Now BASF claims that the Ecovio Eco-Efficiency Compass (E³C), will make this decision much easier in future. The software compiles all the relevant data for the production and disposal of selected products - findings of many exhaustive Eco-Efficiency Analyses – in a single user-friendly interface.

Various parameters that are crucial for the ecological evaluation of a given product can be quickly checked, revealing their impact on the product’s eco-efficiency right away. The uncomplicated comparison of the ecological footprint of various approaches allows the user to quickly discover whether, in the final analysis, a biodegradable plastic is actually more environmentally friendly.
 
Biodegradable not always eco-efficient
It has been more than a decade since biodegradable plastics entered  consumers and industry awareness, and they continue to enjoy a growing interest. A number of BASF products contribute to this development.

Ecovio F Film is commonly found in compostable shopping bags. At the end of 2009, the Ecovio product line was expanded by two new types, namely, Ecovio FS Paper, suitable for production of coated paper cups and cardboard boxes, and Ecovio FS Shrink Film, developed explicitly with an eye towards the manufacture of shrink films.

Biodegradable plastics, however, because they can be composted simply , do not automatically solve environmental problems. Their use only makes sense if they are more sustainable than non-biodegradable materials at a performance level that is similar or even better.

Biodegradability is supposed to create added value, allowing organic waste to be composted rather than incinerated. After all, organic waste consists primarily of water, which makes thermal utilisation very inefficient. In contrast, if the film can be composted along with its contents, this can have a positive effect on the environment.
 
Comprehensive life cycle assessments like the Eco-Efficiency Analysis developed by BASF have been helping people for many years to make the right choice among different product and process alternatives.

Towards this end, such analyses thoroughly and quantitatively investigates and evaluate resources consumption, environmental impact and economic effects during the production, use and end-of-life phases of a material in a given application.

This makes these studies complex: a comprehensive Eco-Efficiency Analysis has to be performed by LCA experts and takes several months. Individual studies do not lend themselves to being combined:  specific scenarios must be prepared separately. This again needs experts’ support and it is not possible to make flexible, quick decisions from several material alternatives.
 
User interface with clear layout
The new Eco-Efficiency Compass is a web-based interface with an input mask provided, so users can combine numerous parameters with each other that are of relevance for the ecological profile of their envisaged product as in a shopping bag.

These parameters include not only the selection of the packaging material – all the way down to the monomer level if necessary – but also bag weight and type of disposal technology. The entire life cycle of the product is depicted, from raw material selection to disposal.
 
The software bases  calculations on several Eco-Efficiency Analyses and control parameters describing materials, applications and disposal scenarios. For  clarity these stay in the background. Some variables have been pre-set to appropriate values. Experience shows that, when seen over the entire life cycle of the product, energy consumption during production of the film only has a relatively small impact on eco-efficiency of that film bag.
 
Simple presentation of complex systems
Users first receive the analysis results in the form of a radar (spider) and portfolio diagram that clearly and logically shows the eco-efficiency of the approaches being compared. This shows where a product variant has advantages or disadvantages, for example, in terms of its consumption of resources or its emissions.
 
If so desired, users can receive assistance from BASF experts who will provide them with individual diagrams showing valid and reproducible estimates of the energy and material streams involved in the production, transportation, use and final disposal. The environmentally relevant effects of the material selection and naturally also the costs of the chosen approach are provided.
  
Example – shopping bag with double benefit
The calculational comparison between a shopping bag made of paper and one made of Ecovio, both of which offer double benefit since they can be used for shopping and for biowaste disposal, shows: under the boundaries chosen the Ecovio bag is more eco-efficient than the paper bag, because the latter has to be considerably thicker in order to perform equally well. Generally speaking, this parameter plays a crucial role. Together with trained BASF employees, users can experiment with these parameters.
 
Expandable concept
At the present time, the new Ecovio Eco-Efficiency Compass is only tailor-made for estimating shopping bags eco-efficiency  and foam trays of the type found everywhere in the retail sector. But other product groups, however, can be added. Major developments on the market can be promptly incorporated; an example of this is polyethylene made of “bio-ethanol”.
 
Currently experts are implementing models for paper coatings as well as for shrink films. These will help customers to ascertain the eco-efficiency of paper cups and beverage packaging – and also to ensure that, in these sectors, biodegradable plastics are only employed where they are indeed more sustainable while performing at least equally well.