Life Cycle Assessment on Process of Wet Tissue Production

In this study, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of wet tissue manufacturing process was performed. The wet tissue manufacturing process consists of preparation of wetting agent (chemical liquid), impregnation of nonwoven fabric into wetting agent and primary and secondary packaging. Data and information were collected on the input and output of the actual process from a certain company and the database of the Korea Ministry of Environment and some foreign countries (when Korean unavailable) were employed to connect the upper and the lower process flow. Based on the above and the potential environmental impacts of the wet tissue manufacturing process were calculated. As a result of the characterization, Ozone Layer Depletion (OD) is 3.46.E-06 kg $CFC_{11}$, Acidification (AD) is 5.11.E-01 kg $SO_2$, Abiotic Resource Depletion (ARD) is $3.52.E+00\;1yr^{-1}$, Global Warming (GW) is 1.04.E+02 kg $CO_2$, Eutrophication (EUT) is 2.31.E-02 kg ${PO_4}^{3-}$, Photochemical Oxide Creation (POC) was 2.22.E-02 kg $C_2H_4$, Human Toxicity (HT) was 1.55.E+00 kg 1,4 DCB and Terrestrial Ecotoxicity (ET) was 5.82.E-04 kg 1,4 DCB. In order to reduce the environmental impact of the manufacturing process, it is necessary to improve the overall process as other general cases and change the raw materials including packaging materials with less environmental impact. Conclusively, the energy consumed in the manufacturing process has emerged as a major issue, and this needs to be reconsidered other options such as alternative energy. Therefore, it is recommended that a process system should be redesigned to improve energy efficiency and to change to an energy source with lower environmental impact. Due to the nature of LCA, the final results of this study can be varied to some extent depending on the type of LCI DB employed and may not represent of all wet tissue manufacturing processes in the current industry.

물티슈 제조공정의 전과정 평가

본 연구에서는 물티슈 제조공정에 대한 전과정평가를 수행하였다. 물티슈 제조공정은 약액을 조제하여 부직포 원단에 투여하고 포장하는 단계로 이루어진다. 특정 업체의 실제 공정을 대상으로 투입 산출물 데이터를 수집하였고, 환경부와 해외 LCI DB를 활용하여 상 하위 흐름을 연결하여 이 공정에 대한 잠재적인 환경영향을 산출하였다. 특성화 결과, 오존층파괴 3.46.E-06 kg $CFC_{11}$, 산성화 5.11.E-01 kg $SO_2$, 자원고갈 $3.52.E+00\;1yr^{-1}$, 지구온난화 1.04.E+02 kg $CO_2$, 부영양화 2.31.E-02 kg ${PO_4}^{3-}$, 광화학산화물생성 2.22.E-02 kg $C_2H_4$, 인간독성 1.55.E+00 kg 1,4 DCB, 생태독성 5.82.E-04 kg 1,4 DCB로 나타났다. 일반적으로 제조공정의 환경영향을 줄이기 위해 공정을 개선하거나 환경영향이 적은 원자재와 포장재로 변경하는 등의 방법이 있다. LCA 결과, 공정에 사용되는 에너지가 주요이슈로 도출되었기 때문에 에너지 효율을 개선한 공정시스템 설계나 환경영향이 낮은 에너지원으로 변경하는 등의 방안이 필요하다. LCA의 특성상 이 연구결과는 사용된 LCI DB 종류에 따라 달라질 수 있고 모든 물티슈 제조공정을 대표할 수 없다.