The whole LCA system has been analyzed and designed by using the GaBi LCA software, and literature studies on both other LCAs and datasheets was used to gather key

1

Abstract

This study was about performing an LCA on a portable flash unit, C1, made by Profoto. The goal was to get an overview of the environmental impact of the C1 and to investigate hotspots in the production and/or use phase of the C1. The results from the LCA would then be

compared by LCAs made on similar products such as the C1, and in this LCA study the comparison was made on two different lamps, LED and CFL lamps. The reason for this is because no other LCA could be found on portable flash units and therefore LED and CFL lamps were chosen instead being the second closest product with the same function as the C1, to create light. The functional unit chosen in this LCA was 1 lumen-hour, which was the same functional unit used by the LED/CFL lamps, and CML 2001 method was used for life cycle impact assessment. In this study only the production and use phase were analyzed and no further investigation were made on the end of life phase of the C1.

The whole LCA system has been analyzed and designed by using the GaBi LCA software, and literature studies on both other LCAs and datasheets was used to gather key

manufacturing steps of each component of the C1 and rescaled to fit inside the given system boundaries.

From the results given, a conclusion can be made that the battery and the reflector, being two components found in the C1, had the highest contribution in environmental impacts, which is mainly due to the fact that these two components had the highest consumption of electricity.

The production phase was the phase with the highest impact in all the chosen impact

categories, and stood for 88-99% of the total impacts, while the use phase had an overall low contribution.

A scenario analysis was also made where the use phase was changed to three different countries, changing the electricity grid mix used during the use phase. This was done to see whether these changes would influence the overall results of the LCA, and to see whether the use phase still had a low impact compared to the production phase. The results achieved showed a very small change in the overall results in all the chosen impact categories for this study, only increasing the results with 1-3%. With this a conclusion was made that changing the use phase would not affect the overall results of this LCA, the fact being that the

production phase stood for the higher contribution in all of the impact categories.

Looking at the comparison part, the C1 had a lower impact in 3 out of the 5 chosen impact categories, compared to the LED/CFL lamps. Here the C1 had a lower impact in the Global Warming Potential- (GWP 100), Eutrophication Potential-(EP) and Ozone layer Depletion Potential-(ODP) impact category, while having a higher impact in the Human Toxicity Potential- (HTP) and Acidification Potential- (AP) impact categories, concluding that the C1 has an overall lower impact compared to CFL/LED lamps. The reason for the higher impacts in these two categories was mainly because of the usage of the aluminum reflector, which was the reason for the high impact in the HTP impact category.

For future studies Profoto could look over the possibility to exchange the reflector, which was made out of aluminum, for another material, since this could reduce both the cost and

environmental impact of the C1. The possibility of exchanging the battery would also be a possible future investigation, since it is the battery which decides the life span of the C1.

Being able to exchange the battery would improve the life span of the C1. Investigations

regarding the end-of-life phase of the C1 would also be recommended, since many of the

2

components are made out of plastic, which could be recycled. Profoto should also continue

making LCAs on their other products and compare the results to the C1, since this would give

a better comparison to the C1 with products more similar to itself.

3

Sammanfattning

Detta examensarbete handlade om att utföra en Livscykelanalys på Profoto’s produkt C1.

Denna produkt är en portabel blixtenhet som kan kopplas tillsammans med mobiltelefoner och producera professionella bilder, genom att producera blixtljus för att skapa mer levande bilder med telefonen. Målet var att ge Profoto en bättre förståelse kring hur deras produkt påverka miljön utifrån produktionsfasen och användningsfasen, samt hur dom i framtiden kan arbeta för att få ner dessa miljöpåverkningar. Dessa resultat jämfördes också med andra livscykelanalyser som gjorts på liknande produkter, men eftersom ingen analys kunde hittas på portabla blixtenheter, blev jämförelsen med C1:an istället med LED och CFL lampor.

Detta eftersom dessa produkter har samma funktion som C1:an, vilket är att producera ljus.

Dessutom användes en godtycklig funktionsenhet i analyserna kring LED/CFL lamporna som kunde appliceras på C1:an.

I denna livscykelanalys användes programmet GaBi där databaser och processer användes för att återskapa produktionskedjan av diverse komponenter, vilka alla produceras i Kina.

Dessutom återskapades användningsfasen, vilket utspelade sig i Sverige. Den metod som använts i denna livscykelanalys var CML 2001 metoden. Denna metod valdes för de analyser som gjordes på LED och CFL lampor använde denna metod. Resultaten visade att de

komponenter som tillförde mest till miljöpåverkan var batteriet och reflektorn då dessa krävde

mer konsumtion av el än de andra. Det visade sig också att C1:an hade lägre påverkan på tre

utav de fem kategorier som valts från CML 2001 metoden. Dessa tre kategorier var Global

Warming Potential- (GWP 100), Eutrophication Potential-(EP) and Ozone layer Depletion

Potential- (ODP) kategorierna, medan de kategorier där C1:an hade en högre påverkan var

Human Toxicity Potential- (HTP) och Acidification Potential.

4

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my supervisor from KTH, Nilay Elginöz Kanat, for guiding me through the work and helping me to both understand and create an LCA on my own. I would also like to thank my Supervisors at Profoto, Josefin Olsson and Anders Johnson, for helping me get the data that I needed and for being helpful during the study. I would also like to thank

Zeynep Cetecioglu Gurol for being my examiner and accepting me as one of her master thesis

students. Lastly, I would like to thank Profoto for making this thesis work possible and for

trusting me with the work of creating their LCA for the C1.

5 Table of contents

Abstract ... 1

Sammanfattning ... 3

Acknowledgement ... 4

List of tables ... 7

List of Figures ... 8

Abbreviations ... 11

1 Introduction ... 12

1.1 Background ... 12

1.12 Photo flashes ... 13

1.2 Previous LCA studies ... 15

1.3 Aims ... 16

1.3.1 Question at issue ... 16

2 Methodology ... 17

2.1 Life Cycle Assessment methodology ... 17

2.1.2 Goal and scope ... 18

2.1.3 Life cycle inventory Analysis ... 19

2.1.4 Impact assessment ... 20

2.1.5 Interpretation of LCA results ... 21

3 LCA study ... 22

3.1 Goal of this LCA ... 22

3.1.1 Target audience with this LCA ... 22

3.2 Scope of this LCA ... 23

3.2.1 Description of the system ... 23

3.2.2 Functional unit ... 23

3.2.3 System boundaries ... 24

3.2.3.1 Geographical boundary ... 25

3.2.3.2 Time boundary ... 26

3.2.3.3 Technical boundary ... 26

3.3 Inventory analysis ... 28

3.3.1 Processing and extraction of Raw materials ... 28

3.3.2 External components of the C1 ... 30

3.3.3 Production of components ... 31

3.3.4 Production of plastic components ... 31

3.3.5 Production of the reflector ... 32

3.3.6 Production of battery ... 32

3.3.7 Production of PCB ... 33

3.3.8 Production of USB cable ... 33

3.3.9 Packaging box & user guide ... 33

3.3.10 Transportation ... 34

3.4 Assumptions & choice of data ... 35

6

3.5 Usage phase ... 36

3.6 End of life phase ... 37

3.7 Results & comparisons from earlier LCAs on LED and CFL lamps ... 37

3.8 Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) ... 38

3.8.1 Impact category definition and factors of categorization ... 38

4 Results ... 39

4.1 Results on the C1 product ... 39

4.1.3 Scenario analysis ... 46

4.1.3.1 Distribution of environmental impact categories ... 47

4.1.3.2 Comparison of electricity grid mixes ... 48

4.1.3.3 Conclusion of scenario analysis ... 51

4.1.3 comparison with Earlier LCA studies ... 51

5 Discussion ... 56

5.1 C1 Results ... 56

5.1.2 Comparison between the C1 and earlier LCAs ... 58

5.2 Limitations of this LCA study ... 60

6 Future investigations ... 61

7 Conclusions ... 62

8 Sources ... 63

9 Appendixes ... 67

9.1 Appendix 1 ... 67

9.2 Appendix 2 ... 75

9.2.1 Calculation usage phase ... 75

7

List of tables

Table 1 Each component included in the C, including external components, and categorized

by its specific material group………..26

Table 2 Showing transportation data of all the components of the C1, including which country the component is manufactured from, type of transportation vehicle and the distance it is transported………..30

Table 3 CML 2001 impact categories used in this LCA study, showing the different units for each impact category, taken from GaBi (2020) ………..34

Table 4 Showing the raw data for each of the impact categories for each phase analyzed in this study………..37

Table 5 kg CO2 eq. from each of the components analyzed in the C1, from highest amount to lowest………..38

Table 6 Inventory data for bottom part molded in C1………..67

Table 7 Inventory data for light guide in C1………..68

Table 8 Inventory data for bottom part inside bracket in C1………..69

Table 9 Inventory data for model test button in C1………..70

Table 10 Inventory data for front ring in C1………..71

Table 11 Inventory data for PCB in C1………..71

Table 12 Inventory data for battery in C1………..72

Table 13 Inventory data for reflector in C1………..72

Table 14 Inventory data for packaging box in C1………..73

Table 15 Inventory data for inner tray in C1………..73

Table 16 Inventory data for user guide in C1………..74

Table 17 Inventory data for USB cable in C1………..74

8

List of Figures

Figure 1 A picture showing the C1 in use………..13

Figure 2 The framework and stages of a Life Cycle Assessment based on the ISO 14044 and ISO 1440 standard ………..17

Figure 3 A picture illustrating how system boundaries may look in an LCA model and showing the usual stages of an LCA, as well as inputs and outputs ………..18 Figure 4 An example of how a product system may look like in an

LCA………..19

Figure 5 picture of mandatory and optional elements available for the impact assessment stage of an LCA ………..20

Figure 6 Picture of the C1 ………..22

Figure 7 The defined system boundary for this LCA, including all the stages that will be included in this study………..23

Figure 8 All the life cycle stages of the C1 included in this study ………..25 Figure 9 A picture showing all the different components included in the C1

product . ………..27

Figure 10 Mass distribution of each material group in the C1………..27 Figure 11 Graph representing each material found in the C1 and their contribution to the chosen CML 2001 categories analyzed in this study………..39

Figure 12 Distribution of different CML 2001 categories within the production phase and use phase of the C1………..39

Figure 13 Graph showing the total contribution in the Abiotic Depletion Potential (ADP elements) for all the components found in the C1 shown in percent ………..12 Figure 14 Graph showing the total contribution in the Abiotic Depletion Potential (ADP fossil) for all the components found in the C1 shown in percent

………..41

Figure 15 Graph showing the total contribution in the Acidification Potential (AP) for all the components found in the C1 shown in percent

………..41

Figure 16 Graph showing the total contribution in the Eutrophication potential (EP) for all the components found in the C1 shown in percent………..42

Figure 17 Graph showing the total contribution in the Human Toxicity Potential (HTP) for all

the components found in the C1 shown in percent ………..42

9

Figure 18 Graph showing the total contribution in the Global Warming Potential (GWP) for all the components found in the C1 shown in percent………..43

Figure 19 Graph showing the total contribution in the Ozone layer Depletion Potential (ODP)) for all the components found in the C1 shown in percent ………..43 Figure 20 comparison of the C1 results where the electricity grid mix in the use phase is changed to Germany, EU-28 global mix and Spain………..45

Figure 21 Distribution of different energy sources generating electricity from the Swedish electricity grid mix……….. 47

Figure 22 Distribution of different energy sources generating electricity from the Spanish electricity grid mix……….. 47

Figure 23 Distribution of different energy sources generating electricity from the German electricity grid mix 48

Figure 24 Distribution of different energy sources generating electricity from the EU-28 electricity grid mix………..48

Figure 25 Comparison of the Global Warming Potential impact category caused during the life cycle of the C1 from this study and LED and CFL lighting systems from earlier

LCAs………..50

Figure 26 Graph comparing the distribution of CO

-emissions produced from the production and usage phase for the C1 and the LED and CFL lightning systems from other

LCAs………..51

Figure 27 Stating the amount of r11 eq. emitted from the C1 and CFL lamp, where the C1 had an amount of 6.7 * 10

kg r11 eq. while the CFL lamp has an amount of 2.6 * 10

r11 eq.………..51

Figure 28 Showing the Acidification Potential of the C1, 15W CFL light and the 19W LED light.………..52

Figure 29 Comparison of Human toxicity Potential for the C1, 15W CFL lamp, 12.5W &

6.1W LED lamp.………..52

Figure 30 Comparison of Eutrophication potential for the C1, 15W CFL lamp, 12.5W &

6.1W lamp.………..53

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11

Abbreviations

ADP – Abiotic Depletion Potential PC - Polycarbonates AP - Acidification Potential PVC - Polyvinyl Chloride

ABS - Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene PMMA - Polymethyl methacrylate

BFR - Brominated Flame Retardants POM - Polyoxymethylene

CO

- Carbon dioxide TPE - Thermoplastic elastomers

CO

-eq.- Carbon dioxide equivalents USB - Universal Serial Bus

E-dumps - Electronic dumps VOC - Volatile Organic Compound E-waste - Electronic waste

EVA - Ethylene Vinyl Acetate

ETSI - European Telecommunications Standards Institute EP – Eutrophication Potential

GHG - Green House Gases GWP - Global Warming Potential HTP – Human Toxicity Potential

ITU - International Telecommunication Union ICT - Information and Communications Technology kWh - kilo watt hours

LCA - Life Cycle Analysis LCI - Life Cycle Inventory

LCIA - Life Cycle Impact Assessment mAh - milli Ampere hour

Mlmh - Mega lumen hours MJ - Mega Joule

Ozone layer Depletion Potential - ODP

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1 Introduction

1.1 Background

One of the major issues in the world today is the growing demand and dependence on new technology such as electronic devices. It has been increasing rapidly, due to the fact that the population on earth is growing and therefore pushing the technology market to mass produce new modern electronic devices. But even though new technologies and new electronic devices helps the world to develop into a high-tech society, it also causes great problems. These problems are the growing concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that is slowly destroying the environment on this earth (Lindsey et al. 2019).

Other than emissions being produced from the growing demand of energy, another type of pollution has started to grow during these last years. This kind of pollution is called electronic pollution. This pollution, as the name states, comes from the usage and disposal of electronic devices, which is, like the energy demand, growing rapidly together with the population growth.

Electronic pollution, also called electronic waste (e-waste), is caused when electronic devices has reached their end of life phase. What counts as e-waste is usually devices that either goes through recycling, disposal or get reused by another user. The problem here is that reused electronic devices often ends up in developing countries where parts are sorted and handled by hand, causing a great risk of human health effects. Another effect of these electronic dumps (e- dumps) is that they increase the environmental pollution effect (Needhidasan et al. 2014).

Today electronic devices are one of the major areas whose market is increasing rapidly, and because of this trend, studies have shown that the average lifespan of commonly used devices are decreasing due to the high market demand, due to the fact that companies want to sell more (Needhidasan et al. 2014). Because of this trend, e-dumps are increasing in size all over the world, releasing more toxic waste and air pollution in the environment. One of these dangerous substances, causing great damage to both human health and to the environment, are brominated flame retardants (BFRs). This group of substances are divided in subgroups of different substances that usually are found in polymeric materials such as plastic parts (wires, circuit boards, cables etc.), and also found in other materials such as textiles and resins. But since these substances are such good flame retardants for numerous kinds of electronic devices, studies have shown that the overall global consumption of these substances has increased from 40 000 ton to 67 440 ton, during the 1990-2001 timespan. Since most of the electronics that are in their end phase ends up on electronic landfills, a high percentage of the materials are burned up and not reused. The cause of this is that dangerous emissions are caused from the landfills, releasing both CO

emissions and other more toxic emissions into the atmosphere. Because of this growing trend, e-waste is climbing the latter of sources that contribute most to a negative impact on the environment (Anh et al. 2017).

Together with the increasing energy demand and the fact that the prices for usage of fossil fuels

are increasing rapidly, the need for a change to renewable energy sources, and biodegradable

materials is critical. This, since both electronic devices and energy generation are still are very

dependent on fossil fuel usage. The effects, however, are not only connected to human health

and our environment, but also to economics and welfare (European Environment Agency, 2018,

Needhidasan et al. 2014).

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Due to the high increases of CO

-emissions and other toxic waste released from industries, e- dumps and homes, the overall temperature on earth has increased, and reports show that during the year 2020 the temperature will have increased 0.5 °C compared to the temperature that was measured in the year span 1986-2005, which landed on 13.9 °C (NOAA climate, 2019).

Because of the increase in heat on earth glaciers are melting as well as sea ice, causing rapid rise in sea level. This also causes precipitation patterns to shift, making life for many animal species difficult. Other than that, the increase in heat causes extreme weather changes, and even natural disasters such as massive hurricanes, overflooding’s and more. Therefore, global warming is not just an issue for animals, but also for mankind, since global warming will make natural disasters more common and extreme, effecting both homes and workplaces all around The world (Global Change Biology, 2015).

Industries producing and developing technical equipment and software are known for producing GHG emissions and since the request for more technology products are increasing with the growing population, these industries are the major areas that stands before a major challenge of reducing their environmental impact. However, there are many companies today that know their environmental impact needs improvement and therefore invest in finding ways to reduce their carbon footprint (Forbes, 2019).

One method that is increasing in popularity between industries is the use of Life cycle assessments (LCA). This master thesis will make an environmental assessment regarding the production and usage of the portable camera flash C1, produced by Profoto. The assessment will be based on the usage of LCA methodology.

1.12 Photo flashes

Photography has long been an important tool since photography has helped us to both captured and remember important moments in history. But to produce pictures light is needed. The first light source that was used during photography was the sun, which limited the time for taking photos since it was impossible to do without the sun. Since this was not an optional way to work it did not take long before the first artificial light came to cameras and in 1839 the first artificial photograph was taken. Here the artificial light came by using an oxy-hydrogen light.

This created light by heating up calcium carbonate with flaming oxygen until incandescent light emerged. However, this technique with producing light created problems with the finished photograph since the light produced were not optimal. Therefore, other options came along to replace the oxy-hydrogen light and one of these replacements were flash powder. Here magnesium wires wrapped in tapers with reflectors was burned which created a very strong white light. But this technique was not that efficient either (envato 2020).

In the 1890s the flash bulb was invented. Here the bulbs were oxygen filled with aluminum wrapped around them and light was created by burning the oxygen with a battery. Due to the fact that this technique both were safe and easy to use the flash bulbs started to get mass produced and different types of flash bulbs were created which evolved the photography industry (envato 2020).

During the 1930s the electronic flash was introduced to the world. The electronic flash had

many advantages compared to the flash bulbs, but the more important ones were the fact that

flash intensity could be adjusted and also controlled, and the it was also rechargeable. The flash

bulbs on the other hand could only be used once and was very expensive. The electronic flash

14

is used still today and there are many different types of flashes to use and this type of flash has made a big impact on the whole photo industry since photos today have extraordinary quality and sharpness and has made it possible to take photos in all types of environments (envato, 2020).

The photo industry is still evolving but one thing which is of big interest today is creating professional photos with smartphones instead of using digital cameras, since smartphones are coming with more enhanced camera technologies to make it easier to take professional photos.

Because of this the development of flashes, that can be connected to smartphones, has grown more and more and one of these portable flash units are the C1.

The C1 is a portable flash unit that can be connected to smartphones for creating professional photos (see figure 1). The C1 unit can be coupled by using Bluetooth and has a variety of different light functions that can be used to get high quality professional pictures with a smartphone. The C1 is designed to fit in the palm of hand and is very light to make it easy to bring wherever the photo is to be taken, and since it is wireless it is very easy to hide during photoshoots, to make sure it does not end up in the taken picture. The C1 also has a wide spectrum of light settings which can be changed by using the Profoto app, where light intensity, color temperature and other settings can be changed manually (Profoto, 2019).

Figure 1 A picture showing the C1 in use (Profoto, 2019).

15 1.2 Previous LCA studies

In the year 2013 a report was published where a comparison between different light sources were conducted. In this report earlier LCAs were gathered and analyzed. These gathered reports included LCAs on LED lamps and compact fluorescent lamps. These reports were all investigated and compared to analyze how well the LCAs had been performed and if there were any significant differences on the gathered results (Tähkämö 2013).

From this report they concluded that the use phase of the light sources was the main hotspot for life cycle impacts and stood for 94% of the four impact categories studied (Abiotic Depletion Potential (ADP), AP Acidification Potential (AP), Global Warming Potential (GWP), Eutrophication Problem (EP)). The second highest contributor was the manufacturing of the lighting systems, where, for the LED lamps, the aluminum reflector and heatsink were the main contributors during manufacturing. From this the authors concluded that the critical parameter that could change the results rapidly was where the energy source came from, which provided electricity to the lamps during the usage phase, and where the manufacturers were situated (Tähkämö 2013).

In another study made 2019, an LCA was made on different lightning systems used indoors in France. Here LED lightning also was one of the lightning systems that were analyzed and, in this study, the LCA performed showed that the main hotspot for life cycle impacts did not come during the usage phase, but instead came from the manufacturing step of the whole system, standing for 59-70% of all the impacts. One of the reasons for this however is because they only used a French electrical grid mix, which gave a reduction in life cycle impacts, compared to the earlier study discussed above which used different electrical grids. But the LCA study from 2013 used a French electrical grid mix for one of the LCAs, which gave an overall reduction on life cycle impacts compared to the other LCAs, which concludes the importance of where the electrical grid mix is put during the usage phase for LED lights (Bertin et al. 2019).

A third study, which also made an LCA on LED/CFL lightning systems, compared CFL and LED lightnings with ordinary incandescent lights to see which lightning systems had the highest environmental impact. From this study results showed that both the CFL and LED lightning systems had an overall lower impact compared to incandescent lights. Two different LED models were also included in the study where one of the LEDs compared were a later model compared to the other one. The results showed that the later LED models had the lowest impact of all the lightning systems compared in this study, while the CFL light had a slightly higher impact than the older model of the LED light, while the later LED model had the lowest impacts of all lightning systems (Scholand et al. 2012).

The study also included and compared the impacts on four categories, which was air, water, soil and resources, where the results also showed that the incandescent lights had the highest impact in all categories, followed by the CFL lighting systems. The study also concluded that the use phase was the phase contributing most to the environmental impacts included in the results and that the component with the highest impact was the aluminum heat sink, which was found in the LED lightning systems (Scholand et al. 2012).

In another study where an LCA also was conducted, a CFL lighting source was compared with

incandescent lamps. Here no LED lighting systems were included, and the comparison was

made only between the incandescent lights and the CFL lights. The study included a comparison

on impact categories taken from the CML 2001 method, where the AP, ADP, EP and POCP

16

impact categories were analyzed. From the results achieved the comparison showed that the CFL had an overall lower impact on all tested impact categories, compared to incandescent lights and that one CFL lamp produced four times less greenhouse gases compared to 10 incandescent lights during the same time period. It was also found that the Global Warming Potential (GWP) impact category had the highest numbers on both lighting systems, where the CFL lamp produced around 1.1*10

kg CO

-eq/lmh. It was also concluded that the use phase for both lighting sources had the highest production of CO

emissions, followed by the disposal of the lamps during the end phase, while production had the lowest amount of emissions produced (Elijošiutė 2012).

All studies showed that the usage of LED lightning systems, both indoors and outdoors, had a lower overall environmental impact than other light models, such as incandescent lamps, and could compete with Compact Fluorescence Lamps (CFL), and that the LED lamps that were exchangeable, during the use phase, reduced the impacts even more.

In this study, these reports will be used to compare the LCA impact results from the C1 product, since the reports discussed above uses functional units that is acceptable to use in this LCA study. In addition, LED lights and the C1 has a similar function, which is to create light (see sections below explaining this further). In this study, the comparison will be how the environmental impacts will differ if LED/CFL lights is used instead of the C1, but still serving the same purpose, to create good lighting for photography.

1.3 Aims

1.3.1 Question at issue

The goal with this master thesis is to evaluate the environmental impact of producing the C1 and if there are any major areas where the impacts are higher and present the results to Profoto.

The goal is also to improve the overall knowledge at Profoto towards their environmental

impact, also to investigate whether there are any improvements that can be applied to reduce

their environmental impacts. In the following sections, LCA methodology will be explained, as

well as explaining how this study is performed. The data from this study will later be analyzed

using the GaBi software. The results given by this study can then give Profoto a chance to better

understand their environmental impact and how to better improve their products towards a more

sustainable production and design.

17

2 Methodology

2.1 Life Cycle Assessment methodology

Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used by industries, governments, universities etc. and is a method for identifying environmental hotspots during production of a certain product as an example. By performing an LCA companies or industries can also use the results to advertise and improve their environmental management strategies but can also be used by governments to improve and create new policies towards the environment such as harder material- or product- restrictions. Other than that, LCA software are used in universities to get students involved in environmental thinking and strategies, to create an overall interest towards a more sustainable way of thinking (Lavagna et al., 2018).

The concept of LCA evolved from the former energy analysis from 1960s and has been used for the purpose of mapping environmental impacts throughout different scenarios. What is beneficial when doing an LCA is that a product can be analyzed from cradle to grave, which means that emissions can be traced and analyzed from the early stages of the production of the product, all the way to its end phase. Because of its application towards industries and other more complex systems, the usage of LCA methodology has become more common in research papers, industry reports and policy. This approach towards sustainable thinking and production is therefore expanding and more companies are now starting using methods to understand the environmental effects on their products. This increasing interest from companies is a result of the environmental issues today and is a major focus by both politics and consumers (Marcelle C. McManus et al. 2015, McKinsey, 2011)

One problem with using LCA methodology is that it takes time and can be difficult to analyze and understand. Since LCA methodology is based on ISO standards, the usage of LCA requires certain steps that needs to be followed (see figure 2) for the LCA to be successful (Marcelle C.

McManus Et al. 2015). These steps are specifically based on ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 and

are guidelines to give LCA methodology some regularity. They are meant to be used as support

when going through all the steps, by giving in depth knowledge of what should be included in

each step of the LCA framework. Organizations such as the International Telecommunication

Union (ITU,2012) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI, 2011)

have created documents providing Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

enforcements to give the usage of LCA tools as transparent as possible. In this way it ensures

that the results that are achieved from the LCA are reliable since, for an LCA to be approved,

must follow these steps accordingly (Frischknecht, 2004).

18

Figure 2 The framework and stages of a Life Cycle Assessment based on the ISO 14044 and ISO 1440 standard (ISO, 2006a; ISO 2006b).

In the following section all the steps of an LCA will be explained thoroughly and laid out according to the ISO model, as figure 1 illustrates.

2.1.2 Goal and scope

The first step in creating an LCA is to define the goal and scope of the LCA. Here work should involve answers to why the LCA should be performed and to what extent. The goal should include an explanation as to why the study should be performed and who the LCA is for. Also, whether the results given from the LCA should be used for internal use within the study itself, or if it should be shared with the public, according to ISO standard (Ahlgren 2004).

The scope is where choices are made and used to determine as to which extent the LCA methodology should be applied, including system boundaries, the function of the product in question and functional unit. Here the functional unit should define the benefit, which is provided from the system of the product, and is a reference point that can be used to quantify the inputs and outputs of the system (Ahmadi Achachlouei, 2015).

The system boundaries are a very important part of the scope, since it helps to set the limit to

where the data should be collected, and what data should be included or not in the later steps of

the LCA (see figure 3). Here it is important not to make the system boundaries too big, since

that could result in that the results of the LCA is too complicated to interpret. Instead system

boundaries should be used to specify the system in smaller parts to make the overall process

easier to perform. Important here is that the system boundaries may come in more than one

dimension and therefore needs to be specified. These boundaries can vary between nature and

technical systems, or boundaries between productions of related life cycle of other similar

19

products (Tillman et al. 1994). This then helps the executer to clarify and determine the level of detail of the chosen model, and also helps with making sure that factors such as technologies, time and location is prior to the model (Ercan, 2013).

Figure 3 A picture illustrating how system boundaries may look in an LCA model and showing the usual stages of an LCA, as well as inputs and outputs (Guinee et al. 2011).

2.1.3 Life cycle inventory Analysis

In this step of an LCA, the LCI (Life Cycle Inventory), a structure is made to the flow diagram, where inputs and outputs of the product in question is presented and represents the materials and energy inputs and outputs. The flows get quantified and the quantitative values of each flow are determined. The quantification of the flows is based on the following topics:

- needs of materials and energy

- the including of all relevant manufacturing processes

- storage requirements of the product, transportations and distribution - usage and reusage alternatives

- end-of-life scenarios

These topics then creates the overall flow diagram of the entire product and all the necessary steps included in the production are included and is used as a structure to make sure the LCA includes all the important flows that could be of interest (Tillman et al. 1994).

The inventory analysis is considered to be the most time consuming step in the whole LCA.

The reason for this is, as mentioned above, all the factors that must be taken into consideration.

In this particularly step the inputs and outputs are collected from either the company or the

manufactures, and if the product to be analyzed have several components, they all have to be

analyzed and quantified. This applies for all the different processes within the system

boundaries and the data collection must include all upstream processes and downstream

20

processes (see figure 4). However, depending on the software, some of the required data is already available in databases found in the software (George et al. 2015).

Another situation that can occur during this step, is when the product goes through processes that is shared with other products as well, which result in that the allocation problem must be considered. Since this should be avoided in an LCA, one solution is to divide the process into several sub-processes, or as another alternative, expand the detail levels within the system (Ercan, 2013).

Figure 4 An example of how a product system may look like in an LCA (Westweb, 2020).

2.1.4 Impact assessment

In the Life Cycle impact assessment (LCIA) the goal is to understand the potential

environmental impacts caused by the product. This is done by evaluating the significance and

magnitude of the different environmental impacts, which involves categorization and

characterization of the flows gathered from the inventory analysis, see section 2.1.3. There are

different categories to considerer when doing the impact assessment, and some of these

categories are Global Warming Potential (GWP), Depletion of abiotic resources, Ozone layer

depletion and Toxicities. These categories are then estimated at the mid- or endpoints, which

consists of indicators. The midpoint indicators are defined as the areas of protection, such as

21

human health, natural resources and natural environments. The endpoint indicators are defined as the impacts that come between endpoint and emissions (Capaz et al. 2016).

An optional part in the impact assessment step, is to include optional elements such as grouping of categories, weighting of indicators, normalization and data quality analysis (see figure 5).

These categories could have great importance to the overall LCA since these categories helps to reduce uncertainties in the results. An example is data quality analysis can be used to perform a sensitivity analysis of the data achieved, in order to check the reliability. This is necessary since preferences could differ depending on the executioner of the LCA (Mannan, 2012)

Figure 5 picture of mandatory and optional elements available for the impact assessment stage of an LCA (Picture taken from pp15 of ISO 14040 (Blanc et al. 2010).

2.1.5 Interpretation of LCA results

In this step of the LCA the data achieved should be analyzed and evaluated. This step is an

ongoing step throughout the whole LCA (see figure 1) and the summary and end result of the

interpretation phase is therefore a set of recommendations and conclusions for the study in

question. The interpretation phase should however include specific parts, according to ISO

14040:2006. In this part evaluation of the whole study, where completeness, sensitivity and

consistency checks should be included. An identification of issues that are significant, based on

the results of the Life Cycle inventory (LCI) and Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) should

also be included. Lastly conclusions, recommendations and limitations should be a part of the

interpretation phase as well. All these different parts have the purpose of making sure that the

performance of the LCA has a certain level of confidence in the final results given form the

study, and to be able to discuss the results in way that can be presentable (Cao, 2017).

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3 LCA study

3.1 Goal of this LCA

The goal of this LCA can be concluded with the following points:

• Help Profoto map their environmental impact by performing an LCA on their product, C1, by assessing each component included in the C1.

• Analyze the environmental impacts caused by the C1 during its production phase and usage phase.

• Investigate where, in the production process, the hotspot for potential environmental impacts is located and which processes are the major contributors.

• Compare the results with earlier LCAs made on similar products

• Interpret the results and present them internally to the Profoto Staff, helping Profoto understand their environmental impact on a more general level, regarding the C1.

• With the results from this LCA give future investigations and suggestions on how Profoto better can work with sustainability.

3.1.1 Target audience with this LCA

As mentioned above the LCA and the results achieved from this study will be presented and

explained internally to the Profoto staff. This study could result with Profoto adding the data in

their coming sustainability report if first reviewed by an expert. Results given in this study

could be used further for Profoto customers upon request to inform them of the impacts caused

by the C1, with caution on the reliability of the results. This report could also be ISO-certified

if an expert review and approves the content.

23 3.2 Scope of this LCA

3.2.1 Description of the system

The LCA will be made on the C1 flash unit. The C1 has a height of 4.9 cm and a total diameter of 7.4 cm. the maximum lumen per flash taken is 1600 lumen, having a max illuminance of 800 lux at 1 m. The color temperature range of the C1 is 3000-6500 K and has a coloring rendering index (CRI) around 90-98. The battery type in the C1 is a Li-polymer battery with a total capacity of 1500 mAh, giving a usage time of 40 minutes before it needs to be recharged. The recharging takes about 2 hours before the C1 is fully recharged and the C1 have a life span expectancy of 2 years, since the battery tend to decrease rapidly in efficiency after 2 years of usage.

The system in this LCA will be limited to the production phase and usage phase. In the production phase the different components of the C1 is included and connected together in a flow diagram, where production for each component will be included. Transportation activities is included in the system and analyzed, and to make the LCA result more arbitrary, the external components, such as USB charging cable, packaging cardboard and instruction manual for the C1, is included as well.

In the use phase it will be assumed that the C1 will be used in Sweden, but a scenario analysis will be made where the use phase will be analyzed and compared in three other scenarios.

Charging requirements of the C1 will be included as well as the estimated life span of the C1.

The end phase will not be included in this LCA study, instead this phase will be discussed in the discussion part.

3.2.2 Functional unit

The function of the C1 is to work as a studio light source for photography using smartphones.

It can either be used to produce flashes or used with continuous lighting, to give photos, by connecting it with a smartphone, a more professional look (see figure 6). The functional unit for this LCA is lumen hours (lmh) and this will be the reference flow for the other flows included in the system. Since no LCA has been done on other products similar to the C1, the results will later be compared to the environmental impacts per lumen hours produced by a common LED and CFL light. This functional unit is valid to use since the function of both the C1 and a LED lamp is to produce light.

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Figure 6 Picture of the C1 (Profoto 2020)

3.2.3 System boundaries

When deciding the system boundaries there are many different aspects to consider, and as

mentioned in section 2.12 there are different boundaries that can be included. These areas are

time-, geographical- and technical boundaries (see figure 7). Other than that, there are different

boundaries to considered when deciding where to put the system boundaries, which can be

divided into categories. These categories of each boundary for this study will be discussed

below.

25

Figure 7 The defined system boundary for this LCA, including all the stages that will be included in this study.

3.2.3.1 Geographical boundary

When looking at the geographical boundaries many of the different components are produced and manufactured in different parts of the world, and all components are later transported to a manufacturing facility in Thailand. In this facility all the different components are assembled into the C1 product. Because different components are produced in different countries, the geographical boundaries will be set by looking on where each component is made and from there input data that is set for that specific country in GaBi, such as electricity grid mix etc.

Since the use phase will be limited to Sweden the final C1 product will be assumed to be transported only to Sweden in this LCA, during the usage phase and therefore a Swedish electricity mix will be applied in the GaBi program. However, during the production phase, a global average electricity usage will be applied in the GaBi program, as well as other input data during the production phase.

C1

Usage phase

System boundary

26

It will also be assumed that every transport of each component will be transported mostly by truck but also with cargo airplanes. This is due to Profoto having difficulties gathering transportation data, since their manufacture partners are located on different parts of the world.

This kind of data will be modeled and made in GaBi, but distances traveled for each component has been calculated based on flying and road routes that are used by cargo airplanes and trucks to and from each country involved. Consumed fuel and fuel type of each transportation vehicle will also be set by using the databases found in GaBi, and no further investigation on this type of information was made during this study.

3.2.3.2 Time boundary

According to test results and data received from Profoto an assumption is made that the life span of the C1 product will be set to 2 years. Other processes and materials included in this LCA will be based on the premade processes found in the GaBi software. Further investigation on the ageing of other components in the C1 will not be included or mentioned in this report.

However, the life span of some of the components will be discussed for future scenarios in later sections of this study. No time will neither be spent in trying to get data, regarding life span, on the different components from manufacturers. This is mainly due because of the amount of different manufactures involved in the production phase, and because this kind of data can be assumed to give a small effect on the given results for this study.

3.2.3.3 Technical boundary

The technical boundaries of this LCA is set to include all the components in the C1, including the extra accessories added to the C1 product. In the case of the C1, the USB cable and packaging box has been added to the system to provide Profoto with a more detailed LCA of the C1 product. However, the extraction and processing of the raw materials for each accessory will be set by predefined processes from GaBi and combined with data taken from other reports.

Second suppliers, meaning that the suppliers for the manufacture companies, are not included in the system since the availability of this kind of data were not found in this study. Instead transportations from manufacturers to the assembly factory will be included in the system, as well as the transportation from the assembly factory to the customer, which in this case is limited to Swedish customers living in Sweden.

The processing steps of each component have been added as well to get a more detailed LCA

result and here data have been collected from literature as well as calculations made during the

inventory analysis. This data will be applied to the GaBi software and rescaled to fit the

functional unit of this LCA, and data will also be taken from GaBi databases, since information

from manufacturers involved was not available. The production of the fuel type needed for

transportation will also be included by using the data bases from the LCA software to make the

LCA more detailed and better picture of all the different process steps involved when making

the C1 product (see figure 8).

27

Fig 8 All the life cycle stages of the C1 included in this study.

- Plastics - Metal - Paper - Other

Production of components

-Bottom part (molded) - Light guide

- Bottom part inside bracket

- Model test button - Front ring

- PCB -Battery - Adhesive - Reflector - Packaging box - Packaging inner tray - user guide

- USB cable Raw material

extraction and processing

Assembly of C1 components

Package assembling

Usage Phase

User scenario:

Swedish user User assumptions:

- 30min usage before recharging required

- 2 years life span - 40 min to recharge to full capacity Transportation

System boundary

28 3.3 Inventory analysis

In this LCA the processes of all components have been included in the inventory analysis and will be applied in the GaBi software. What should be noted is that no other LCA has ever been performed on any of Profoto’s products, nor has an LCA been done on similar products to the C1. Due to the issue of finding relative data and processes through other LCA results for the C1, some process data included in this LCA has been collected from data sheets found in in other studies and papers. The studies and paper which have been used, have focused on processes that components of the C1 has gone through and have been supplying reliable and relevant data for this LCA. Data from these studies has also been recalculated or rescaled to fit the unit of each component. All the required data have been checked and compared with other reports to secure validity of used data. In this section all the different parts in this inventory analysis will be introduced.

3.3.1 Processing and extraction of Raw materials

To ensure that every component of the C1 was included in the inventory analysis, the C1 was taken apart and each part was first weighed on a scale (see figure 9). Then each component was categorized, and the materials and characteristics was analyzed. This step is crucial since it is here each component is tracked back to the different processes and raw material extractions that each component goes through. Here all the different manufacturers of the different components were tracked down. But due to difficulties in communication and the fact that the manufacturers are located in different countries, data and information was gathered through already existing data sheets. These data sheets, as mentioned in section 3.2.4, were thoroughly compared with other numbers to ensure validity of the data achieved. They were also used to further get a picture of the different processing steps and, which later will help constructing the system and system boundaries in the LCA model. The data of the raw material extraction and processing as well as the production of each component, will then be used to find similar data and processes already existing in the GaBi software. By converting the data in GaBi by using the GaBi database, the different processes will be analyzed thoroughly, and the environmental effects of each component will then be calculated.

To be noted here is that the raw material extraction of the separate components for the Li- polymer battery will not be thoroughly analyzed, since the battery consists of many different parts. Instead the production of the battery has been simplified and divided into three different stages that represent the main processing steps of battery production.

Other than mapping the different processes of each component in the C1, all the components

were categorized into different materials, and in the C1 materials used are mainly plastics,

metals, and other materials such as adhesives etc. (see figure 10 and table 1).

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Figure 9 A picture showing all the different components included in the C1 product.

Figure 10 Mass distribution of each material group in the C1.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Plastics Metals battery PCB

Percent (%)

Materials found in the C1

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Table 1 Each component included in the C, including external components, and categorized by its specific material group.

Component Category Material

Bottom part (molded) Plastic ABS, PC

Light guide Plastic PMMA

Bottom part inside bracket Plastic ABS, PC

Model test button Plastic POM

Front ring Plastic ABS, PC

PCB PCB -

1500 mAh Li-polymer battery Battery Li-polymer

Adhesive other -

Reflector Metal Aluminum alloy

External Components

Packaging box Paper Cardboard

Packaging inner tray Foam EVA

User guide Paper Fine paper

USB cable Plastic, metal PVC, Brass alloy

3.3.2 External components of the C1

Beside the main components in the C1 product, other components such as the packaging box, USB cable and user guide were included in the system boundary. They were included to give a more detailed LCA and to get a better schematic flow sheet of all the different steps included in the life stages of the C1 (see figure 7 above). The packaging box where the C1 is delivered in, after the assembly of all parts, are made out of cardboard. The processes of making cardboard has been taken from various scientific studies and the data taken from these studies have been rescaled to fit the packaging box of the C1. This applies to the user guide as well and an assumption were made that the material of the user guide is a finer paper material, and all process steps will be included. But the data taken from the reports will be converted into the already existing processes and data bases existing in GaBi, since, as mentioned earlier, data could not be received directly from the manufacturers during this thesis. The USB cable have been measured by mass and all the different components of the USB cable have been separated and measured to get a more detailed view of the different process stages when producing the USB cable.

Sealing of the external parts have not been included during this study. For example, the

packaging of the USB cable has not been included since only the cable is included in the C1

package, also the plastic sealing of the overall C1 packaging box has been excluded. The

shipping boxes where the different components are transported in are not included either, due

to the lack of data given for this specific kind of information.

31 3.3.3 Production of components

In this category analysis of the different production phases for each component of the C1 are made. This is the step coming after the processing and handling of the raw materials that each component is made out of. These production phases will be constructed separately in the GaBi software, where all the different production steps will be accounted for. In this LCA study there have been no other LCA studies present on the C1, to compare or take data from. Because of this data have instead been collected through LCA studies on other products, with similar characteristics or purpose as the C1 product. As an example, an LCA study of a smartphone has been used, since the smartphone have similar components such as a PCB, Li-polymer battery and more. Data has been taken from other LCAs as well and been rescaled to fit the components of the C1. Some of the production stages has been simplified or scaled down due to the fact that some processes are to detailed and advanced, and therefore assumptions had to be made. This goes for the processing of the battery and PCB, since the production of these components are divided into many different stages, and therefore data have been used from earlier LCA studies for these kinds of components.

3.3.4 Production of plastic components

When looking at the components made out plastic many different aspects were taken into consideration. Most components had a combination of different plastic materials since different characteristics of plastics often is needed in one product, such as roughness, softness, mobility etc. Other than that, the mass ratio also plays an important role when combining different plastics together, but due to lack of data mass ratio of different plastics in the components were not found. However, since information was available of what kind of plastic each component had, assumptions could be made on the mass ratios by going through reports of commercial plastics. Here common ratios could be found for different plastic combinations, and therefore were used in this study. As an example, the most common mass ratio between ABS and PC were found to be 6:4, meaning that 60 % of ABS were mixed with 40 % of PC, and was used for the components containing these plastics (Azman Hassan et al. 2005, Boustead 2005).

Another thing that was considered here is that the processing of plastics differs depending on which plastic is produced, such as energy demand, additives, water consumption etc. Because of this, data were gathered for each specific plastic from reports made from Plastic Europe (see appendix 1). Plastic Europe have made studies on common commercial plastics and the different processes that each plastic goes through. The data from these reports contains specific numbers for producing 1 kg of each commercial plastic and the specific energy resources used during processing of these specific plastics (Boustead 2005). However, some plastic components had commercial plastics that were not reviewed by Plastic Europe. these plastics were POM & EVA, but data were instead found in other literature (Biron 2018, Energy &

environmental science 2019, Rodriguez 2019). Data has been taken from these reports and

rescaled to fit the amount of plastic used in the components of the C1.

32 3.3.5 Production of the reflector

The reflector in the C1 is made out of aluminum with a layer of coating. The extraction and handling of aluminum will be included in the system boundaries and processes such as forming, and heating will be preset by already existing processes found in GaBi. The data achieved for the processes of creating the reflector have been based on other reports about the different steps included in the aluminum process industry.

From these studies it could be found that the total energy demand of aluminum production was 174 GJ/ton aluminum produced. In this study the processing of aluminum will be divided into the forming of the aluminum, which stood for 85% (148,4 GJ/ton) of the energy demand, while the other 15% (25,6 GJ/ton) came from other related processes (see appendix 1). The source of energy that will be used here will be of electrical energy, since studies have shown that 98% of the required energy during processes such as smelting comes from electrical energy (Gupta 2014, U.S. Department of Energy 2007). Already processed primary aluminum ingot will also be used since this is a already existing premade process in GaBi that will represent the extraction of the aluminum used in the C1. Another study, focusing on the water consumption of aluminum production, got a result showing that 8,35 l of water was needed per ton aluminum processed (Kurt Buxmann et al. 2016). This data will therefore be used during this LCA study and the processes will be rescaled to fit the data for the reflector in the C1.

3.3.6 Production of battery

The battery included in the C1 is a Li-polymer battery, which is a commonly used battery for electronics. Because of this the overall production steps of this kind of battery is rapidly being improved and developed since the popularity of the battery is increasing on the market. Data from the manufacturers of the battery found in the C1 were not available and assumptions had to be made. Because the battery alone has too many steps to consider and due to the continuous change in development of batteries a simplification was made in this study.

The production of the Li-polymer battery has been divided into three different categories which

are cell production, battery materials and battery pack assembly. According to LCA studies on

battery production, these three steps were found to be the most common steps during battery

production (Dai et al. 2019, Yuan et al. 2017). Therefore, data was collected from these LCA

reports and rescaled to fit the specific battery type placed in the C1. But It should be noted that

the LCAs have focused on batteries used for electric vehicles. A collection of LCA studies on

batteries showed that the energy demand for current manufacturing processes of batteries is 650

MJ/kWh. By looking at other reports an assumption can be made that 66% of the energy

demand comes from cell production, 33% from battery materials and 0,3% from the assembly

of the battery (see appendix 1). These number has been used to calculate the energy demand

for the C1 battery with a power of 5.55 W.

33 3.3.7 Production of PCB

The production of the PCB is a very complicated and long process and have, in this study, been simplified, since the production phase of the PCB would take too much time to add within the system boundary. Instead relative and important data for the production of the PCB has been gathered from previous LCAs performed specifically on the production phase of a PCB. By comparing and reading through different LCAs, specific data has been included from the LCAs in this report and rescaled to fit the dimensions of the PCB found in the C1 (Ozkan et al. 2017).

Since there also are many components on the circuit board such as diodes, USB socket, resistors, transistor etc. that could not be found in the GaBi program, no further investigation will be carried out on these components. Instead the data that can be achieved for from the LCA covering PCB production will be used and the data taken from the report will be assumed to cover the more important components on the PCB (see appendix 1).

3.3.8 Production of USB cable

The USB cable is an external component that is included in the C1 product and were included in the system boundary to make the LCA more detailed. All the parts of the USB cable (USB connector, USB wires and Plastic coating) were analyzed by dismembering the different parts and weighing them separately. The manufacturing of USB cables could be found in various webpages from different manufactures, but the manufacturer of the specific USB cable for the C1 was not contacted. Instead an overview of different manufacturers and their different process steps were compared. From this a conclusion were made that the production steps were similar in all the different manufacturing companies producing USB cables, and therefore steps and data were taken from these webpages (koincable, 2019).

3.3.9 Packaging box & user guide

The processes and manufacturing of different kinds of paper is a well-studied category since the products produced from these kinds of industries have a high demand on the market. Also, the paper industry stands for a big percentage of the total energy demand worldwide. A study showed that 15% of the energy produced in Sweden was used in the forest industry (skogsindustrierna, 2018). Because of this, many studies have been made on the different processes used in different kinds of paper products and therefore there is a wide range of different data that can be used. Since the C1 is packed in a cardboard box where a user manual is included, the paper industry has been studied during this LCA. However, no visits to the manufacturers were made during this LCA study, and therefore the different studies on the paper and pulp industry has been used instead to gather important data needed for the cardboard box and user guide.

Since there are many different studies on this kind of industry the gathering of data has been difficult since there are many different results. But after comparing different results with each other, data were achieved from a book going through the general steps of the paper industry, including energy data for different processing steps. Here data for steps such as wire and pressing, deinking, drying, bleaching etc. were included and given in the form kWh/kg paper and therefore easy to convert the data to the cardboard box and user guide (Laurijssen et al.

2013).