 044 standards, the requirements related to data quality cover the following criteria: temporal factor: the data used need to reflect the current situation. Year 2010 has been selected for the project-specific data collection on the CFGF process. Note: background data (e.g.,
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raw material and energy production, transport) come from bibliographic data and are usually 5-10 years old. geography: the data need to be representative of the cradle-to-gate process outlined in paragraph 1.2. The production sites we have selected appropriately reflect this process for European CFGF production. GlassFibreEurope members that took part to the data collection represent 95% of the CFGF production in Europe. technology: the data have to reflect the current average technology. Most of the CFGF production sites in Europe were included in the study.
These factors are observed in the following way: The data related to the production of the other raw materials are taken from publicly-available data frequently used in similar LCA projects; these datasets are representative of the European situation or, if this level is not available, of country- or site-specific levels. The electricity production has been computed by using country-specific electricity models.
Table 2 - Coverage per product
Dry chopped strands Number of sites 9
Wet chopped strands 7
Direct rovings 8
Assembled rovings 6
For each product, data were collected from at least six independent companies.
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Section III - Data collection method and modelling

This section presents the sources of data specifically related to the studied CFGF products and the assumptions considered for calculations of life cycle inventories. References used in this report are listed in Appendix 2. The TEAM software has been used to model systems and calculate life cycle inventories and environmental impacts. TEAM is PwCs life cycle assessment tool for products..
1. Data collection method

Two different types of data have been used to model the production of CFGF products.
1.1. Generic data used

Generic data have been used to model: the extraction and manufacturing of raw materials for glass production, chemicals for sizing, and water treatment and packaging materials; transportation of raw materials and waste (see paragraph 2); waste treatment (landfill)
Generic data are mainly derived from the Ecoinvent and TEAMTM databases (DEAM).
1.2. Specific data collection

Site-specific data have been collected by using individual questionnaires, in order to characterize the production processes and their related physical flows: raw materials consumption; energy consumption (electricity, natural gas, fuel, etc); water consumption; water pollutant emissions; air pollutant emissions; waste generation and their end-of-life; water discharged; annual molten glass production; annual CFGF production (total site and product-specific). Concerning chemical products for sizing, a great variety of products can be consumed by sites. Considering the limited quantity of these chemicals used as compared to the quantity of glass produced (1.3% on average) were classified into 5 categories (silanes, film-formers, lubricants, surfactants, pH modifiers). Sites were requested to detail how much of each category was used per CFGF product studied. During the final LCA calculations, one LCI model was considered per product category for manufacturing (see appendix 2). Data consistency checks were systematically implemented; sites were re-contacted whenever inconsistencies or outliers were detected. These checks included: data completeness, mass balance (consumption of raw materials vs glass production), consistency of values between sites and with bibliographical reference values. Finally, a general rule was applied for missing data: when site-specific data were not available from one or several sites, data from the sites where information was available were used to derive a weighted average. This average value was then applied to the sites where no data were available. This procedure was used for some water rejects and air emissions from sizing. Eventually, no outlier remained in the datasets collected for the project.
1.3. Data consolidation

All data have been analyzed separately, in order to allocate physical flows to the studied products at the site level. This calculation method can be described as a vertical averaging approach:
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i. ii. iii.
Results from each questionnaire were used to obtain product-specific datasets. Life cycle inventories (LCIs) have been calculated for each site and for each studied product, so that the calculations resulted in one inventory per product and per site. The European average has then been calculated from all LCIs referring to the same product, with a weighting for each contributing site corresponding to the annual production volume of the considered product.
2. Transportation of solid raw materials 1.1. Transport model

The model used to calculate the fuel consumption for each transport step considers that the load transported by trucks affects the fuel consumption of those trucks. We consider that a part of the real consumption is constant and that the other part depends on the transported load. The model used to estimate the fuel consumption of a truck depending on its load, while taking into account an empty return factor is the following:
Cc * km * (1/3*Cr/Cu + 2/3*(1+R)) * Q/Cr

With: Cc = Truck fuel consumption in litre per km km = transport distance of the load in km Cr = real load in the truck, including the packaging weight Cu = the maximum load of the truck (for instance 24 t) R = empty return ratio Q = quantity of transported material
When information about the empty return ratio was missing, a default value of 30% has been chosen, as a conservative default value. Note: given the very small contribution of transport to total results, this assumption has a very limited impact on the results. Furthermore, when the transport distance was not provided in the questionnaires, an estimation has been performed.
1.2. Source of generic data used

The data used for the modelling of the fuel combustion in a truck engine come from data used in Laboratorium fr Energiesysteme, ETH (Eidgenssische Technische Hochschule) Zurich, (1996). The data used for the modelling of the fuel combustion in a ship engine come from data used in the data base Swiss Federal Office of Environment, Forests and Landscape (FOEFL or BUWAL), 1991. Although these background data sources could be discussed, they can be accepted considering that raw materials transport is only contributing for 2% of total primary energy consumed.
1.3. Transport steps taken into account in the study

The two transport steps taken into account in the study are the raw material transport to the CFGF production site and the transport of waste from the site to the treatment plant.
3. Water treatment
In addition to waste water treatment, some sites are equipped with industrial water treatment plants used to filter the water used for sizing, cooling or other process stages. Not all sites have data available to track the pollutants emitted into the water. When data were unavailable, the general rule explained in paragraph 1.2 was used. However, two types of water treatment configurations have been identified among the production sites. Some sites operate a treatment plant within their installations and discharge the water into the environment afterwards. These sites have water pollutant data available.
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Most sites discharge their water into municipal treatment plants, possibly after on-site treatment. For these sites, water releases to the environment were often not available. In the case of lack of data, a typical abatement rate was applied based on the type of water treatment plant. When site-specific abatement rates were available, they were applied. When no information was provided concerning the water treatment plant, it was considered by default as a physico-chemical water treatment plant, which is a worst case assumption.
Table 3 Typical waste water treatment abatement rates in municipal plants
Type of water treatment plant
Suspended matter
Biological chemical demand 5 days (BOD5) 40%
Chemical oxygen demand (COD) 40%
NTK (total org. nitrogen)
Phosphorous
Physicochemical (default) Biological
80%
10%
80%
90%
90%
80%
15%
0%
4. Waste management
In all cases, waste transport from the site to the end-of-life treatment plant has been included, taking into account the road transport from the site to the treatment or elimination plant. Most of the waste produced by manufacturing sites is landfilled, the rest is incinerated or recycled. Impacts of landfilling have been taken into account. Impacts of waste incineration have not been included in the analysis because the nature of the waste was not well defined. Waste glass from the CFGF manufacturing process is recycled in a very few cases. In that case, glass is recycling on site and the net production of glass waste to be recycled has been accounted as recovered matter. This net quantity of recovered matter is calculated as the difference between the generation of recyclable glass waste and the quantity of recycled glass actually recycled in the furnace during the same year. This approach is known as a stock method. No other source of glass recycling exists in the studied system.
5. Electricity production
In phase 2 of the project, country-specific electricity mixes have been considered for the electricity consumed on site. A European average model has been used when associated with generic data. Data used for the electricity mixes and the loss due to transportation come from 2005 and 2010 representatives statistics established by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Data used for the modelling of each power sector, except nuclear power sector, comes from Zurich Polytechnique School: koinventare von Energiesystemen Teil 2 , Laboratorium fr Energiesysteme, ETH (Eidgenssische Technische Hochschule) Zurich, 1996. Data about the nuclear power sector has been modelled after a study carried out by PwC-Ecobilan for EDF and AREVA in 1998.
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Table 4 Country specific electricity mixes
Country
Coal
Lignite
Fuel oil
Natural gas
Nuclear
Nonthermal
4
Process gas
Other sources (burdenfree)5 5.22 0.83
Belgium* Czech Republic Finland France* Germany* Italy Netherlands Norway Slovakia European average*
6.54 7.00
0 51.90
0.48 0.42
29.02 4.54
53.65 31.20
3.11 3.08
1.99 1.04
19.23 4.08 19.75 13.50 23.31 0.04 10.92 16.34
7.61 0 24.38 0 0 0 7.65 10.24
0.71 1 1.44 9.86 2.80 0.01 2.42 3.2
14.86 3.8 13.76 54.12 60.53 0.33 7.91 23.32
26.46 76.48 23.31 0 3.77 0 55.56 27.79
18.07 12.96 10.61 16.60 2.18 99.18 13.73 14.24
0.62 0.67 1.49 1.73 2.72 0.05 1.37 1.04
12.47 1 5.27 4.19 4.66 0.45 0 3.66
4 Hydroelectricity, wind and other electricity power sectors except geothermal, solar, biomass and waste. 5 Other sources: geothermal, solar, biomass and animal products, industrial waste, municipal waste, non-specified assumed being free of environmental
impacts. * Source: IEA 2010; statistics for other countries from IEA 2005.
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Section IV 1. Reading guide
Results
The following section provides the reader with a description of the production stages and specific information regarding the scope. Graphic results are presented for each indicator. Five key steps are identified for a CFGF product over its cradle to gate life production cycle. For the sake of readability, charts and graphs use shortened labels to present the following steps: Total: complete cradle-to-gate impact Glass production: Upstream production of melted glass (production and consumption of energy, water consumption, raw materials extraction, including the production and transport of raw material components for glass formulation). Sizing: production and consumption of energy, production and transport of raw materials. Downstream process (excl. sizing): forming, chopping, drying, packaging and utilities: Production of CFGF end-product (production and consumption of used energies, water consumption, raw materials). Waste and wastewater treatment plants: Transport of solid waste to treatment plant and landfilling, production and consumption of energy used for water treatment (for both water usage and water release), water consumption, waste and wastewater generation, production and transport of processing chemicals used during the water treatment.
The following sections present the environmental impacts of producing 1 kilogram of CFGF product available at the factory gate.
The error bars on the graphs represent the minimum and maximum values observed on the products from all the different sites where data were collected.
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2. Natural resources consumption 2.1 Total primary energy

Total primary energy (MJ)
45.00 40.00 35.00 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00 Total Glass production
Dry chopped strands
3.8 3.1 2.6 4.5 8.0 5.9 9.0 17.7 18.2 29.0 30.5 27.4 27.3
16.6 16.7
7.2
0.2 0.2 0.1 0.3
Sizing
Downstream process
Direct rovings Assembled rovings
Water and waste treatment
Wet chopped strands
Figure 3 Total primary energy consumption (MJ)
Although primary energy is mostly consumed at the furnace stage (61 %), a significant part (26 %) of energy is consumed during the downstream process, mainly for drying and by utilities like recycling lines. On average, 28.5 MJ of primary energy is consumed to produce one kilogram of CFGF product, of which 61% is due to the glass melting process (extraction and transport of raw materials, furnace). Note: When on-site energy consumption was not available according to the breakdown of the process stages (this happened for 1 site out of 13), all energy consumption was allocated to the glass production. This explains why the minimum values for the sizing and downstream processes can be close to zero. Figure 3 shows the difference between wet and dry chopped strands, partly due to the higher amount of energy required for drying. Wet chopped strands have a primary energy consumption 10 % lower than dry chopped strands. When looking further at the contributors within the melted glass production stage, process energy consumption represents 69 % of primary energy consumed at the furnace stage, and 42 % of total primary energy demand (see Figure 4). On average, 12 MJ of primary energy (including fossil fuel production, combustion and electricity consumption) is consumed in the furnace. This mean value is in the mid-range given by the BREF on the glass manufacturing industry (2009) of 7 18 MJ. Note: as explained in 1.3; the calculations performed do not include production of the bushings, a capital equipment made of precious metals. Including this consumption would increase the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by about 10%.
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Total primary energy (MJ)

20.00 18.00 16.00 14.00 12.00 10.00 8.00
6.5 8.9 9.5 8.3 9.0 17.7 18.2 16.6 16.7
6.00 4.00 2.00

0.5 0.4 0.3 0.4
4.9
4.5 3.7 1.8 3.7 3.3 3.5
0.00 Total glass production Raw materials transport

Dry chopped strands
Raw materials production

Direct rovings
Process electricity
Assembled rovings
Fossil fuel consumption (process)
Wet chopped strands
Figure 4 Total primary energy consumption breakdown for glass production
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2.2 Natural resources depletion

Abiotic resources depletion (kg eq.Sb)
18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Total Glass production
Dry chopped strands
1.45 1.18 0.96 1.76 2.20 1.67 1.71 0.10 0.06 0.02 0.12 11.74 10.91 9.99 8.65 7.15 7.08 5.95 6.98
2.87
Sizing
Downstream process
Wet chopped strands
Figure 5 Abiotic resources depletion (kg eq. Sb)
Abiotic resources depletion is mainly due to fossil fuel consumption at the furnace stage. The breakdown into stages is similar to the primary energy breakdown. Fossil fuels explain almost 100% of the impact; mineral resources play a very limited role for CFGF products due to the large availability of minerals consumed. In particular, borax is contributing for less than 0.1 % of abiotic resources depletion.
Table 5 Relative contributions to abiotic resources depletion
Flow
Dry chopped strands 69 % 11 % 14 % 6%
Wet chopped strands 64 % 11 % 12 % 13 %
Direct rovings 71 % 9% 13% 7%
Assembled rovings 65 % 11 % 12 % 12 %
Natural gas Oil Coal Lignite
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2.3 Water consumption

Water consumption (litre)
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Total Glass production
Dry chopped strands
18.7 17.4 19.3 19.6 9.2 8.0 7.4 7.4 1.6 1.5 0.9 2.5 Sizing 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.3 Downstream process
7.2 7.1
10.0
8.4
Wet chopped strands
Figure 6 Water consumption (litre)
On average, producing one kilogram of CFGF product consumes 19 litres of water. On-site water consumption has been allocated to the industrial water treatment plant. It is mainly sourced from river and well. Some sites can consume five times more water than others per kg of glass fiber produced, which reflects a high dispersion of the water management practices among the sites.
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3. Water eutrophication
Water eutrophication (mg eq. PO4)
800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 26 21 0 Total Glass production
Dry chopped strands
397 295 213 212 119 19 19 36 33 20 Sizing 56 6 11 13 27 Water and waste treatment
278 263 187
Downstream process
Wet chopped strands
Figure 7 Water eutrophication (mg eq. PO4)
The main part of water eutrophication is due to nitrogenous matter released and COD (chemical oxygen demand) measured. Impacts are measured at the waste-water treatment stage; however, they are actually mainly due to chemicals released during the sizing process.
Table 6 Relative contributions to water eutrophication
Flow
Dry chopped strands 39 % 16 % 14 %
Wet chopped strands 57 % 9% 10 %
Direct rovings 39 % 8% 10 %
Assembled rovings 52 % 8% 11 %
Nitrogenous matter COD Phosphates
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4. Air emissions 4.1 Greenhouse gas emissions

Climate change (kg eq. CO2)
3
2.5
1.90 1.63
1.99
1.5
1.34
1.38 1.25 1.01
1.37
0.5
0.20 0.16 0.13 0.23
0.30
0.37 0.22 0.19 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.01
0 Total Glass production

Dry chopped strands
Sizing
Downstream process
Wet chopped strands
Figure 8 Greenhouse gas emissions (kg eq. CO2)
On average, the impact of CFGF production on climate change is 1.7 kg eq. CO2. 69% of greenhouse gas emissions are released during the glass melting process. The emissions are mainly due to the combustion of natural gas and other fossil fuels and to the electricity consumption. Note: when on-site greenhouse gas emissions data were not available according to the process stages breakdown, all emissions were allocated to the glass production stage. This explains why the minimum values for sizing and downstream process may be close to zero. The breakdown of the contributors at glass production stage reflects (Figure 9) the predominant contribution of process emissions (energy consumption from fossil fuels and decarbonation of raw materials) to climate change (66 %) within this stage and 50 % of total greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, 23 % of greenhouse gas emissions are due to the production of raw materials, which is quite significant.
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Climate change (kg eq. CO2)

1.60 1.40 1.20
1.01 1.38 1.25 1.37
1.00 0.80
0.67 0.75 0.61 0.46 0.44 0.63 0.48 0.38 0.22
0.60 0.40 0.20

0.04 0.03 0.03 0.03
0.07
0.13
0.07
0.00 Total glass production Raw materials transport

Dry chopped strands
Raw materials production
Process electricity
Fossil fuel consumption (process)
Wet chopped strands
Direct rovings
Assembled rovings
Figure 9 Breakdown of the contributions to climate change at glass production
The average direct greenhouse gas emissions (515 kg eq CO2/ton of melted glass) due to the melted glass production at the furnace stage is close to the average value calculated for the EU-ETS benchmark of 540 kg eq CO2/ton of melted glass, and the benchmark value is 406 kg eq CO2/ton of melted glass.
Tableau 7 Relative contributions to climate change
Flow
Dry chopped strands 94 % 5.2 % 0.41 %
Wet chopped strands 94 % 5.8 % 0.40 %
Direct rovings 94 % 5.9 % 0.47 %
Assembled rovings 94 % 5.2 % 0.42%
CO2 CH4 N2O
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4.2 Tropospheric ozone formation

Tropospheric ozone formation (g eq.ethylene)
1.4
1.2
0.8
0.6
0.37 0.40 0.25 0.16 0.07 0.08 0.19 0.10 0.10 0.06 0.05 0.09 0.05 0.15 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01
0.4
0.35 0.23
0.2

Dry chopped strands
Sizing
Downstream process
Wet chopped strands
Figure 10 Tropospheric ozone formation (g eq. ethylene)
Contributions to tropospheric ozone formation are mainly due to carbon monoxide and ethylene combustion emissions released at the glass production stage. Ethanol emissions, which represent up to 25% of the impact, are released at the sizing stage. Larger variations among sites can be observed compared to other indicators.
Table 8 Relative contributions to tropospheric ozone formation
Flow
Dry chopped strands 12 % 14 % 57 % 6.4 %
Wet chopped strands 43 % 19 % 17 % 6.5 %
Direct rovings 29 % 16 % 27 % 8.3 %
Assembled rovings 29 % 16 % 27 % 8.3 %
Carbon monoxide Ethylene Ethanol Methane
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4.3 Acidification
Acidification (g eq. SO2)
12
10
5.99 4.72
5.76 4.52 4.49 3.54 3.51 3.87
2
0.49 0.41 0.32 0.63 0.95 0.74 0.66
1.20 0.06 0.04 0.03 0.06

Dry chopped strands
Sizing
Downstream process
Wet chopped strands
Figure 11 Acidification (g eq. SO2)
Acidification is mainly due to SOx combustion emissions occurring at the furnace stage.
Tableau 9 Relative contributions to acidification
Flow
Dry chopped strands 71 % 29 %
Wet chopped strands 58 % 42 %
Direct rovings 64 % 35 %
Assembled rovings 64 % 35 %
Sulphur oxides Nitrogen oxides
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5. Total eliminated waste

Total eliminated waste (kg)
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.24 0.21 0.22 0.23 0.19 0.19 0.22 0.19
0.2
0.1
0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02
0 Total -0.1
Glass production
Sizing
Downstream process
Dry chopped strands
Wet chopped strands
Direct rovings
Assembled rovings
Figure 12 Total eliminated waste (kg)
Eliminated waste, mainly derived from the glass discarded at the forming stage, is mostly disposed of in landfills. Some of the waste glass is also marginally recycled on site ; the corresponding quantities were taken into account in the calculations to reduce the quantity of waste produced. Inert waste is related to upstream raw materials production and incinerated waste is mainly glass and sludge from water treatment plants.
Tableau 10 Eliminated waste categories
Flow
Dry chopped strands 70 %
Wet chopped strands 47 %
Direct rovings 61 %
Assembled rovings 40 %
Non-hazardous waste to landfill Inert to landfill Non-hazardous waste to incineration Hazardous waste
8.2 % 19 %
7.2 % 42 %
6.2 % 25 %
10 % 45 %
0.7 %
1.4 %
1.2%
2.5 %
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Appendices
1. Impact assessment results
Indicator Total primary energy (MJ) Dry chopped strand Wet chopped strand Direct roving Assembled roving Dry chopped strand Wet chopped strand Direct roving Assembled roving Dry chopped strand Wet chopped strand Direct roving Assembled roving Dry chopped strand Wet chopped strand Direct roving Assembled roving Dry chopped strand Wet chopped strand Direct roving Assembled roving Dry chopped strand Wet chopped strand Direct roving Assembled roving Dry chopped strand Wet chopped strand Direct roving Assembled roving Dry chopped strand Wet chopped strand Direct roving Assembled roving Total 29.0 27.4 27.3 30.5 10.9 10.0 8.6 11.7 18.7 17.4 19.3 19.6 187.3 277.5 263.0 397.1 1.90 1.63 1.34 1.99 0.37 0.35 0.23 0.40 5.99 4.72 4.52 5.76 0.21 0.22 0.24 0.23 Total Min 19.0 24.0 10.5 21.0 7.9 8.0 2.2 8.7 11.9 12.3 5.4 13.6 109.3 116.3 92.5 301.8 1.35 1.28 0.80 1.70 0.14 0.12 0.08 0.16 3.98 3.55 1.64 4.51 0.05 0.15 0.10 0.18 Total Max 40.6 34.3 41.3 40.5 17.1 14.7 17.1 16.8 31.8 79.5 76.5 79.0 341.5 711.1 602.1 794.3 2.59 2.34 2.72 2.39 1.18 1.10 0.89 1.21 10.40 9.73 10.39 9.60 0.47 0.26 0.47 0.49 Glass production 17.7 18.2 16.6 16.7 7.2 7.1 5.9 7.0 9.2 8.0 7.4 7.4 26.3 20.5 19.0 19.3 1.38 1.25 1.01 1.37 0.07 0.16 0.08 0.19 4.49 3.54 3.51 3.87 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Sizing Downstream Waste and process water treatment 3.8 7.2 0.2 3.1 2.6 4.5 1.5 1.2 1.0 1.8 1.6 1.5 0.9 2.5 35.8 33.0 19.6 56.1 0.20 0.16 0.13 0.23 0.25 0.10 0.10 0.06 0.49 0.41 0.32 0.63 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 5.9 8.0 9.0 2.2 1.7 1.7 2.9 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.3 6.3 11.1 12.5 26.8 0.30 0.22 0.19 0.37 0.05 0.09 0.05 0.15 0.95 0.74 0.66 1.20 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 7.2 7.1 10.0 8.4 118.9 212.9 211.8 294.9 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.06 0.04 0.03 0.06 0.19 0.19 0.22 0.19
Natural resources depletion (g eq Sb)
Water consumption (litre)
Water eutrophication (mg eq PO4)
Climate change (kg eq CO2)
Tropospheric ozone formation (g eq ethylene)
Acidification (g eq SO2)
Total eliminated waste (kg)
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2. Data sources for modelling

Data source Raw materials glass production Kaolin Sand Limestone Quick lime Colemanite Fluorspar Ecoinvent 2.0 Kaolin, at plant (RER) Ecoinvent 2.0 silica sand, at plant (DE) Ecoinvent 2.0 limestone, milled, loose, at plant (CH) TEAM modelling from limestone Ecoinvent data (limestone, crushed, for mill (CH, 2000-2002) and limestone calcination. Ecoinvent 2.0 calcium borates, at plant (TR) Air emissions: EPA AP-42. Electricity and Overburden Requirements: "Production Cost Surveys", produced by the International Fertilizer Development Center, Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Data is based on a weighted average for 13 US mines. 1994 Fuel Use: TRW (1980) DeLuchi (1993) page K-8 Ecoinvent 2.0 Borax, anhydrous, powder, at plant (RER) Ecoinvent 2.0 sodium sulphate, powder, production mix, at plant (RER) Sodium carbonate from ammonium chloride production, at plant (GLO, 2000-2006) EcoInvent TEAM modelling from limestone Ecoinvent data (limestone, crushed, for mill (CH, 2000-2002), chemical stoechiometry of quick lime hydratation TEAM modelling from dolomite Ecoinvent data (dolomite, at plant (RER, 2000) and dolomite calcinations stoechiometry TEAM modelling from: - nitric acid : Ecoinvent data for (nitric acid, 50% in H2O, at plant (RER, 1990-2001)) - sodium hydroxide: Eco-profiles of the European plastics industry (APME) Polyvinyl Chloride I.Boustead Brussels, September 2002, pages: 50 to 55 Gypsum, mineral, at mine (CH) EcoInvent Ecoinvent 2.0 Natural gas, at long-distance pipeline Ecoinvent 2.0 Propane/butane, at refinery (RER) Ecoinvent 2.0 2000 2000 1990 2000 1998 2000 2000 2000 1994 Year
Penta borax Sodium sulphate Sodium carbonate Lime hydrate Dolomite Sodium nitrate
2000 2000
Gypsum Fuels and oxidizer Natural gas Propane Light fuel oil
1997 2000 1980 1989
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Data source Light fuel oil, at regional storage (RER) Oxygen Raw materials sizing Silane Filmformer Ecoinvent 2.0 tetrachlorosilane, at plant (GLO) TEAM modelling from: - 33% polyurethane, flexible foam, at plant (RER, 1997) Ecoinvent 2.0 data - 33% maleic anhydride grafted PP : 10% maleic anhydride (maleic anhydride, at plant, Ecoinvent RER, 1997-2000) and 90% polypropylene (PlasticsEurope, Brussels, March 2005) - 33% bisphenol A epoxyresin: 10% bisphenol A powder, at plant (Ecoinvent RER, 2000) and 90% epoxy resin, liquid (PlasticsEurope, Brussels, March 2005) Ecoinvent 2.0 lubricating oil, at plant (RER, 2000) Ecoinvent 2.0 alkylbenzene sulfonate, linear, petrochemical, at plant (RER, 1992-1995) TEAM modelling from acetic acid, 98% in H2O, at plant (Ecoinvent 2.0 RER, 1997-2000) and dilution to 80% acetic acid in H2O PlasticsEurope, Brussels, March 2005 PlasticsEurope, Brussels, March 2005 production of timber of maritime pine after sawing study "LCA of pallet" for ADEME, performed by Ecobilan Corrugated CardBoard, FEFCO 35 % of iron sulphate in H2O (Ecovinent 2.0 (RER)) DEAM Eco-profiles of the European plastics industry (APME) Polyvinyl Chloride I.Boustead Brussels, September 2002, pages: 50 to 55 Ecoinvent 2.0 sodium hypochlorite, 15% in H2O, at plant (RER) Ecoinvent 2.0 bentonite, at processing (DE) Ecoinvent 2.0 iron (III) chloride, 40% in H2O, at plant (CH) Swiss Federal Office of Environment, Forests and Landscape (FOEFL or BUWAL) Ecoinvent 2.0 Oxygen, liquid, at plant (RER)
Year 1997
2000 1997
Lubricant Surfactant PH-modifier
2000
1997
Raw materials packaging Plastic (PET) Big bags (PP) Wood Cardboard Flocculant Sodium hydroxide 2005 2005 1997 2009 1993 2002
Raw materials water treatment
Sodium hypochlorite Bentonite Iron chloride Transport Sea transport
1997 1997 1995
1991
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Data source Environmental Series No. 32 Bern, February 1991. pages A16, A8 (precombustion) Road transport In accordance with the AFNOR Fascicule FD P 01-015, 2005 Diesel combustion in a truck engine: Laboratorium fur Energiesysteme ETH, Zurich, 1996 Anhang B: Strassengutertransport Page 22.
Year
1996
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3. Methods for calculating environmental impacts 1.1. Non renewable resources depletion
This indicator reflects the depletion of mineral and fossil resources in the environment. The living resources and their corresponding impacts such as the species extinction or the loss of biodiversity are excluded. This indicator provides more information on the depletion of different materials than on the impacts induced by their extraction from the natural environment. The computation is performed by comparing the remaining stock of resources and the consumption rate of the current economy. The unit used for this indicator is kg eq antimony (antimony is a chemical compound with the atomic number 51). For example, 1 kg of platinum ore corresponds to 1.29 kg eq antimony, and 1 kg of coal corresponds to 0.0134 kg eq antimony (source : CML).
Table 11 Non renewable resources scarcity equivalence coefficients (source: CML, University of Leiden) Elementary flow (r) Antimony (Sb, ore) (r) Barium Sulphate (BaSO4, in ground) (r) Bauxite (Al2O3, ore) (r) Borax (B4Na2O7, ore) (r) Cadmium (Cd, ore) (r) Calcium Sulphate (CaSO4, ore) (r) Cerium (Ce, ore) (r) Chromium (Cr, ore) (r) Coal (in ground) (r) Cobalt (Co, ore) (r) Copper (Cu, ore) (r) Europium (Eu, ore) (r) Fluorspar (CaF2, ore) (r) Gadolinium (Gd, ore) (r) Gold (Au, ore) (r) Iron (Fe, ore) (r) Lead (Pb, ore) (r) Lignite (in ground) (r) Magnesium (Mg, ore) (r) Manganese (Mn, ore) (r) Mercury (Hg, ore) (r) Molybdenum (Mo, ore) (r) Natural Gas (in ground) (r) Nickel (Ni, ore) (r) Oil (in ground) (r) Palladium (Pd, ore) (r) Phosphate Rock (in ground) (r) Platinium (Pt, ore) (r) Rhenium (Re, ore) (r) Rhodium (Rh, ore) (r) Silver (Ag, ore) (r) Sulphur (S, in ground) (r) Tin (Sn, ore) (r) Titanium (Ti, ore) (r) Uranium (U, ore) (r) Zinc (Zn, ore) (r) Zirconium (Zr, ore) kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg Conversion factor 1 1.06E-10 2.10E-09 1.00E-03 0.33 7.08E-10 5.32E-09 0.000858 0.0134 2.62E-05 0.00194 1.33E-05 2.96E-06 6.57E-07 89.5 8.43E-08 0.0135 0.00671 3.73E-09 1.38E-05 0.495 0.0317 0.0187 0.000108 0.0201 0.323 8.44E-05 1.29 0.766 32.3 1.84 0.000358 0.033 4.40E-08 0.00287 0.000992 1.86E-05
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1.2. Greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect is the increase in the average temperature of the atmosphere caused by the increase in the average atmospheric concentration of various substances of anthropic6 origin (CO2, methane, CFC,...). The unit used to evaluate the potential impact on the greenhouse effect of a substance is the GWP (Global Warming Potential), expressed in mass CO2 equivalent. The GWP of a substance is the potential greenhouse effect of the instantaneous emission of one gram or one kilogram of the substance in relation to CO2 (source IPCC, 1995). CO2 emissions of biological origin (biomass CO2) are not counted as greenhouse effect gases of anthropic origin, in conformance with international agreements fixed by the inter-governmental panel on climate change (IPCC). The coefficients used to calculate this potential impact on the environment are shown below.
Table 12 : Greenhouse effect equivalence coefficients (source: IPCC 2007) Elementary flow (a) Carbon Dioxide (CO2, fossil) (a) Carbon Tetrachloride (CCl4) (a) Carbon Tetrafluoride (CF4) (a) CFC 11 (CFCl3) (a) CFC 113 (CF2ClCFCl2) (a) CFC 114 (CF2ClCF2Cl) (a) CFC 12 (CCl2F2) (a) Chloroform (CHCl3, HC-20) (a) Halon 1211 (CF2ClBr) (a) Halon 1301 (CF3Br) (a) HCFC 21 (CHCl2F) (a) HCFC 22 (CHF2Cl) (a) HFC 134a (CF3CH2F) (a) HFC 152a (CHF2CH3) (a) HFC 23 (CHF3) (a) Methane (CH4) (a) Methyl Chloride (CH3Cl) (a) Methylene Chloride (CH2Cl2, HC-130) (a) Nitrous Oxide (N2O) (a) Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g Conversion factor 1 1400 7390 4750 6130 10000 10900 5 1890 7140 210 1810 1430 124 14800 25 13 8.7 298 22800
Anthropic: characterizes phenomena caused or maintained by man, either intentionally or not.
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1.3. Acidification
This relates to the increase in the quantity of acidic substances in the low atmosphere, which is a cause of acid rain and the decline of certain forests. The unit used to evaluate the contribution of a substance to acidification is the SO2 equivalent (source CML-IA). Since the impacts of acidification are measured on a regional level, a products global acidification impact should be calculated by considering the spatial distribution of gas emissions contributing to this effect.
Table 13 : Acidification equivalence coefficients (source: CML, University of Leiden, The Netherlands) Elementary flow (a) Ammonia (NH3) (a) Nitrogen Oxides (NOx as NO2) (a) Sulphur Oxides (SOx as SO2) g g g Conversion factor 1.6 0.5 1.2
The two main types of compounds involved in acidification are Sulphur and Nitrogen. The Acidification Potential of the compound is based on the number of H+ ions that may potentially be released. Note: More H+ is released from SO2 for the same quantity of pollutant. As a consequence, the coefficient for SO2 is larger than the coefficient for NO2.
1.4. Formation of photochemical ozone in the troposphere

Under certain climatic conditions, the atmospheric emissions of industry and transport can react with the solar photons and produce photochemical smog. A succession of reactions involving volatile organic compounds and NOx leads to the formation of ozone, a super oxidizing compound.
Table 14 : Formation of photochemical ozone equivalence coefficients (source: CML, University of Leiden, The Netherlands) Elementary flow (a) Acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) (a) Acetic Acid (CH3COOH) (a) Acetone (CH3COCH3) (a) Acetylene (C2H2) (a) Benzaldehyde (C6H5CHO) (a) Benzene (C6H6) (a) Butadiene (1,3-CH2CHCHCH2) (a) Butane (C4H10) (a) Butene (1-CH3CH2CHCH2) (a) Carbon Monoxide (CO) (a) Chloroform (CHCl3, HC-20) (a) Cumene (C9H12) (a) Ethane (C2H6) (a) Ethanol (C2H5OH) (a) Ethyl Acetate (CH3COOC2H5) (a) Ethyl Benzene (C6H5C2H5) (a) Ethylene (C2H4) g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g Conversion factor 0.641 0.097 0.094 0.085 -0.092 0.22 0.85 0.352 1.08 0.027 0.023 0.5 0.123 0.399 0.209 0.73 1
GlassFibreEurope
(a) Formaldehyde (CH2O) (a) Formic Acid (CH2O2) (a) Heptane (C7H16) (a) Hexane (C6H14) (a) Isoprene (C5H8) (a) Methane (CH4) (a) Methanol (CH3OH) (a) Methyl Chloride (CH3Cl) (a) Methyl tert Butyl Ether (MTBE, C5H12O) (a) Methylene Chloride (CH2Cl2, HC-130) (a) Pentane (C5H12) (a) Propane (C3H8) (a) Propionaldehyde (CH3CH2CHO) (a) Propionic Acid (CH3CH2COOH) (a) Propylene (CH2CHCH3) (a) Styrene (C6H5CHCH2) (a) Tetrachloroethylene (C2Cl4) (a) Toluene (C6H5CH3) (a) Xylene (m-C6H4(CH3)2)
g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g
0.52 0.032 0.494 0.482 1.09 0.006 0.14 0.005 0.175 0.068 0.395 0.176 0.798 0.15 1.12 0.14 0.029 0.64 1.1
1.5. Eutrophication of water

Eutrophication of an aqueous environment is characterized by the introduction, for example, of nutrients in the form of phosphatized and nitrogenous compounds, which leads to the proliferation of algae. In the first instance, this leads to a high consumption of dissolved CO2 in the presence of light (by photosynthesis) and therefore to alkalizing of the water; and, in the second, the consequence is bacterial decomposition, which leads to a reduction in the content of dissolved oxygen in the water. This phenomenon can lead to the death of flora and fauna in the aquatic environment. The coefficients used to calculate this potential impact on the environment are shown below.
Table 15 : Eutrophication equivalence coefficients (source: CML, University of Leiden, The Netherlands) Elementary flow (w) Ammonia (NH4+, NH3, as N) (w) COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) (w) Nitrate (NO3-) (w) Nitrite (NO2-) (w) Nitrogenous Matter (Kjeldahl, as N) (w) Nitrogenous Matter (unspecified, as N) (w) Phosphates (PO4 3-, HPO4--, H2PO4-, H3PO4, as P) (w) Phosphorous Matter (unspecified, as P) (w) Phosphorus (P) (w) Phosphorus Pentoxide (P2O5) g g g g g g g g g g Conversion factor 0.42 0.022 0.095 0.13 0.42 0.42 3.06 3.06 3.06 1.336
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4. Questionnaire for data collection
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5. Bibliography
GlassFibreEurope website, www.glassfibreeurope.eu, for a description of the manufacturing process. ISO 14040 :2006 Environmental management Life cycle assessment Principles and framework ISO 14044 :2006 Environmental management Life cycle assessment Requirements and guidelines EcoInvent Created in 1997, the ecoinvent Centre (originally called the Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories) is a Competence Centre of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zrich (ETH Zurich) and Lausanne (EPF Lausanne), the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa), and the Swiss Federal Research Station Agroscope Reckenholz-Tnikon (ART). www.ecoinvent.org ETH ETH Zurich and PSI together from 1992 to 1996 established a Life cycle inventory (LCI) database including data on current energy supply systems, on transport and waste treatment services, and on material supply (the koinventare von Energiesystemen). www.ethz.ch/ BUWAL (now BAFU), the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape. Published reports on LCA (1991-1995). BUWAL 250 is LCI database of several common industrial materials used for packaging. www.bafu.ch ELCD. The ELCD core database comprises Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data from front-running EU-level business associations and other sources for key materials, energy carriers, transport, and waste management. http://lca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/lcainfohub/datasetArea.vm CML-IA Centre of Environmental Science (CML) Leiden University, the Netherlands. Guide on Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, 1992, 2002 update. Coefficients for the impact assessment methods can be downloaded from http://cml.leiden.edu/software/data-cmlia.html#downloads file cmlia.zip
6 Peer review 6. w repor rt
41 4 P PwC LCA of o CFGF Co ontinuous Fila ament Glass Fibre F products
42 4 P PwC LCA of o CFGF Co ontinuous Fila ament Glass Fibre products

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2 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

3 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

4 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

Section I - General introduction

Context of the assessment

Goal of the study

Structure of this report

5 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

Section II - Definition of the assessment scope

2. Functional unit and products studied 1.1. Functional unit

1.2. Presentation of the studied system

1.3. Definition of the system boundaries

6 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

F Figure 1 Cho opped strands s (left) and rovings (right)

7 P PwC LCA of o CFGF Co ontinuous Fila ament Glass Fibre F products

Transport of raw materials

Off-line process (via production of cake)

Chopping Waste water management

Semi-dry chopped strands

Dry chopped strands (off line)

Wet chopped strands (off line)

Dry chopped strands (on line)

Wet chopped strands (on line)

CFGF production site boundaries

LCA System boundaries

1.4. Allocation methodology for the various products

8 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

Furnace and batch house

Forming fiberizing chopping

Product-specific data collected Mass allocation

Packaging Water treatment

Product-specific data collected Mass allocation

9 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

1.6. Selected environmental impact indicators

10 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

1.7. List of excluded indicators

4. Data quality requirements

11 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

Table 2 - Coverage per product

Dry chopped strands Number of sites 9

Wet chopped strands 7

12 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

Section III - Data collection method and modelling

1. Data collection method

1.1. Generic data used

1.2. Specific data collection

1.3. Data consolidation

13 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

2. Transportation of solid raw materials 1.1. Transport model

Cc * km * (1/3*Cr/Cu + 2/3*(1+R)) * Q/Cr

1.2. Source of generic data used

1.3. Transport steps taken into account in the study

14 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

Type of water treatment plant

Biological chemical demand 5 days (BOD5) 40%

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) 40%

NTK (total org. nitrogen)

Physicochemical (default) Biological

15 PwC LCA of CFGF Continuous Filament Glass Fibre products

Table 4 Country specific electricity mixes

Other sources (burdenfree)5 5.22 0.83

19.23 4.08 19.75 13.50 23.31 0.04 10.92 16.34

7.61 0 24.38 0 0 0 7.65 10.24

Cc * km * (1/3Cr/Cu + 2/3(1+R)) * Q/Cr