Applications of life cycle assessment to NatureWorks™ polylactide (PLA) production

Abstract

NatureWorks™ polylactide (PLA) is a versatile polymer produced by Cargill Dow LLC. Cargill Dow is building a global platform of sustainable polymers and chemicals entirely made from renewable resources. Cargill Dow's business philosophy is explained including the role of life cycle assessment (LCA), a tool used for measuring environmental sustainability and identifying environmental performance-improvement objectives. The paper gives an overview of applications of LCA to PLA production and provides insight into how they are utilized. The first application reviews the contributions to the gross fossil energy requirement for PLA (54 MJ/kg). In the second one PLA is compared with petrochemical-based polymers using fossil energy use, global warming and water use as the three impact indicators. The last application gives more details about the potential reductions in energy use and greenhouse gasses. Cargill Dow's 5-8 year objective is to decrease the fossil energy use from 54 MJ/kg PLA down to about 7 MJ/kg PLA. The objective for greenhouse gasses is a reduction from +1.8 down to -1.7 kg CO2 equivalents/kg PLA. © 2003 Cargill Dow B.V. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.