BIO-BASED ENGINEERING PLASTICS A TOOL TO REDUCE CARBON FOOTPRINT
Last modified: 2014-09-11
Abstract
It is believed that the use of materials based on renewable resources can be
used to improve the environmental performance of products. In this
experiment the plastic used in a housing of a Residual Current Operated
Circuit-Breaker (RCBO) was exchanged to two different partially bio-based
plastics. The assembled prototypes were tested according to IEC-Standards
and both bio-based plastics showed outstanding results. The reduction in
carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents was around 40% for the housing itself,
which unfortunately had a small impact on the final carbon footprint of the
product. However, due to the large number of products produced per year the
emission of CO2 equivalents will be reduced by about 250 metric tons per
year.
used to improve the environmental performance of products. In this
experiment the plastic used in a housing of a Residual Current Operated
Circuit-Breaker (RCBO) was exchanged to two different partially bio-based
plastics. The assembled prototypes were tested according to IEC-Standards
and both bio-based plastics showed outstanding results. The reduction in
carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents was around 40% for the housing itself,
which unfortunately had a small impact on the final carbon footprint of the
product. However, due to the large number of products produced per year the
emission of CO2 equivalents will be reduced by about 250 metric tons per
year.
Keywords
Bio-based thermoplastics; Polyamide; Low Voltage; Breaker; RCBO
References
ABB SACE SpA, 2005. Environmental Product Declaration, F200 2P. Registration number: S-P-00080, Rev 1 – 2005-07-20
Boustead, I. 2005. Eco-profiles of the European Plastics Industry: POLYAMIDE 6 (Nylon 6). PlasticsEurope, unpublished. (www.plasticseurope.org)
Devaux, J.-F., Lê, G., Pees, B. Application of eco-profile methodology to polyamide 11. Arkema, unpublished.
(www.arkema.com/pdf/EN/products/technical_polymers/rilsan/rilsan_website_2011/rilsan_ecoprofile_article.pdf)
Krochta, J.M., and De Mulder-Jonston, C. 1997. Edible and biodegradable polymer films: Challenges and opportunities. Food Technology, vol 51, pp. 61-74.
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