Lesson 1Assessing data quality: temporal, geographic, technological representativeness and uncertaintyThis section presents LCI data quality assessment, covering temporal, geographic, technological representativeness, completeness, precision, and uncertainty, plus scoring and documenting quality for bottle system datasets.
Temporal representativeness and data ageGeographic coverage and regional relevanceTechnological representativeness of processesCompleteness and precision of inventory flowsQualitative scoring and uncertainty flagsLesson 2Transport modelling: modal choices, typical distances for North America and Europe, fuel and load factorsThis section explains modelling freight transport for bottle systems, choosing modes, estimating regional distances, and setting fuel use, load factors, and backhaul assumptions for North America and Europe realistically.
Selecting relevant freight transport modesTypical road, rail, sea distances by regionEstimating fuel consumption and emission factorsModeling load factors and empty backhaulsAllocating transport to functional unitLesson 3Identifying required inventory flows: materials, energy, transport, water, wasteThis section introduces identifying inventory flows for bottle LCIs, including materials, energy, transport, water, emissions, waste, ensuring completeness and consistency with the functional unit for accuracy.
Linking flows to the functional unitListing material inputs and auxiliary materialsIdentifying energy carriers and utilitiesCapturing transport, water, and emissionsChecking completeness and avoiding double countingLesson 4Using secondary datasets: ecoinvent, US LCI, ELCD, GaBi proxies — how to search and select matching processesThis section focuses on selecting secondary LCI datasets from ecoinvent, US LCI, ELCD, GaBi, including search strategies, proxy selection, metadata checks, and adapting to bottle system needs effectively.
Searching databases for matching processesInterpreting metadata and system boundariesChoosing and justifying proxy processesAdapting datasets to regional conditionsHandling cutoffs and allocation in datasetsLesson 5Documenting sources and citing datasets, papers, calculators, and government statisticsThis section explains documenting LCI sources transparently, including databases, papers, reports, calculators, statistics, and citing consistently for reproducible bottle studies in professional practice.
Creating a structured LCI data logReferencing LCI databases and versionsCiting peer‑reviewed and industry studiesUsing and documenting online calculatorsReferencing government and statistical dataLesson 6Modelling manufacturing processes: steel production, injection/stretch blow moulding for PET, forming and finishingThis section covers modelling manufacturing for PET and stainless steel bottles, including steelmaking, PET resin production, injection and stretch blow moulding, forming, finishing, and scrap/yield losses integration.
Steelmaking routes and alloy specificationsPET resin production and drying stepsInjection and stretch blow molding parametersForming, trimming, and surface finishingModeling scrap rates and material yield lossesLesson 7End-of-life pathways: recycling rates, mechanical recycling processes for PET and stainless steel, landfill, incineration with energy recoveryThis section explains modelling end-of-life for PET and stainless steel bottles, including recycling rates, mechanical processes, landfill, incineration with energy recovery, and allocation of benefits/burdens.
Collecting regional recycling and disposal ratesModeling PET mechanical recycling processesModeling stainless steel recycling routesLandfill and incineration with energy recoveryAllocation approaches for recycling creditsLesson 8Estimating material composition and mass flows for stainless steel and PET bottlesThis section describes estimating material composition and mass flows for PET and stainless steel bottles, including wall thickness, closures, labels, components, translating drawings or bills into LCI inputs.
Interpreting drawings and specificationsEstimating PET and steel wall thicknessesAccounting for caps, labels, and coatingsConverting volumes to masses and densitiesBuilding mass balance tables for the LCILesson 9Use-phase modelling for reusable bottles: washing scenarios (hand vs. dishwasher), frequency of reuse, cleaning agents and hot water energyThis section details modelling use phase for reusable bottles, including washing frequency, hand vs. dishwasher, hot water energy, detergents, and user behaviour scenarios influencing LCI results significantly.
Defining realistic reuse frequency scenariosHand washing water, energy, and detergent useDishwasher cycles, loading, and energy profilesModeling hot water generation and fuel mixesSensitivity analysis on user behavior patterns
