Processors are under pressure from regulators and retailers to make their products and the waste they produce more environmentally-friendly. The US Life-Cycle Inventory (LCI) Database is a publicly available database that allows users to objectively review and compare analysis results that are based on similar data collection and analysis methods. The database, launched in 2001 and maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has now developed into a database with more than 77 unit process data sets for materials, fuels, and energy sources that are commonly used in many packaging systems, according to report by Franklin Associates, a division of ERG. Francklin noted that sustainability has emerged as a key environmental objective of the packaging industry over the last several years, increasing the value of the LCI database. Soon "rolled-up" cradle-to-resin data will be available for nine common plastic resins and two polyurethane precursor materials, the consultancy noted. " The US LCI Database is an important resource that has been developed to provide publicly available, fully documented LCI data sets that follow a uniform protocol and that can be used to construct LCIs for a variety of packaging and products," the company stated. " To ensure true sustainability, it is essential to use tools such as LCI that consider the full life cycle of a product or package, rather than relying on single attributes that may not give a complete picture of the full environmental consequences of packaging choices." Life cycle inventory is an important tool that can be used to evaluate the sustainability of packaging alternatives. Such a database quantifies the environmental consequences of a package based on all its characteristics, such as material, weight and recycled content. "Life cycle inventory provides a detailed analysis of material and energy use, solid wastes, and emissions to air and water over the entire life cycle of a package, beginning with raw material extraction and continuing through end of life, e.g., landfill, recycle, or reuse," the company said about the system. "This information allows packaging designers and users to identify packaging options that minimise overall burdens on the environment." The project's supporters include the the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Agriculture, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, and the American Plastics Council. The database can be accessed at www.nrel.gov/lci.
