Sustainability of product life cycle: a case study of hollow fiber membrane

Abstract

The world’s supply of fresh water is finite and threatened by pollutions such wastewater distributed from industries. Membrane technology has received increasing attention for the wastewater treatment lately [Kumar et al., 2014; Melin et al., 2006]. The membrane function performance usually identified, while the performance from sustainability perspective have received less attention.In line with the Malaysian government policy, the membrane system used for wastewater treatment needs to be scrutinized to ensure sustainability according to Triple Bottom Line aspects including environmental, social and economic. However, this paper focusing on environmental sustainability aspects. The potential environmental burdens calculated are global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP) and waste potential (EP).