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Plastic Pipe and Fittings Association Releases First Environmental Impact Study for Manufacture of Plastic Plumbing Pipe
| Source: Plastic Pipe and Fittings Association
GLEN ELLYN, IL--(Marketwire - July 1, 2008) - Ewire -- The Plastic Pipe and Fittings
Association (PPFA) is releasing North America's first Life Cycle Inventory
(LCI) for the manufacture of plastic plumbing pipe. Richard Church, PPFA's
Executive Director stated: "The release of this completed LCI report to
PPFA members, LCI databases and the general public allows for increased
transparency of the industry's sustainability efforts, expands knowledge
about the relative environmental impacts of its products and underscores
PPFA's sustainability leadership."
The LCI (a component of a Life Cycle Analysis) is the first phase of three
planned for a complete Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) on plastic plumbing pipe.
It evaluated the environmental profiles of selected pipes most commonly
used in three plumbing applications: service lines, water distribution, and
drain, waste and vent (DWV) applications. Plastic pipe manufacturing data
was modeled by Franklin Associates, using resin production data released in
2007 and published in the U.S. LCI Database www.nrel.gov/lci. Current
plastic pipe fabrication data were collected for this study and averaged
from plastic pipe producers, a majority of which were PPFA members.
The PPFA LCI will be submitted to LCI databases and to the Building for
Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) program. BEES is a
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) program and an ISO
compliant LCA-based selection tool. LCA-based product selection tools are
critical for unbiased green and sustainable building material and product
decision making. PPFA encourages other piping material industries to
develop and submit LCI data to LCI databases to allow for greater
transparency.
The LCI report studied included: 4-inch solid wall PVC pipe, made with both
virgin resin and 50% post consumer recycled (PCR) content, cellular core
PVC pipe, and ABS pipe with solid and cellular core for drain, waste, &
vent (DWV) applications; 1-inch Polyethylene (PE) pipe and PVC pipe for
inlet pressurized water supply applications; and 3/4-inch CPVC & PEX tubing
for Hot and Cold Water Distribution (HCWD) applications.
The report explores the environmental benefits of plastic cellular core and
recycled content DWV pipe, and potential energy, landfill reduction, and
carbon dioxide implications of energy recovery from waste-to-energy
incineration of post-consumer plastic pipe. It also considers the
environmental impacts from the extraction of natural gas and petroleum (the
raw material feed stocks for plastic resins), through the production of
resin to the manufacture of the products.
Some conclusions based on the LCI are:
For the full release please follow this link:
http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/4860