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(50-02) Life cycle assessment of an industrial vacuum cleaner: case study. Nfon, Erick*,1, Golriz, Mohammad1, Nygren, Ingemar2, 1 Umea University, Dept. of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå, Sweden2 Tedak AB/Nederman, Eskilstuna, Sweden ABSTRACT- The need for manufacturing industries to move from a narrow system definition in environmental management to improve their environmental performance is increasing. LCA has gained recognition as the most comprehensive methodology for evaluating environmental burdens. As a case study a LCA of Nederman E-PAK 500, an industrial vacuum cleaner, was performed. The purpose was to identify the parts of the life cycle that are important to the total environmental impact. The product system investigated is defined as the cleaner with the starter left out. The extraction of raw materials, processing these materials, manufacture of components by subcontractors, transportation of components and materials to the assembly plant, processing materials and components at the assembly plant, assembly of the cleaner, transportation of the cleaner to the user and to final disposal was included in this investigation. Energy use and emissions were quantified and some of the potential environmental effects assessed. Based on the available data and the assumptions made, the results of the LCA show that over 99 % of the flow into and out of the system may be attributed to the use phase of the cleaner. Within the use phase itself the most significant contribution was from the electricity consumption during operation and not the replacement of the filters and dust bags. The contribution from transportation and manufacturing of the cleaner was rather insignificant to the total impact. The use of copper in the motor was identified as a critical parameter for the total emission of sulphur dioxide from the product system studied. Key words: Life cycle assessment, energy efficiency, vacuum cleaners, environmental impact |
