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LCA FOR MANUFACTURING AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
Cradle to gate environmental impact assessment of acrylic
fiber manufacturing
Dalia M. M. Yacout
1
&M. A. Abd El-Kawi
1
&M. S. Hassouna
1
Received: 20 July 2014 /Accepted: 28 December 2015
#Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Abstract
Purpose The aim of the current study was to analyze the im-
pacts of acrylic fiber manufacturing on the environment and to
obtain information for assisting decision makers in improving
relevant environmental protection measures for green field
investments in developing countries especially in Africa and
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions. The key re-
search questions were as follows: what are the different im-
pacts of acrylic fiber manufacturing on the environment and
which base material has the highest impact?
Methods The life cycle assessment (LCA) started from
obtaining the raw material until the end of the production
process (cradle to gate analysis). Focus was given on water
consumption, energy utilization in acrylic fiber production,
and generated waste from the industry. The input and output
data for lifecycle inventory was collected from anacrylic fiber
manufacturing plant in Egypt. SimaPro software was used to
calculate the inventory of twelve impact categories that were
taken into consideration, including global warming potential
(GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential
(EP), carcinogen potential (CP), ecotoxicity potential (ETP),
respiratory inorganic formation potential (RIFP), respiratory
organic formation potential (ROFP), radiation potential (RP),
ozone layer depletion (OLD), mineral depletion (MD), land
use (LU), and fossil fuel depletion (FFD).
Results and discussion LCA results of acrylic fiber
manufacturing on the environment show that 82.0 % of the
impact is on fossil fuel depletion due to the high-energy re-
quirement for acrylonitrile production, 15.9 % of the impactis
on human health, and 2.1 % on ecosystem quality. No impacts
were detected on radiation potential, ozone layer depletion,
land use, mineral depletion, or human respiratory system
due to organic substances.
Conclusions Based on these study results, it is concluded that
acrylic fiber manufacturing is a high-energy consumption in-
dustry with the highest impact to be found on fossil fuel de-
pletion and human health. This study is based on modeling the
environmental effects of the production of 1-kg acrylic fiber
and can serve to estimate impacts of similar manufacturing
facilities and accordingly use these results as an indicator for
better decision-making.
Keywords Acrylic fiber .Ecosystem quality .Environmental
impact assessment .Human health .Life cycle assessment .
Resources .Text ile
1 Introduction
Textile production is a large industry extended worldwide.
Recent market research estimated that by the end of 2015,
the global textile market will have a value of 1557.1 billion
USD, with a production volume of more than 88.5 million
tons per year. Within the last decade, the share of developing
countries in the global textile market has risen to account for
58.6 % of the market value (Research and Markets 2011). The
share of Africa in global textile market is expected to rise. The
expanding textile sector in Africa with its low wages and
subsidized power prices attracted in the last few years 2.45
billion USD green field investments (UNCTAD 2015).
Responsible editor: Sonia Valdivia
*Dalia M. M. Yacout
dalia.yacout@gmail.com
1
Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Alexandria University,
Alexandria, Egypt
Int J Life Cycle Assess
DOI 10.1007/s11367-015-1023-3
Fibers are the largest segment of the global textile market,
accounting for 38.5 % of the market’s total value. Within the
last few years, man-made fiber segments increased while nat-
ural fibers went down reaching 56.0 million tons of textile
production. Africa and Middle East are emerging as important
producing and consuming regions, accounting together for
about 25 % of the total global demand for acrylic fibers
(Research and Markets 2011; Engelhardt 2013;World
Acrylic Fiber: Industry report 2013).
Egypt is one of the largest textile producers in Middle East
and North Africa (MENA) region having produced in 2012
approximately one million tons of textiles. Synthetic fibers
accounted for 114,700 tons of the total textile production in
the country (CAPMAS 2015). Export of acrylic fiber from
Egypt has been growing fast. Egypt is witnessing an 8–10 %
annual growth in acrylic production due to superior quality
and services. This growth is supported by 32 spinning mills in
the form of many small- and medium-sized knitters and some
large-sized acrylic blanket manufacturers which export their
high quality products to many countries (TEC 2010).
In spite of the up scaling contribution of developing coun-
tries in the global textiles market, limited information reflects
the burden of textile manufacturing of those countries on the
environment. The current study investigates the environmen-
tal impacts of manufacturing synthetic fibers from one of the
largest acrylic fiber plants in the MENA region. The investi-
gation identified and quantified regional and global environ-
mental impacts, in order to suggest improvement practices for
both green field investments and environmentally friendly
production. The following sections provide an overview of
the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) in association with
the textile industry, followed by a case study and LCA results.
2 Life cycle assessment and textile industry
Life cycle assessment (LCA) was adopted by many re-
searchers for a wide range of investigations in textile industry.
Studying the impacts of industry on the environment was the
main concern. It was recommended by Lai-Li et al. (2009)to
improve the environmental protection capabilities of textiles
and competition strengths of textile corporations with
application of LCA in textile industry. Nieminen (2003)ex-
amined the different manufacturing processes of natural fi-
bers, synthetic fibers, and fiber mixtures as textiles by using
the LCA method. The experimental data inNieminen research
studies was derived from measurements of the manufacturing
processes, waste water analyses, and annual energy
consumption of the production facilities. Accordingly,
Nieminen declared that more research is required on
environmental indicators for textile products. Sule (2012)
studied the impact of clothing process, and his results indicat-
ed that sewing process was the main contributor to almost all
impact categories. A number of studies were conducted inves-
tigating the environmental impacts of cotton fiber and its fab-
rication using LCA (Kalliala and Nousiainen 1999; Tobler
2000; Muthu et al. 2012; Pruden 2012; Babu Murugesh and
Selvadass 2013; Pesnel and Perwuelz 2013; Sandin et al.
2013). Other studies focused on wool fibers, synthetic fibers,
and the impacts of their manufacturing on the environment
(Kalliala and Nousiainen 1999; Barber and Pellow 2006;
Walser et al. 2011; Muthu et al. 2012; Van der Velden et al.
2014).
Resources consumption and reduction was another point of
interest. Tobler (2000) carried out life cycle assessment in
textile finishing, and according to the results, this sector is
highly dependent on water and energy management.
Furthermore, LCA results vary according to the prime source
for energy. An initial action established by the European
Science Foundation for life cycle assessment of textile prod-
ucts and eco-efficiency (ESF) was reported by Nieminen et al.
(2007). The research network established by the ESF collected
European data of textile processing and performed several life
cycle inventory analyses. Researchers of the network focused
on new and emerging cleaner technologies, in order to mini-
mize the use of natural resources and energy consumption
patterns and move towards zero emissions. They declared that
LCA is considered to be an appropriate scientific base for an
environmental impact assessment.
Van der Velden et al. (2014) conducted a quick sur-
veyofLCAstudiesontextiles,wheretheystatedthat
Bmost of publicly available LCA and process data are
outdated.^They found that Collins and Aumônier
(2002) compiled the life cycle inventory (LCI) using
references dating from 1978 to 1999, Kalliala and
Talvenmaa (1999), and that Shen (2011) concluded their
works based on 1997 data (Laursen et al. 1997). They
added that Tobler-Rohr (2011) gave an excellent over-
view of textile production but did not provide enough
LCI data to base further LCA calculations on.
Consequently, Van der Velden et al. (2014)provideda
recent insight into the environmental burden of textiles
made from cotton, polyester, nylon, acrylic, and
elastane. They explained that in recent years, LCA has
been increasingly adopted by textile and apparel compa-
nies. Many actors in the textile and clothing chain use
LCA to assess the environmental impacts of textile-
related products. They agreed that further LCI data stud-
ies on textiles and garments are urgently needed to low-
er the uncertainties in contemporary LCA of textile ma-
terials and products.
In spite of the increasing number of LCA studies in
the textile sector, few approaches investigated the con-
tribution of developing countries in textile industry. The
current study is an updated contribution evaluating both
global and local environmental impacts of acrylic fiber
Int J Life Cycle Assess
manufacturing in one of the developing countries in
MENA region.
3Casestudy
Input and output data used in the current investigation
was collected from Alexandria Fiber Company, located
at Alexandria, Egypt. The company is the only acrylic
fiber plant in MENA region that produces high-grade
fiber (tow, tops, and staple fiber). It exports the pro-
duced fiber to more than 25 countries including the
surrounding countries in the Middle East, USA, and
some European countries. The plant production capacity
is 18,000 tons per year. The study area is located at the
south-west of Alexandria in the middle of Amreya dis-
trict, which is about 19-km length at the Merghim area
in the west boundary and approximately 5-km width
from the shore of Lake Maryout through the
Greenbelt. The urban expansion of the study area is
geographically restricted in the east, south, and north
sides by three natural boundaries. Boundaries at the
north and east are the Lake Maryout and Noubariya
canal. The southern area includes 40.3 km
2
of agricul-
tural land which can be considered a barrier against
further southern and west southern urban expansion.
NilewaterisprovidedtotheplantbyEl-Nahdacanal
which is a branch from Noubariya canal. The water is
treated in the water treatment unit inside the plant be-
fore usage in the process. Electrical energy is provided
from the local grid. Steam is generated by a close fa-
cility and sent to the material preparation and produc-
tion areas of the case study plant (El Raey et al. 2007).
The plant is close to the end user spinning mills, many of
which are located in Alexandria. It is established at the indus-
trial zone of El-Nahda region. The region is considered as a
natural expansion of the North West Delta region and is char-
acterized by mild topography. The location is traversed by a
network of roads connecting it to the main cities of the region
(Alexandria, Matruh, and Burg El Arab). The site of the plant
is surrounded by a number of large industries for production
of carbon black, tires, petrochemical, and agricultural sulfur
(El Raey et al. 2007).
Acrylic fiber production process takes place through
many stages in two main areas: material preparation and
production. Both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes
are generated from the main production areas. Non-
hazardous wastes include water vapor emissions which
are vented to air, waste water effluent which is sent to
the effluent treatment plant, and non-hazardous solid
waste such as papers, empty cans, and filter cloth which
are reused. As for the hazardous wastes, chemical va-
pors from material preparation area are absorbed and
recycled back to the process, and effluent from process
area and utilities is collected and sent to effluent treat-
ment plant for treatment before final disposal. Finally,
hazardous wastes consist of (a) solid waste fiber which
is dissolved and reused in the process and (b)
chemicals, collected and disposed of into a landfill for
hazardous waste. An environmental management system
is implemented to treat carefully and handle properly
these wastes, taking into consideration necessary safety
precautions.
4 Goal, scope, and system boundaries
The present LCA analyzed the impact of acrylic fiber
manufacturing on the environment starting from
obtaining the raw material until the end of the produc-
tion process (cradle to gate). Focus was given to water
consumption, energy utilization in acrylic fiber produc-
tion, and generated waste from the industry. Since the
goal of the present study was to obtain information for
decision makers and environmental protection purposes,
the output of the calculations is presented in the form of
separated single indicators to pinpoint the most influen-
tial factor(s). This approach was used recently by Van
der Velden et al. (2014) in finding benchmarks for the
textile industry.
The inputs taken into account were (a) chemicals that are
used as raw materials in the production process, (b) treated
water used during the process, and (c) energy utilization
(steam and electrical power). The outputs were (a) acrylic
fiber product, (b) liquid waste, (c) solid wastes, and (d) energy
losses (Fig. 1). Both life cycle inventory and life cycle impact
assessment of the different processes and products were eval-
uated and classified according to Eco-indicator 99 methodol-
ogy of the software program SimaPro 7.1.
In compliance with ISO14044 (2006) section 4.2.3.3.,
a cutoff criteria of 0.1 % was chosen as suggested by
Goedkoop et al. (2008). This threshold means that only
processes that contribute with more than 0.1 % to the
environmental load are selected. LCA single score and
weighting were modeled using Eco-indicator 99. The
effects of the resources used and the emissions generat-
ed would be grouped into a number of impact catego-
ries which are weighted for importance. Twelve impact
categories were taken into consideration including glob-
al warming potential (GWP), acidification potential
(AP), eutrophication potential (EP), carcinogen potential
(CP), ecotoxicity potential (ETP), respiratory inorganic
formation potential (RIFP), respiratory organic formation
potential (ROFP), radiation potential (RP), ozone layer
depletion (OLD), mineral depletion (MD), land use
(LU), and fossil fuel depletion (FFD).
Int J Life Cycle Assess
5 Inventory analysis
5.1 Data collection
LCA of the acrylic fiber industry under consideration
started with a systematic inventory of all materials con-
sumption, emissions, and liquid as well as solid wastes,
during the product’sentirelifecycle.Datausedinthis
study was obtained from case study plant. The data was
collected from the process manuals, utility manuals, data
sheets, and daily reports of 2012 (Table 1). The accept-
able time coverage of used data for LCA studies should
be within the last 5 years; consequently, the validity
period for the LCA results of the current study will be
until 2017 (European Environment Agency 1997).
Results of this inventory are presented in a list of
consumed resources and emissions following the sys-
tem of Goedkoop and Spriensma (2000). Impacts on
human health and ecosystem were estimated and gen-
erated using the software modeling program SimaPro
(Tables 2and 3).
5.2 Base materials and manufacturing process
Background data was modeled utilizing BEco-profiles^
from the Ecoinvent v2.2 as presented in Table 1.
Treated water data for production processes and waste
effluent data were only available for textile plant’stotal
production. Energy consumption data Bboth steam and
power data^were available for total production as well.
Considering that the situation is quite dependent on the
specific area, average electricity production data in
Africa was applied. As for the steam, the data of the
steam for chemical process at plant was employed as it
represents the case study.
The available data from textile chemicals covered the raw
materials, solvents, oxidizing agents, and catalysts used in the
manufacturing processes, including their production. Reused
and recycled solid wastes and excess solvents were
taken into consideration. Neither packaging nor
transportation were included in this study. A close
study by Van der Velden et al. (2014)reportedthat
the extent of transportation services is case-specific.
Consequently, usage of specific data does not seem pos-
sible to develop generic estimates. Van der Velden et al.
(2014) added that a fair part of the environmental im-
pacts caused by transportation cancels out across the
options studied. Dahllöf (2004) included packaging in
his study related to LCA of textile and recommended
not to include packaging in similar studies. Dahllöf
(2004) stated that by not including packaging the data
would have been easier to use and more transparent.
6 Results of life cycle assessment
By applying the LCA model to identify the overall impact
assessment of acrylic fiber production on the environment,
the share of each environmental category was calculated as
shown in Table 2. Fossil fuel depletion is found to be the
highest category impacted by the manufacturing of acrylic
fiber (82.0 % of the impact). The second highest impact is
on human health (15.9 %), and the least impact (2.1 %) is
on ecosystem quality.
6.1 Global warming potential
The global warming potential was taken into consid-
eration as an indicator of greenhouse effect. The cal-
culated potential indicates that the manufacturing of
1-kg acrylic fiber releases to the environment
Fig 1 LCA system boundaries
Int J Life Cycle Assess
approximately 5.4-kg CO
2
equivalent, as shown in
Table 3and Figs. 2and 3.
6.2 Acidification potential
Acidification potential as an indicator of acid rain phe-
nomenon was calculated as shown in Table 3. About
0.013-kg SO
2
equivalent is released from one kilogram
production of acrylic fiber.
6.3 Eutrophication potential
Eutrophication is generally associated with the environ-
mental impact of excessively high level of nutrients that
lead to shifts in microbial and algal species and increase
biological productivity. For each one kilogram produc-
tion of acrylic fiber 0.007 kg NO
2
is released through
effluent discharge to the nearest discharge canal as
shown in Table 3.
6.4 Carcinogen potential
As shown in Table 3and Figs. 2and 3, the carcinogen poten-
tial effect from the manufacturing of acrylic fiber is due to the
release of arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and chromium to both air
and water.
6.5 Ecotoxicity potential
Results of the ecotoxicity potential ofthe life cycle assessment
areshowninTable3and Figs. 2and 3. A potential for
ecotoxicity was found in all three sub-categories, attributed
to the emissions release of nickel and zinc from dyes.
7Discussion
As shown in Table 2, the highest impact is on the resources
which represents 82.0 % of the overall impact. The reason is
Tabl e 1 Input/output data for acrylic fiber production (1-kg production)
Name Amount Unit LCI data from Ecoinvent v2.2. Remarks
Inputs
Inputs from materials
Acrylonitrile 0.91 kg Acrylonitrile, Bat plant/REP,^(REP = region Europe)
Vinyl acetate 0.09 kg Vinyl acetate, Bat plant/REP^
Sodium chlorate 0.006 kg Sodium chlorate, powder, Bat plant/REP^
Sodium metabisulfite 0.018 kg Sodium persulfate, Bat plant/GLO,^(GL O = global)
Sulfuric acid 0.0003 kg Sulfuric acid, liquid, Bat plant/REP^
Sodium hydroxide (50 %) 0.019 kg Sodium hydroxide, 50 % in H
2
O, Bat plant/REP^
Titanium dioxide 0.0042 kg Titanium dioxide, production mix, Bat plant/REP^
Sodium sulfate 0.007 kg Sodium sulfate, powder, production mix, Bat plant/REP^
Nitric acid 0.0024 kg Nitric acid, 50 % in H
2
O, Bat plant/REP^
Demineralized water 0.144 m
3
Water demineralized ETH Treated water for production process
Inputs from electricity/heat
Electricity 1.32 kWh Africa I
Steam 9.8 kg Steam, for chemical processes, Bat plant/REP^Used mainly in dryers and material
preparation area
Outputs
Product
Acrylic Fiber 1 kg Main product of assembly
Waste and emissions
Waste effluent 0.069 m
3
Wastewater treatment, other emissions Collected from all areas
Hazardous waste from process 0.001 kg Disposal, hazardous waste, 0 % water, t
o underground deposit
Pigment waste, chemical bags, and cans
Chemical sludge 0.0012 kg Disposal, hazardous waste, 0 % water,
to underground deposit
From water treatment plant
Reused mixed plastics containers 0.001 kg Recycling mixed plastics Non-hazardous solids (containers)
Recycled textiles 0.004 kg Recycling textiles Filter cloth and waste fiber
Excess solvents (sulphuric acid and sodium hydroxide) are recovered and recycled. Input/output data was obtained from the case study company from
process production manuals, utility manuals, data sheets, and reports
Int J Life Cycle Assess
that production of acrylonitrile substance is a high consumer
of fossil fuels. The second highest impact is on human health
(15.9 % of the overall impact) followed by major effects on
the respiratory system of the human body and carcinogen
potential. This impact is due to the inorganic chemicals used
during the manufacturing process of the product. On the other
hand, the lowest impact is on ecosystem quality (2.1 % of the
overall impact) attributed to acidification impact on the envi-
ronment upon the usage of acrylonitrile, acids, and other
chemical compounds as raw materials.
LCA results in Fig. 2show the impact of acrylic fiber
manufacturing on the different environmental categories as
generated by the software model. These categories were fur-
ther assessed to set better analysis for the decision makers.
Fossil fuel depletion is the highest category affected by the
manufacturing process, followedby human respiratory system
due to inorganic substances. Potential impacts were also no-
ticed on climate change, acidification, eutrophication, and
ecotoxicity. The lowest impact was observed on carcinogen
potential. No impacts were detected on radiation, ozone layer
depletion, land use, mineral depletion, or human respiratory
system due to organic substances. The reason for not detecting
any impacts on the radiation potential is that the process of
acrylic fiber manufacturing does not use any radioactive ele-
ments. As for the ozone layer depletion, no substances which
may affect the ozone layers are generated from the industry.
Concerning land use, no usage of large land areas is required
for the production. Furthermore, organic substances and min-
erals used during the life cycle of the product had negligible
impacts on the environment.
7.1 Global warming potential
The calculated potential of global warming indicates that the
manufacturing of 1-kg acrylic fiber releases to the environ-
ment 5.4-kg CO
2
equivalent. Close results were reported by
Van der Velden et al. (2014); the result for their cradle to gate
analysis for synthetic textiles was 2.69–8.6-kg CO
2
eq/kg fi-
ber. Higher results were indicated by Beton et al. (2014)35.7-
kg CO
2
eq/kg fiber. Beton et al. (2014)statedthatsynthetic
fibers are based on fossil feedstock. BSR (2009) and Beton et
al. (2014) agreed that manufacturing of synthetic fibers has
high greenhouse emissions in comparison to other textile ma-
terials as a result of energy required for raw material
production and combustion energy required in the finishing
process. Beton et al. (2014) added that the most important
processes after raw material production and finishing process
are the formation, printing, and dyeing of the fabric, which are
electricity use-intensive. They specify that the next main con-
tributor to climate change impact after energy is the dyeing
process. As for carbon dioxide, it is mainly released during the
usage of fossil fuels in steam and electricity generation con-
sumed in the different processes. In order to reduce the overall
impact of acrylonitrile manufacturing on GWP, optimizing
and minimizing energy consumption within the different
stages of acrylic fiber production is recommended.
7.2 Acidification potential
As for the acidification potential, Barclay and Buckley (2000)
identified that air pollutants emitted from textile processes and
from energy production are the second greatest pollution
sources for the textile industry. Process emissions include vol-
atile organic substances and particulate matter from printing,
dyeing, and chemicals handling. At the same time, boilers are
one of the major point sources for air emissions, producing
nitrogen and sulfur oxides. In the current case study, air emis-
sions from acrylic fiber process are scrubbed in a monomer
gas absorber and recycled back to the process. Also, in agree-
ment with Barclay and Buckley (2000), we recommend min-
imizing the emissions to air from this industry by using tech-
nological approaches that do not require the use of volatile
chemicals, optimize boiler operations, and reduce the use of
solvents.
7.3 Eutrophication potential
Nitrogen and phosphorous levels released to waterways are
the major contributors to eutrophication potential (Bengtsson
and Howard 2010). NO
2
could lead to eutrophication phe-
nomenon as well (Alonso and Camargo 2006;USEPA
1993). Results in Table 3present the emissions from acrylic
fiber manufacturing contributing in eutrophication potential.
As indicated in the previous section, process emissions and
boilers are one of the major point sources for air emissions,
especially nitrogen. These emissions to air could be mini-
mized by usage of non-volatile chemicals, as well as optimize
boiler operations.
Tabl e 2 Overall impact of acrylic fiber manufacturing
End-point category Mid-point indicator Weighting
Human health Climate change 14.6 (%)
Respiratory inorganic/respiratory
organic formation potential
Ozone layer depletion
Carcinogen potential
Radiation potential
Ecosystem quality Land use 2.5 (%)
Acidification/eutrophication
Ecotoxicity
Resources Fossil fuel depletion 82.9 (%)
Mineral depletion
Data calculated by SimaPro 7.1 simulation software program
Int J Life Cycle Assess
7.4 Carcinogen potential
Results indicated that carcinogen potential from manufactur-
ing of acrylic fiber can be attributed to the release of arsenic,
cadmium, zinc, and chromium to both air and water. Arsenic
emissions to liquid and air are associated with the production
of copper wires used for the distribution of electricity (Beton
et al. 2014). The rest of the emissions including arsenic are
associated to dyeing process of the fabric. Laing (1991)and
Barclay and Buckley (2000) found that in textile industry, the
loss of dyes to effluent can be estimated to range from 2 to
10 % of the overall used dyes depending on the type of dye
used in the dying process. Different dyes containing these
emissions are applied to acrylic fibers including (a) acid dyes,
(b) basic dyes which require preparation as a double salt of
zinc, dichromates to oxidize, and (c) disperse dyes and phenol
compounds used with disperse dyes (Knackmuss 1996;
Slokar and Marechal 1998; Shenai 2001;Kolekar2010).
Ning et al. (2014) reported that components of synthetic dyes,
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are present as con-
taminants in textile dyeing sludge, which may pose a threat to
environment in the process of sludge disposal. Proper treat-
ment for process effluent must be done before discharge to
environment. As for emissions to air, benzo(a)pyrene is pro-
duced as a byproduct of incomplete combustion during steam
and electricity generation (US EPA 2013). Due to energy us-
age during the different stages of the acrylic fiber life cycle,
traces of benzo(a)pyrene are emitted to air. Minimizing these
Tabl e 3 Life cycle inventory of acrylic fiber manufacturing
Unit Amount (kg) Impact indicator
Emissions to air
Major elements
CO
2
kg 5.4 GWP
1
,RIFP
6
CO
a
kg 1.3 × 10
−5
GWP
1
CH
4a
kg 0.260 GWP
1
SO
2
kg 0.013 AP
2
,RIFP
6
NH
3b
kg 3.0 × 10
−5
AP
2
,RIFP
6
NO
2
kg 0.007 EP
3
Cd kg 2.0 × 10
−7
CP
4
,ETP
5
Ni kg 4.0 × 10
−6
CP
4
,ETP
5
N
2
Okg6.0×10
−5
GWP
1
,RIFP
6
Particulates, <10 um kg 0.001 RIFP
6
Minor elements
Particulates, <2.5 um kg 3.9 × 10
−4
RIFP
6
As kg 1.4 × 10
−9
CP
4
,ETP
5
Benzo(a)pyrene kg 6.5 × 10
−10
CP
4
Phenol kg 2.8 × 10
−10
CP
4
Zn kg 8.0 × 10
−7
ETP
5
Pb kg 6.0 × 10
−7
ETP
5
Cr kg 5.0 × 10
−7
ETP
5
Cu kg 5.0 × 10
−7
ETP
5
Hg kg 5.3 × 10
−10
ETP
5
Cr VI kg 1.1 × 10
−10
ETP
5
Liquid effluent
Major elements
As kg 5.0 × 10
−7
CP
4
Cd kg 4 × 10
−8
ETP
5
Cr kg 1 × 10
−15
ETP
5
Zn kg 12.8 × 10
−5
ETP
5
Cu kg 2.0 × 10
−5
ETP
5
Ni kg 4.0 × 10
−5
ETP
5
Minor elements
PAH kg 7.9 × 1 0
−7
CP
4
Solid wastes
Major elements
Cd kg 6 × 10
−7
CP
4
Cr kg 6 × 10
−7
ETP
5
Cr VI kg 1 × 10
−7
ETP
5
Zn kg 3 × 10
−7
ETP
5
Minor elements
As kg 4.5 × 10
−6
CP
4
Cu kg 7.7 × 10
−7
ETP
5
Tabl e 3 (continued)
Unit Amount (kg) Impact indicator
Resources consumption
Energy MJ 133 FFD
7
Wat er m
3
3.6
Major raw materials
TiO
2
kg 0.005
Sodium sulfate kg 0.004
Sodium chloride kg 0.027
Ni kg 0.0004
Mg kg 0.0002
Iron kg 0.010
Crude oil kg 0.3 FFD
7
Natural gas m
3
0.9 FFD
7
Coal kg 0.11 FFD
7
Data calculated by simulation software program SimaPro
GWP global warming potential, AP acidification potential, EP eutrophi-
cation potential, CP carcinogen potential, ETP ecotoxicity potential,
RIFP respiratory inorganic formation potential, FFD fossil fuel depletion
a
CO
2
equivalent
b
SO
2
equivalent
Int J Life Cycle Assess
traces of benzo(a)pyrene can be done by optimizing energy
consumption during the manufacturing of acrylic fiber.
7.5 Ecotoxicity potential
Results in Table 3and Figs. 2and 3indicate that there is a
potential for ecotoxicity in all three sub-categories of water
(fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity,
and terrestrial ecotoxicity) which is mainly attributed to the
release of nickel and zinc from dyes. In agreement with
Gomes et al. (2012), textile industries consume a large amount
of water and employ toxic products in their industrial processes
such as metals, solvents, and dyes. These dyes may contain the
toxic elements of chromium, cobalt, copper, nickel, zinc, lead,
mercury, cadmium, or arsenic (Laing 1991; Barclay and
Buckley 2000). In order to minimize their negative impacts
on the environments, more ecofriendly solvents and dyes must
be used. Additionally, effluent process must be treated before
final discharge to environment.
7.6 Respiratory inorganic formation potential
Analysis results in Table 3and Figs. 2and 3show that the
respiratory inorganic formation potential generated by the
manufacturing of acrylic fiber is due to the release of SO
2
,
N
2
O, and NO
2
to air. These emissions are generated from fuel
used during the production of the raw materials, i.e., acrylonitrile,
vinyl acetate, and titanium dioxide. Additionally, the generation
of steam used in the processes for materials preparation in the
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Climate Change
ROFP
RIFP
Ozon Layer Depleo
Carcinogens Potenal
Radiaon Potenal
Land Use
Acidificaon/Eutrophicaon
Ecotoxicity
Fossiel Fuels Depleon
Minerals Depleon
mpt*
Impact Category
Acrylonitrile producon
Steam Producon
T2O producon
VA producon
others
Fig 2 Impact assessment of acrylic fiber production on the environment per unit process (weighting), generated by SimaPro
0 50 100 150 200 250
Acrylic fiber manufacturing
DM water generaon
Nitric Acid Producon
Sulphoric Acid Producon
Sodium Chlorate Producon
Sodium Metabisulphite Producon
Sodium Hydroxide Producon
Acrylonitrile producon
Steam Producon
T2O producon
VA producon
Electricity generaon
Waste recyling
mPt*
Process
Climate Change
ROFP
RIFP
Ozon Layer Depleo
Carcinogens Potenal
Radiaon Potenal
Land Use
Acidificaon/Eutrophicaon
Ecotoxicity
Fossiel Fuels Depleon
Minerals Depleon
Fig 3 Impact assessment of acrylic fiber production on the environment per unit process (single score), generated by SimaPro
Int J Life Cycle Assess
manufacturing plant causes the release of particulates >2.5 and
<10 μm which increases this potential as well.
Moreover, according to US EPA (2011), air pollutant emis-
sions from the production of acrylic fiber include emissions of
acrylonitrile (volatilized residual monomer), solvents, addi-
tives, and other organics used in fiber processing. The most
cost-effective method for reducing solvent VOC emissions
from spinning process is a solvent recovery system. In wet
spinning processes which are used in this case study, distilla-
tion is used to recover and recycle solvent present in the
stream that circulates through the spinning, washing, and
drawing operations. This explains the negligible effect of sol-
vents used in the acrylic fiber industry.
7.7 Fossil fuel depletion
Table 3and Figs. 2and 3show that fossil fuel is the most
impacting category mainly due to the manufacturing of acrylic
fiber, as LCA results are consequences of the fact that the
manufacturing of acrylic fiber is energy-intensive (Barclay
and Buckley 2000 and BSR 2009). The analysis indicated that
the total energy consumed during the manufacturing of acrylic
fiber was 133-MJ/kg acrylic fiber. Close results were reported
by Van der Velden et al. (2014) with cumulated energy demand
(CED) for synthetic textiles ranging from 78.4- to 129.7-MJ/kg
acrylic fiber. Another figure was given by BSR (2009)which
indicated that 157 MJ of energy is used per kilogram of fabric.
The production of raw materials especially acrylonitrile and the
finishing process in acrylic fiber manufacturing requires large
consumption of energy (Beton et al. 2014).
7.8 Data uncertainty
The data presented in this case study is subject to sev-
eral uncertainties. The available data in the LCA data-
base used does not always reflect the reality of the
product being studied due to the geographical/regional
location of the case study (Baker and Lepech 2009).
There is no available database, to date, that represents
the regional location in Egypt or the Middle East, and
few data on the current databases represents Africa.
Data for basic materials used in the study is consid-
ered for the region of Europe (Ecoinvent v2.2 database),
which will represent the case study only if all the used
raw materials are imported from Europe. Energy data
for both electricity and steam generation may vary as
well based on the used database. The electrical data
used in this case study was the generated electricity in
Africa (IDEMAT 2001 database). This data represents
the average fuel use and emissions for total energy gen-
eration for the whole continent. As for the steam, on-
site steam source average was used (Industry data 2.0
database). This steam source is suitable for the current
case study as it represents the purchased steam from a
nearby generator. However, this may not be the case on
other case studies.
A further reason for the large uncertainties is the nature of
the textile sector which is characterized by very diverse prac-
tices (Van der Velden et al. 2014). The treatment of hazardous
and non-hazardous materials is one example for the diversity in
practices. Further investigations are required in order to assess
the different uncertainties related to textile manufacturing.
Investigating the methods of minimizing uncertainties related
to manufacturing in developing countries is needed as well.
7.9 Improvement options
It can be concluded from the investigation that several improve-
ments can be introduced for minimizing the negative impacts of
acrylic fiber manufacturing and converting it into a more
ecofriendly industry. Resources consumption comes as the top
issue that should be addressed since it is the highest category
impacted through the life cycle of acrylic fiber. Proper energy
management practices are a must for minimizing fossil fuel
depletion. Usage of energy-efficient washing machines, tumble
dryers, and irons, improve machine maintenance by applying
preventive maintenance, and optimizing boiler operations are
few examples. Practices for reduction of both water and energy
consumption include usage of low liquor ratio dyeing ma-
chines, continuous versus non-continuous dyeing, and
recycling of effluent by the use of in-house effluent treatment
systems (Beton et al. 2014;Yacoutetal.2014).
An overall reduction of impacts to both human health and
ecosystem quality can be achieved by replacement of harmful
chemicals by more ecofriendly technological options like re-
placing chemicals with enzymes, replace crude oil-based syn-
thetic fibers with biosourced synthetic fibers, use ecofriendly
washing detergents or employ electrochemical dyeing, con-
sidering pulsating rinse technology, usage of automated chem-
ical dosing systems, and usage of dye machine controllers.
Proper quality control for raw materials before finishing can
be done for minimizing chemicals consumption as well
(Beton et al. 2014). Another important approach for reducing
the overall impacts of textiles on the environment is by reduc-
ing the generated waste in the first place. This can be
employed through the recovery of fabric waste during produc-
tion and development of new technologies for recycling
methods for fiber blends and textile recovery (Beton et al.
2014). Furthermore, emissions to air from textile manufactur-
ing can be minimized by usage of design products that do not
require the use of volatile chemicals and reduce the use of
solvent (Barclay and Buckley 2000).
Textile industry is an energy- and water-consuming indus-
try which produces large amounts of pollutants. Development
of more ecofriendly techniques is required to minimize its
negative impacts.
Int J Life Cycle Assess
7.10 Further research needs
In the last few years, the number of life cycle assessment
studies associated with textile industry has been increasing.
However, it was noted that in spite of the large contribution
of developing countries in the global textile market, limited
studies addressed the environmental impacts of the different
processes and approaches used in textile manufacturing on
those countries. Recently, Ali et al. (2014) declared that
Arab countries and African continent, in particularly Egypt,
have thus far engaged in no life cycle assessment studies. In
view of the ongoing expansion in the textile sector in Africa
aiming at green field investments (UNCTAD 2015), future
LCA studies should address the impacts of textile production
in developing countries both locally and globally.
Availability of regional data for future LCA is an important
point that should be addressed. Life cycle inventory (LCI) data
are region-specific, energy fuel mixtures, and methods of pro-
duction vary from region to region. Until date, no available
database represents the regional location in the Middle East,
and few data on the current databases reflects context Africa.
New databases should be developed for the continent of
Africa and for countries in the MENA region. Furthermore,
in agreement with Ali et al. (2014), in order to standardize
LCA studies in Egypt, there is a need to develop an
Egyptian National LCI (ENLCI) database.
Additionally, it was noted in previous benchmark LCA
studies between production of various textile fibers (cotton,
wool, viscose, flax, silk, polyester, polyamide, acrylic, and
polypropylene) conducted by Beton et al. (2014) and Van
der Velden et al. (2014) that cotton has the leading contribu-
tion to environmental impacts. Results of both studies con-
cluded that cotton has the highest impacts among all the fibers
due to its large share in the textiles market and the nature of its
production. The detergent used for the washing process and
the energy used during the washing process itself have been
found to be significantly responsible for a high share of the
impacts. Future studies may consider the development of
LCAs of Egyptian cotton fibers due to its popularity on the
global market. Special attention should address the practices
of water usage during the manufacturing of cotton fibers and
preferable practices for its recovery and recycling.
8Conclusions
The current study analyzed the environmental impacts of
acrylic fiber manufacturing from one of the largest acrylic
fiber plants located in MENA region. The highest impact
was detected on fossil fuel depletion due to the high-energy
consumption of raw materials used as inputs for the
manufacturing of acrylic fiber. Impacts on the respiratory sys-
tem of the human body, carcinogen, and climate change
potentials were next due to the inorganic chemicals used dur-
ing the manufacturing process of the product. The lowest im-
pact was on ecosystem quality which could be attributed to the
acidification impact on the environment upon the usage of
acrylonitrile and chemical compounds as raw materials.
It was noticed that several improvement options can be
employed for minimizing the negative impacts of acrylic fiber
manufacturing and convert this industry into a more
ecofriendly one. Different suggestions were presented in this
study for reducing the overall impacts of this industry.
Reduction of energy and water consumption is the top issue
that should be addressed. Development of ecofriendly tech-
nologies for applications of textile industry is required as well.
Further research studies can be conducted addressing the en-
vironmental impacts of the different processes and approaches
used in textile manufacturing in developing countries.
Furthermore, for accurate and standardized LCA inves-
tigations, regional databases for Africa and MENA region
are necessary. As for future studies related to Egypt, the
development of an Egyptian National LCI (ENLCI) data-
base is highly recommended. Finally, due to the popular-
ity and extended usage of Egyptian cotton in the global
textile market, it was suggested that a proper investigation
for the manufacturing of cotton in Egypt is required. Such
an investigation will highlight valuable improvement op-
tions for a more ecofriendly product.
Acknowledgments Special thanks to both Dr. Abdelfattah Yacout and
Dr. Abdellatif M. Yacout for their cooperation and support during manu-
script preparation.
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