Abstract
This paper deals with an input oriented method called Ecological Rucksack applied on two materials –corn starch polylactic acid (PLA) granules (bottle grade) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) granules (bottle grade). We calculated the total mass of material inputs of PLA (from the cradle to the point of sale) and made comparative analysis with PET. Case study results indicate that Ecological Rucksack of PET granules (bottle grade) in terms of its abiotic material and biotic material requirement is about 44% lower than the Ecological Rucksack of corn starch PLA granules (bottle grade).However, PLA has significantly lower water requirement compared to PET. The study has highlighted some limitations of the Ecological Rucksack method arising from the limited data availability and uncertainties associated with its application.
Keywords: Ecological Rucksack; material intensity factors; corn starch PLA; PET