SYSTEM ANALYSIS

System Analysis

System Analysis

Section 1:

Introduction

Each of us buys many consumer products during a week or a month. The environmental impact brought about by the development, manufacture, distribution, and disposal of these products varies greatly. Many claims are made by companies that a given product is more environmentally friendly than another one or a certain product is “greener” than another.

It is difficult to make purchase decisions based on stated environmental claims for a given product. One way to make an intelligent choice is to apply the “Life Cycle Assessment” technique. A life cycle assessment adds up all environmental impacts that result from making, using, and disposing of the products we buy. It studies all energy and raw materials used and the environmental consequences of each stage of development.

AutoMart Automobile Group

To put this process into a familiar context, let us look at the life cycle inventory of the family car. Although the automobile is a major purchase the life cycle assessment principles apply as they do for purchases of lesser amounts made more frequently.

Appliances, furniture, household supplies, and equipment all lend themselves to this process. The life cycle assessment process can be applied to any consumer product. Because the automobile exceeds most other household consumer durable items in terms of its required materials, energy demand, and contribution to the solid waste stream, and because most consumers can relate to the process of buying and using an automobile, the car is a good product to consider.

Following is a general description of the steps in the life cycle of a car. It does not include points B and C (analysis of environmental impact and improvement analysis) required for a complete life cycle assessment.

Section 2:

Stage One - Raw Materials

The first stage of the life cycle of a car is acquiring the raw materials. Mining of minerals, such as copper, iron, lead, zinc, and aluminum, results in environmental effects in the area near the mines, plus the effects of transporting them to the next stage. Petroleum, required for energy use and as a raw material for certain parts of the auto, must be drilled and transported, with sometimes catastrophic injury to the environment. Other materials must be obtained for electronic parts, interior surfaces, paint and finishes, and all the other many parts of a car. Some of these raw materials are nonrenewable, with a finite supply that will be depleted someday.

Stage Two - Manufacture

The second stage of the life cycle of a car is the manufacturing, processing, and formulation of materials. Steel, plastic, glass, textiles, and rubber are all formulated from raw materials. Hazardous wastes are associated with the manufacturing process. Plastics, for example, generate large quantities of hazardous waste. Parts for the auto are manufactured in plants away from the assembly plant, so transportation is a major factor in this stage of the car's life cycle. As the parts are assembled into the finished product, various paints and coatings are applied, and lubricants and fluids are ...