Beverage Containers - Northwestern University study/Connell Beverag… · Introduction The global...
Transcript of Beverage Containers - Northwestern University study/Connell Beverag… · Introduction The global...
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Beverage Containers Justin Connell
Christopher Liman Andrew Fang Richard Zou
Introduction
The global beverages industry generated a total of $1.125 trillion in 2007[1]
Beverage containers represent ~5% of the waste stream, but take up a disproportionate amount of space in landfills, a significant stress on the waste management system[2]
For example, PET bottles take up approximately 9.8 cubic yards per ton, compared to 2.75 cubic yards for “average” landfill materials[2]
[1] www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/835602/drinks_companies_report_global_top_10.pdf [2] www.tennessee.gov/environment/swm/pdf/TFBottleBill2.pdf
Containers for Comparison
Bottle of Red Wine from France
Aluminum Bottle of Venom Black Mamba Energy Drink from New York
PET Bottle of FIJI Water from Fiji
Steel Can of Asahi Beer from Japan
Cardboard Carton of Milk from Wisconsin
(All quantities are per liter of liquid contained)
Glass Bottle 750mL standard bottle of red wine from France
Assume no refrigeration required for red wine
~8000km total trip by sea freight and truck
-5000.0
0.0
5000.0
10000.0
15000.0
20000.0
Energy (kJ/L)
-400.0
-200.0
0.0
200.0
400.0
600.0
800.0
1000.0
1200.0
CO2 Emitted (g/L)
Aluminum Bottle Venom Black Mamba Energy Drink from New York
(~1200km by truck from New York to Chicago)
Assumed energy drink ≈ soft drink, used energy to produce soft drink
Assume no refrigeration
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
Energy (kJ/L)
-300
-200
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
CO2 Emitted (g/L)
PET Bottle Bottled water from Fiji Islands (~20,000km by sea freight
and truck including empty bottle transport)
1 L PET bottle, not refrigerated
Water extraction is negligible
-2000
-1000
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
Energy (kJ/L)
‐50
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
CO2Emi'ed(g/L)
NotBurned
Burned
Steel Can
Steel can of Asahi beer from Japan
Shipping by sea freight and by truck (~10,700km trip)
350mL can, kept refrigerated
-1000
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
Energy (kJ/L)
-100
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
CO2 Emitted (g/L)
Cardboard Carton ½ Gallon carton of milk from Wisconsin
Assume refrigerated transport (~400 miles round trip Green Bay to Chicago)
Assume cardboard burning is carbon neutral (i.e. trees cardboard is processed from are grown sustainably)
-1000
-500
0
500
1000
1500
2000
Energy (kJ/L)
Not Burned
Burned
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
CO2 Emitted (g/L)
Without Cows
With Cows
With Cows, burned
Total Energy Consumption
0.0
5000.0
10000.0
15000.0
20000.0
25000.0
Wine Energy Drink Water Beer Milk
Total Embedded Energy (kJ/L)
Not Burned
Burned
Total CO2 Emissions
0.0
500.0
1000.0
1500.0
2000.0
2500.0
Wine Energy Drink Water Beer Milk
Total CO2 Emitted (g/L)
CO2 (g)
CO2 (g), with cows
CO2 (g), burned
Conclusions
In terms of total embodied energy, bottle of wine from France was by far the worst, while milk and water were the two best.
In terms of CO2 emitted, the bottle of wine was also the worst, with the bottle of water being the best (if you include the CO2 emitted by cows from milk production)
Milk has a much larger carbon footprint if you factor in the CH4 (and thus CO2) emitted by the cows that are necessary to produce the milk
Questions?