Life cycle environmental sustainability analysis of industrial production process for wood plastic composites

The automotive industry is increasingly focusing on reducing environmental impact and implementing sustainable manufacturing practices. Assessing the life cycle environmental sustainability of APK materials will help the automotive industry adopt more sustainable manufacturing practices. The identification of potential improvement opportunities will aid in the development of strategies for more effective environmental impact mitigation in the sector. This study focuses on a detailed investigation of the environmental impacts of industrial production of PP-based APK materials across the entire life cycle, as well as the identification of potential opportunities for improving sustainability. The environmental impacts were estimated using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, and the analysis was performed in accordance with ISO 14040 and 14044 standards. SEM and TGA analyses were also used to characterize the material under study. The study's boundaries were determined as raw material extraction, transportation, and production processes, with a functional unit of 1 m2 APK. GaBi version 10.7 was used for modeling, and the environmental effects were analyzed using the CML method. According to the findings, when the APK's life cycle environmental impacts were examined, it was discovered that the nine impact categories other than TSEP, DEP, and SLP were primarily caused by raw material extraction. Based on these findings, alternative scenarios for raw materials and production steps were created, and the environmental impact of APK production was examined if these improvements were implemented.