| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺北科技大學 === 環境工程與管理研究所 === 105 === With the growing public awareness of hygiene and environmental issues, demand for hand drying products is increasing. The wide usage of hand dryers and tissue products has become an environmental issue to face. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the life cycle environmental impacts of hand dryer products and paper towel systems, and also to compare both hand drying methods. This study conducted a life cycle assessment in accordance with the hand dryer product category rules. The life cycle inventory data from case studies and literature reviews have been calculated using the SimaPro software database for CML methodology from Leiden University.
The results of the case study show that two hand dryer products (EcoMo and HK-JA) cause the following effects, respectively: 0.023605 and 0.02289 (kg Sb eq.) in Abiotic depletion; 5430.38 and 4446.077 (MJ) in Abiotic depletion (fossil fuels); 398.4447 and 324.6322 (kg CO2 eq.) in Global warming potential; 1.71E-05 and 1.44E-05 (kg CFC-11 eq.) in Ozone layer depletion; 0.114144 and 0.102997 (kg C2H4 eq.) in Photochemical oxidation; 1.829363 and 1.565342 (kg SO2 eq) in Acidification; 0.979894 and 0.849605(kg PO43- eq.) in Eutrophication. The emission factor analysis of this study indicates that electronic components and their electricity usage are the main contributors of all impact categories. The summation of two emission factors account for 96.2% in Abiotic depletion, 93.54% in Abiotic depletion (fossil fuels), 91.88% in global warming potential, 89.4% in acidification, and 95.1% in eutrophication. This study allows hand drying system users to make a more informed environment-friendly decision. Furthermore, hand drying product corporations are able to improve the environmental performance of their products more efficiently with an understanding of impact hot spots. This increase in green product design results in better company reputation and contributes overall to the sustainable development goal.
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