JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #133 - March/April 2020 - 41

Eco lmpact Calculator, a Life Cycle Assessment tool for the composites industry

so far to obtain data from the industries
concerned.
This data includes, next to the data used as
approximations, the most common amine
and acid cross-linkers for epoxy, as well as
the newer generation of flame retardants
such as phosphate, inorganic and nitrogen-based materials.
Specific raw materials can be included in
the tool as needed, at an additional cost
and not under commercial, but more
generic names. EY CCaSS can process this
in line with the methodology used.
Fig. 3. Workflow of the Eco Impact Calculator

In the first place, a material can be modified and stored for use as a new input,
for example a masterbatch or blend. An
intermediary process flow can be selected,
such as SMC compounding or thermoplastic extrusion, followed by a pressing or
injection moulding process, respectively,
to make a part.
The next step is the choice of the conversion process. Here, a pre-defined process
can be selected. The user can make the
calculation without a process, obtaining
therewith a bill of materials, or modify and
tailor the conversion to his own choice or
current situation. A material recipe can
be formulated using a selection menu for
the type of raw material, followed by the
selection of the specific raw material. The
system targets the inclusion of all the components that represent at least 1% m/m of
the formulation. It is possible to use more
materials than required by the part weight.
This can be seen as an approximation for
production scrap. The next step results
in an Eco Impact Report that includes
information from the first step, the calculation principles and the resulting GHG
protocol, Cumulative Energy Demand
and International Reference Life Cycle
Data (ILCD). A summary report can be
downloaded separately, which includes the
recipe details that can be shared on a discretionary basis. However, the data remain
only available to the registered user.
Finally, the data can be downloaded in
a SimaPro 8.2 Excel format for use as
input in further life cycle calculations.
Unfortunately, Gabi and SimaPro are not
compatible yet. Hopefully, this problem

will be solved in the near future by the
companies involved.
Raw materials
EuCIA listed the materials and processes
available in the EcoInvent and European
Reference Life Cycle Database (ELCD)
European databases, including those
developed by Plastics Europe, Glass Fibre
Europe [1] and, under the auspices of the
AVK, a broad selection of unsaturated polyesters supported by Reichhold, Ashland
and CCP Composites.
These industry-based databases offer the
most recent LCI data available in Europe.
All the data is calculated on the basis of
an EU average for energy generation, as
required by the methodology. In addition,
LCI data from EcoInvent is collected
wherever possible, to maximize consistency and comparability within the tool. For
the materials with no data available, where
possible, estimates or approximations were
selected based on literature and expert
opinions. An LCA calculation for carbon
fibre was recently included, based on all
the major raw materials used and including
the conversion processes, both to PAN
fibre and from there to carbon fibre. This
work is based on inputs from literature, i.e.
work conducted in Belgium [2], the USA
(ORNL) [3] and the UK [4]. Recently the
data has been updated based on research at
RWTH-ITA, Aachen [5]. The calculation
principles can be found in the above-mentioned background document.
Some materials still need to be included,
but there is a lack of specific data in the
relevant inventories as it has been difficult

Conversion processes
The conversion processes are the production methods used for composite parts.
The aim is to collect at least 15 conversion
processes to cover more than 90% of the
composites industry's current volume.
In addition, the user can enter his own,
company-specific data to modify the
conversion impact according to his current
situation.
For each selected process, typical data on
the production of composite products was
requested from European manufacturers.
A questionnaire was developed that is
available from EuCIA and EYCASS (see
background document). The data is
collected under strict confidentiality and
reviewed for consistency. A minimum of
three data sets is required before the eco
footprint of a process can be calculated.
Input and output data are collected in the
following categories:
- Use of resources
- Emissions to air
- Discharges to water and soil
The non-elementary energy and waste
flows are also included in the data inventory.
The following processes are currently
included in the tool: pultrusion, resin infusion (RI), resin transfer moulding (RTM),
SMC compounding, SMC compression
moulding, thermoplastic compounding,
long fibre thermoplastics (LFT) compounding and thermoplastic injection
moulding.
Painting and gelcoating can be included if

N°133 March - April 2020

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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #133 - March/April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #133 - March/April 2020
