Abstract
The ISO 14040 series of standards describe the principles and framework for the conduct of life cycle assessment (LCA). The system defines four phases: (i) definition of the goal and scope of the LCA, (ii) the life cycle inventory analysis (LCI), (iii) the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), and (iv) the life cycle interpretation. The standards do not describe the LCA technique in detail, nor do they specify methodologies for the individual phases of the LCA. Dependent of the goal and scope, there can be very different outcomes from the analysis. This paper considers how the outcomes might change for the specific case of flax fibres for the reinforcement of composites. The study compares allocation of environmental burdens to two different primary products: (i) flax seed as a nutritional supplement with fibre generated from the waste stream, or (ii) flax fibre as the primary product.
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Acknowledgements
JS is grateful to a series of research degree candidates (Nilmini Dissanayake, Amandeep Singh Virk, Aitor Hernandez Michelena and Hossein Mohammad Khanlou) who helped maintain his interest in natural fibre composites and to the delegates at various conferences for their insight into issues arising around LCA.
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Appendix
See Tables 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.
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Summerscales, J., Dissanayake, N.P.J. (2018). Allocation in the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Flax Fibres for the Reinforcement of Composites. In: Fangueiro, R., Rana, S. (eds) Advances in Natural Fibre Composites. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64641-1_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64641-1_19
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