Surfactants LCI to be ready by 1995

05 September 1994 00:00  [Source: ICB]

EUROPEAN SURFACTANTS manufacturers and US consultancy Franklin Associates intend to publish by the year-end life cycle inventories (LCIs) for detergent surfactants, their chemical intermediates and raw materials.

According to the European Centre of Studies on Linear Alkylbenzene (Ecosol), the study is the most complete LCI that has been done in this area, both in terms of the number of participating manufacturers and product coverage.

As with the eco-balance studies published by the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe, the study is intended to establish a standard methodology for LCIs within the sector to provide objectivity in environmental comparisions between different processes. Aggregated data will be published, providing benchmarks for the processing steps of surfactant production against which individual producers can assess their own internal improvement programmes.

Last year Franklin Associates published a similar LCI for surfactant production in the US based on 1989-90 data. The European LCI uses the same methodology but covers more products, different processes and is more up to date, using data from 1992. But according to Ecosol's secretary, René van Sloten, parts will nevertheless still be comparable.

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly