Environmental Impact Analysis of Natural Cork Stopper Manufacturing
For both wine makers and customers, natural cork stoppers are a symbol of quality. Moreover, they are essential for maintaining the organoleptic properties of bottled wines throughout their lifespan. This research relied on the life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to analyze the relationship betw...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/5/636 |
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| author | Francisco Javier Flor-Montalvo Eduardo Martínez-Cámara Jorge Luis García-Alcaraz Emilio Jiménez-Macías Juan-Ignacio Latorre-Biel Julio Blanco-Fernández |
| author_facet | Francisco Javier Flor-Montalvo Eduardo Martínez-Cámara Jorge Luis García-Alcaraz Emilio Jiménez-Macías Juan-Ignacio Latorre-Biel Julio Blanco-Fernández |
| author_sort | Francisco Javier Flor-Montalvo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For both wine makers and customers, natural cork stoppers are a symbol of quality. Moreover, they are essential for maintaining the organoleptic properties of bottled wines throughout their lifespan. This research relied on the life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to analyze the relationship between the efficient usage of cork planks and the environmental impact of the cork stopper manufacturing industry. The goals of this research were to analyze and determine the environmental impact of producing 1 kg of natural cork stoppers. The analysis considered cork stoppers of two sizes—24 × 44 mm and 26 × 44 mm—and two manufacturing methods—punching and turning. Our findings indicated that the 24 × 44 mm cork stoppers produced with the punching method had a slightly lower environmental impact (1.36 kg CO<sub>2</sub> eq/kg) across the ten analyzed impact categories. Conversely, 26 × 44 mm turned corks had the highest impact on the environment (1.49 kg CO<sub>2</sub> eq/kg). Additionally, a comparison of same-sized punched and turned cork stoppers showed that the former had a lower environmental impact. This phenomenon is directly related to plank usage. In conclusion, there is a clear relationship between environmental impact and the efficient usage of raw material. In turn, an efficient usage of raw material depends on both the manufacturing method and stopper size. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:32:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5d6b82fe87dd4c53b3601cae4d2b71e7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:32:16Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj.art-5d6b82fe87dd4c53b3601cae4d2b71e72023-11-23T09:39:22ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722022-04-0112563610.3390/agriculture12050636Environmental Impact Analysis of Natural Cork Stopper ManufacturingFrancisco Javier Flor-Montalvo0Eduardo Martínez-Cámara1Jorge Luis García-Alcaraz2Emilio Jiménez-Macías3Juan-Ignacio Latorre-Biel4Julio Blanco-Fernández5Higher School of Engineering and Technology, International University of La Rioja (UNIR), 26004 Logroño, La Rioja, SpainDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of La Rioja, 26004 Logroño, La Rioja, SpainDepartment of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez, Ciudad Juárez 32315, MexicoDepartment of Electrical Engineering, University of La Rioja, 26004 Logroño, La Rioja, SpainDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Public University of Navarra, Av de Tarazona s/n, 31500 Tudela, Navarra, SpainDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of La Rioja, 26004 Logroño, La Rioja, SpainFor both wine makers and customers, natural cork stoppers are a symbol of quality. Moreover, they are essential for maintaining the organoleptic properties of bottled wines throughout their lifespan. This research relied on the life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to analyze the relationship between the efficient usage of cork planks and the environmental impact of the cork stopper manufacturing industry. The goals of this research were to analyze and determine the environmental impact of producing 1 kg of natural cork stoppers. The analysis considered cork stoppers of two sizes—24 × 44 mm and 26 × 44 mm—and two manufacturing methods—punching and turning. Our findings indicated that the 24 × 44 mm cork stoppers produced with the punching method had a slightly lower environmental impact (1.36 kg CO<sub>2</sub> eq/kg) across the ten analyzed impact categories. Conversely, 26 × 44 mm turned corks had the highest impact on the environment (1.49 kg CO<sub>2</sub> eq/kg). Additionally, a comparison of same-sized punched and turned cork stoppers showed that the former had a lower environmental impact. This phenomenon is directly related to plank usage. In conclusion, there is a clear relationship between environmental impact and the efficient usage of raw material. In turn, an efficient usage of raw material depends on both the manufacturing method and stopper size.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/5/636environmental impactnatural cork stoppersmanufacturing processLCA |
| spellingShingle | Francisco Javier Flor-Montalvo Eduardo Martínez-Cámara Jorge Luis García-Alcaraz Emilio Jiménez-Macías Juan-Ignacio Latorre-Biel Julio Blanco-Fernández Environmental Impact Analysis of Natural Cork Stopper Manufacturing Agriculture environmental impact natural cork stoppers manufacturing process LCA |
| title | Environmental Impact Analysis of Natural Cork Stopper Manufacturing |
| title_full | Environmental Impact Analysis of Natural Cork Stopper Manufacturing |
| title_fullStr | Environmental Impact Analysis of Natural Cork Stopper Manufacturing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental Impact Analysis of Natural Cork Stopper Manufacturing |
| title_short | Environmental Impact Analysis of Natural Cork Stopper Manufacturing |
| title_sort | environmental impact analysis of natural cork stopper manufacturing |
| topic | environmental impact natural cork stoppers manufacturing process LCA |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/5/636 |
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