Dataset: Feminine Hygiene Product Lifecycle Inventory and Impact Assessment
Description
A lifecycle assessment (LCA) of feminine hygiene products was completed with three samples considered representative of sanitary pads, tampons and menstrual cups. Gabi LCA software was used to organize inventory data with the ILCD lifecycle impact assessment method used to determine mid-point and normalized impact scores. Data from the Ecoinvent database, and literature were used to complete the assessment. The dataset includes product details (mass and materials), lifecycle inventory (LCI) data and lifecycle impact assessment (LCIA) results for all mass and energy flows. Hait and Powers [2019 ] used the data in a comparative LCA. Three representative samples selected to identify materials and mass of products (sanitary pad, tampon, menstrual cup). U by Kotex® Security® Maxi Pads and U by Kotex® Click® Tampons. Menstrual cup produced by DivaCup. The materials that comprise these products were identified primarily based on manufacturer specifications and through literature review. Both Kimberly-Clark and DivaCup list the materials in each of their feminine hygiene products on their respective websites. The average total weight and composition of tampons and sanitary pads were directly measured. GaBi LCA software was used to construct life cycle plans for each of the menstrual products as well as to populate those plans with processes in the life cycle of each product. The GaBi package includes a database of life cycle inventories for the production of several materials and energy sources. EcoInvent, v3.3 database was also used for materials not available directly through GaBi. The Gabi software was also used to determine mid-point and normalized mid-point categories for each of several indications. ILCD methodology for mid-point analysis was selected to use suitable characterization factors and contributing flows. Mid-point scores were divided by the normalization factor to provide a single overall and unitless score for each product. A. Hait, A., S.E. Powers, The Value of Reusable Feminine Hygiene Products Evaluated by Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment, Under review, Resources, Conservation & Recycling (2019)