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This
sophisticated
tool
is more detailed and is aimed at
groups of A2 students.
It involves some
qualitative analysis of products or
designs allowing
you
to calculate their
environmental and social impacts.
Ask your teacher
if some
assistance is
required for the mathematical calculations involved. This activity
takes into account human health,
ecosystem quality and use of resources. The impact that different stages of the
life-cycle
(production, use and disposal).
The activity
• The Eco-indicator
is a table listing the material or process, the amount, the Eco-indicator value
and the eco-points for each aspect of the
life-cycle
It is split into three sections:
1)
Production
raw
materials,
processing
& manufacture
(e.g. polystyrene and injection moulding)
2)
Transportation of product,
energy
in use
& consumables
in use
(e.g. shipping, electricity and paper)
3)
Disposal
•
Produce a list of component parts
by disassembling
a product
and identifying materials
& processes
and weight (in kgs) for each
part
• Add
each component to the correct section
in the table
• The product components are each quantified in relevant units (raw materials in
kgs, electricity in kWh, shipping in tkm etc) and these figures can be filled in
on the table
• Find
out the Eco-indicator value for each product element.
Then multiply the weight of each of the
components by its
Eco-indicator value to give its
eco-points
The higher the points, the worse the
environmental impact of that element
• The total number of
eco-points can then be calculated for each life-cycle
stage and graphs can be drawn
• Discuss
which components and stages of the products life-cycle cause most impact. This
will help highlight areas for improvement when redesigning
Download the Eco Indicator Worksheets
(Word Document, 242
kB)
     
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