Förenklad livscykelanalys för ett delvis återvunnet gummimaterial

Abstract

The purpose of this bachelor thesis was to make a simplified life cycle assessment for a partially recycled rubber material on behalf of AnVa Polytech AB. AnVa Polytech AB produces molded elastomeric products. In recent years they have focused on developing their own rubber material called “Climarub”, which is used for wheel suspension in the automotive industry. Components of this material have gradually been replaced with recycled or more environmentally friendly ingredients, such as recycled carbon black and bio-oil. The purpose of the simplified life cycle assessment was to analyze and visualize the amount of carbon dioxide equivalents and environmental toxicity for the components of the rubber material with a focus on fillers and stabilizers. AnVa Polytech AB is interested in further developing the analysis in order to strive for a more environmentally sustainable material. The result showed that carbon black and silica were the biggest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions for the material, where the greatest impact came from production. Furthermore, it showed that sulfur had the significantly largest impact on ecotoxicity followed by zinc oxide. Overall, the result for human toxicity is small relative to ecotoxicity