Life Cycle Assessment
In Spring 2009, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) BEES Analysis was conducted for BioSpan’s RePLAY™ Agricultural Oil Seal and Preservation Agent in order to evaluate its environmental performance from cradle-to-grave. The analysis compares RePLAY™, a bio-based solution, to a representative competitive product called Reclamite, which is petroleum-based
The environmental performance discovered in the BEES Analysis prove that RePLAY™ reduces the global warming potential and greenhouse gases in an environment, and it also costs 55% less than the competitor. Reclamite, however, increases the global warming potential and requires more total fuel energy over the life cycle – proving that it is over four times more toxic to not only the environment, but also to humans.
The environmental impact results show that RePLAY™ has a more favorable life cycle profile for:
- Global warming potential,
- Acidification,
- Fossil fuel depletion,
- Criteria air pollutants,
- Smog formation potential,
- Total fuel energy, and
- Human toxicity.
The LCA BEES Analysis determined that RePLAY™ has almost 40% more favorable total life cycle environmental performance because it does not contribute C02 to the environment and it reduces the amount of greenhouse gases. Petroleum-based seals like Reclamite add to global warming and C02 in the environment, which is why it has a 430% higher global warming potential compared to RePLAY™ (Figure 1).
