ioman01’s Recent Comments

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  Producer responsibility & take-back?

  For car seats?  Interesting concept!  I've never before heard it it suggested for child car seats. Not sure it would work.  Who makes most child seats today, and where do they manufacture them (I'm guessing most not in the US).  What would be the pressure points to apply to get them to undertake take-back (most industries, especially in the US, fight the idea)?  What level would you set the deposit (or an advance recovery fee) at that would reduce consumer, producer, retailer resistance to the scheme?  

  Something else I wonder about, since my kids are big now and it's been about 15 years since I last looked at a child car seat: what plastic resin is being used to manufacture them?  [Are they even marked?]   Unless it is PET or HDPE, you might have a hard time finding a recycler willing to pay to recycle them.  Curb services may accept the plastic casings for pick up, but not actually recycle them (in which case, what is the point, to my mind).On Umbra on car seat recycling posted 1 year, 4 months ago 8 Responses

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  LCAs are rarely universally applicable

  I struggled mightily with this issue last year in preparing a blog article on Mabesa's announcement that they would market an "environment-friendly" diaper throughout Latin America (the regional focus of my blog).  As part of the prep, I looked at what LCAs exist on the subject.  And I'll repeat something that I pointed out last year: whether you think the LCA is well-done and complete or not, it usually only applies to where it was done and the local factors utilized.  So a LCA done in the UK might not be fully valid for, say, midwest USA or Australia.

  This is even more the case when looking at developing nations such as those in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). LCA's on diapers that I have seen assume certain energy and water consumption rates, availability of sewage treatment, waste collection and disposal services, and other factors that can differ significantly in the LAC context.

  For example, when a study assumes a certain usage of the household clothes washer to launder cloth diapers and the average water and energy efficiency those washers have, what happens in places in LAC where many households do not even have a washer, and if they do, they have an older, less efficient model? Or what is the risk of water and air contamination from soiled disposable diapers in LAC nations where uncontrolled dumps are the norm rather than sanitary landfills? Or can you assume it is environmentally preferable to remove fecal matter from diapers and flush it down household toilets (assuming they have a working one, not always the case) when the sewage in that city is not actually treated, or is treated in only the most rudimentary fashion? How does the fact that the household may only have running water and working electricity a few hours in the day (as in many parts of the Dominican Republic) affect the calculations?

  My own intuitive guess is that in most circumstances, a complete LCA utilizing the conditions common in LAC nations would find reusable cloth diapers environmentally preferable to disposables, even partially biodegradable diapers with organic cotton in them (such as Mabesa is promoting), except in areas where water conservation is a significant concern. But I don't have the data to back that up -- not yet, at least. On Umbra on the never-ending diaper ado posted 1 year, 4 months ago 25 Responses

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  Biofuels and Central America

  Barclay's article on biofuels development in Central America and Brazil's role therein was quite informative and thorough, and I'll be referencing it my own blog.  The only thing she left out are the efforts of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean (ECLAC/CEPAL) to help the Central American nations design their biofuels and related policies.

  Regards,
  Keith ROn The top 10 reasons to give a hoot about biofuels posted 2 years, 10 months ago 6 Responses

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  Biofuels and Central America

  Barclay's article on biofuels development in Central America and Brazil's role therein was quite informative and thorough, and I'll be referencing it my own blog.  The only thing she left out are the efforts of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean (ECLAC/CEPAL) to help the Central American nations design their biofuels and related policies.

  Regards,
  Keith ROn An interview with Mary Beth Stanek, General Motors energy director posted 2 years, 10 months ago 6 Responses

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  Biofuels and Central America

  Barclay's article on biofuels development in Central America and Brazil's role therein was quite informative and thorough, and I'll be referencing it my own blog.  The only thing she left out are the efforts of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean (ECLAC/CEPAL) to help the Central American nations design their biofuels and related policies.

  Regards,
  Keith ROn How a grassroots biodiesel group can show the way for others posted 2 years, 10 months ago 6 Responses