Abstract
Purpose
A new biodegradable film, based on orange peel-derived pectin jelly and corn starch developed in our labs, was environmentally compared with a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film. An environmental assessment was realized in two stages to individually determine the environmental impact resulting from production-shaping processes and the biodegradation performance of the films.
Methods
Firstly, a prospective cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed using a CML-IA method implemented in SimaPro 8.0.1. Secondly, an aerobic biodegradation was simulated as directly disposing of the films in soil according to ASTM D 5988–03. The functional unit considered in this study was 1 m2 of packaging film. The films were compared for impact categories of abiotic depletion (elements and fossil fuel), global warming potential, ozone layer depletion, human toxicity, fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, photochemical oxidation, acidification, and eutrophication. A Monte Carlo simulation was realized to determine the uncertainty levels. According to impact assessment results and major sources of uncertainties, two predictive improvement scenarios were performed for commercial scale production and compared with biocomposite film at the laboratory scale.
Results and discussion
LCA results show that biocomposite film has a slightly higher impact than LDPE film for all categories with probabilities ranging between 50 and 100 % except for acidification. The categories that have uncertainty (terrestrial ecotoxicity, abiotic depletion (element), photochemical oxidation, human toxicity, and fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity) were mainly resulted from electricity consumption for extrusion and film forming and modified starch addition. These two processes are mainly responsible for the environmental impact of the biocomposite film.
Conclusions
Prospective LCA showed that improvement of the process in this manner would decrease the environmental impact. On the other hand, the maximum level of biodegradation achieved in the biocomposite film is 78.4 %, whereas that for the LDPE film is 40.4 % with CO2 production rates of 1.97 and 1.17 mmol CO2/day, respectively.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anastas PT, Zimmerman JB (2003) Design through the 12 principles of green engineering. Environ Sci Technol 37:94a–101a
ASTM Standard (2001) D 4972–01, 2001, "Standard Test Method for pH of Soils,"ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA. doi:10.1520/D4972-01, www.astm.org
ASTM Standard (2003) D 5988–03, 2003, "Standard Test Method for Determining Aerobic Biodegradation in Soil of Plastic Materials or Residual Plastic Materials after Composting," ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA. doi:10.1520/D5988-96, www.astm.org
ASTM Standard (2007) D 2974-07a, 2007, "Standard Test Methods for Moisture, Ash, and Organic Matter of Peat and Other Organic Soils,"ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA. doi:10.1520/D2974-07A, www.astm.org
Blue Book (2013) Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. (http://www.enerji.gov.tr/yayinlar_raporlar/Mavi_Kitap_2013.pdf) (in Turkish)
Coffin DR, Fishman ML (1994) Physical and mechanical-properties of highly plasticized pectin starch films. J Appl Polym Sci 54:1311–1320
Cokaygil Z (2013) Biodegradable nanocomposite film production from orange peels and utilization as food packaging. Dissertation. Anadolu University
Cokaygil Z, Banar M, Seyhan AT (2014) Orange peel-derived pectin jelly and corn starch-based biocomposite film with layered silicates. J Appl Polym Sci 131:40654. doi:10.1002/app.40654
Groot JM, Borén T (2010) Life cycle assessment of the manufacture of lactide and PLA biopolymers from sugarcane in Thailand. Int J Life Cycle Assess 15:970–984
Guo M, Murphy RJ (2012) LCA data quality: sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. Science of the Total Environment 435–436:230–243
Harding KG, Dennis JS, von Blottnitz H, Harrison STL (2007) Environmental analysis of plastic production processes: comparing petroleum-based polypropylene and polyethylene with biologically-based poly-beta-hydroxybutyric acid using life cycle analysis. J Biotechnol 130:57–66
Kim S, Dale BE (2005) Life cycle assessment study of biopolymers (polyhydroxyalkanoates) derived from no-tilled corn. Int J Life Cycle Assess 10:200–210
Leceta I, Guerrero P, Cabezudo S, de la Caba K (2013) Environmental assessment of chitosan-based films. J Clean Prod 41:312–318
Leceta I, Etxabide A, Cabezudo S, de la Caba K, Guerrero P (2014) Bio-based films prepared with by-products and wastes: environmental assessment. J Clean Prod 64:218–227
Modelli A, Calcagno B, Scandola M (1999) Kinetics of aerobic polymer degradation in soil by means of the ASTM D 5988-96 standard method. J Environ Polym Degr 7:109–116
Packaging Bulletin (2014) no:8, Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, (in Turkish)
Ribeiro I, Pecas P, Henriques E (2013) A life cycle framework to support materials selection for Ecodesign: a case study on biodegradable polymers. Mater Design 51:300–308
SimaPro Database Manual Methods Library (2015) PRé Consultants, http://www.pre-sustainability.com/download/DatabaseManualMethods.pdf
Suwanmanee U, Varabuntoonvit V, Chaiwutthinan P, Tajan M, Mungcharoen T, Leejarkpai T (2013) Life cycle assessment of single use thermoform boxes made from polystyrene (PS), polylactic acid, (PLA), and PLA/starch: cradle to consumer gate. Int J Life Cycle Assess 18:401–417
Vink ETH, Rabago KR, Glassner DA, Gruber PR (2003) Applications of life cycle assessment to NatureWorks (TM) polylactide (PLA) production. Polym Degrad Stabil 80:403–419
Wender BA, Foley RW, Prado-Lopez V, Ravikumar D, Eisenberg DA, Hottle TA, Sadowski J et al (2014) Illustrating anticipatory life cycle assessment for emerging photovoltaic technologies. Environ Sci Technol 48(18):10531–10538
Yates MR, Barlow CY (2013) Life cycle assessments of biodegradable, commercial biopolymers—a critical review. Resour Conserv Recy 78:54–66
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Anadolu University Scientific Research Projects Commission under grant no 1003 F106.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Seungdo Kim
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Günkaya, Z., Banar, M. An environmental comparison of biocomposite film based on orange peel-derived pectin jelly-corn starch and LDPE film: LCA and biodegradability. Int J Life Cycle Assess 21, 465–475 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1042-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-016-1042-8