Brasil Pack Trends 2020

BrasilPackTrends2020 185 sustainabi l ity & ethics The LCA studies are formed by four main phases, described below: 1 st Phase At the first phase, called goal and scope definition , the productive system phases that will take part of the study are defined in function of the objectives to be reached, delimiting the systems boundaries. At this phase, which is extremely important, the level of detail and depth that the study should have to answer the question involved are defined. The intended audience, i.e. to whom the results of the study are intended to be communicated should also be defined at this phase, once it is related to the details of the project. As the study is structured for understanding of the environmental interface of a product or service with the nature, a functional unity must be adopted, whereby all the productive phases can be correlated. Mass is one of the most used functional unities, but unities such as transported volume, traveled kilometers, painted wall area and produced energy, among others, are also used. 2 nd Phase The second phase, called inventory analysis , corresponds to data collection and calculation to identify the most relevant input and outputs of the system. The data collection involves the quantification of the amounts of raw materials, processing aids, energy and water related products and co-products of all the steps involved within the boundaries of the study. Water and atmospheric emissions are also determined, as well as the solid residues. Validation of primary data and analysis of the consistency of the compilation of the aggregate data must be done in this phase. 3 rd Phase The third phase, called impact assessment , it is targeted to associate inventory data, previously collected with potential environmental impacts, generally separated by categories such as the use of fossil or renewable energy, greenhouse effect or global warming, acidification, natural resources consumption, eutrophication, human toxicity and potential for Photochemical ozone creation, among others. At this phase, the inventory results are sorted and can be aggregated in equivalent unities, relating, for example, all the gases that contribute to the global warming with equivalent unities of carbon dioxide, such as equivalent kg of CO 2 . Optionally, each indicator category can be related to a reference quantity, through the normalization process or grouped for generating single indicators. 4 th Phase At the fourth phase, called interpretation , the inventory analysis is considered with the impact assessment, to answer the goals of the study. At the interpretation, the limitation of the study is clarified and recommendations are made based on the findings of previous phases.