Greenhouse gas emissions from a Western Australian finfish supply chain

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the form of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 - eq) from two Western Australian finfish supply chains, from harvest to retail outlet, were measured using streamlined life cycle assessment methodology. The identification of interventions to potentially reduce the GHG emissions was determined from the results obtained. Electricity consumption contributed to the highest GHG emissions within the supply chains measured, followed by refrigeration gas leakage and disposal of unused fish portions. Potential cleaner production strategies (CPS) to reduce these impacts included installing solar panels, recycling the waste, good housekeeping in refrigeration equipment maintenance, and input substitution of refrigeration gas. The results show a combination of these strategies have the potential to reduce up to 35% of the total GHG emissions from fillet harvest, processing and retail

Mechanical Characterisation of a New Biodegradable Film

Plastics are utilised in almost every manufacturing industry in the world because of the favourable balance of mechanical, technological and cost factors. However, to minimise the environmental impact of plastic materials, researchers are attempting to synthesise new biodegradable polymers that can satisfy also standard requirements on manufacturability and mechanical properties. This paper studies a new material where an aliphatic-aromatic biodegradable component is included in a polyester matrix. For that purpose, microbiological tests, manufacturability tests and mechanical tests are carried out. In particular, thin films are exposed to the attack of spore colonies to check if the new material is fully biodegradable and compostable. Material formability in fashion of blown films is investigated for different volume fractions of biodegradable component added into the formula. Mechanical behaviour of the new material is then assessed by carrying out tensile tests. Experimental results demonstrate that thin films of the new material can be produced using the standard technologies currently available. Mechanical properties are better than those possessed by traditional non-biodegradable plastics like polyethylen