Life Cycle Inventory and Impact Assessment Data for 2014 Ingeo ^™ Polylactide Production

Ingeo polylactides are versatile biopolymers made from annually renewable resources and produced since 2001 by NatureWorks at what is now a 150,000 t/y facility in Blair, NE. NatureWorks published ecoprofile data for Ingeo production in 2003, 2007, and 2010. All the ecoprofiles were calculated using the Boustead Model, which has also been used by the European trade group PlasticsEurope (Brussels) since the early 1990s. Since 2011, PlasticsEurope has been updating the ecoprofiles for major fossil-based polymers using different life cycle assessment (LCA) consultants and updated databases. To ensure consistency and ease of comparison, NatureWorks has just updated the Ingeo ecoprofile it published in 2010 using the GaBi (version 6.3) LCA software and the latest available databases. This paper provides a description of the Ingeo production system, the 2014 Ingeo ecoprofile, and the calculation and evaluation of different environmental indicators. The results for primary, nonrenewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions are compared with the latest available data for a selection of fossil-based polymers produced in Europe and the US. This work also discusses topics such as the value proposition of biobased materials, land use for Ingeo production, land-use change, and water use, and also provides remarks about the interpretation of some life cycle impact assessment indicators.