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1730270 
Journal Article 
Comparative life-cycle assessment of laundry detergent formulations in the UK - Part I: Environmental fingerprint of five detergent formulations in 2001 
Van Hoof, G; Schowanek, D; Feijtel, TCJ 
2003 
1 
Tenside Surfactants Detergents
ISSN: 0932-3414
EISSN: 2195-8564 
40 
5 
266-275 
WOS:000187754200005 
The environmental profiles of five different Procter & Gamble (P&G) laundry detergents on the UK market in 2001 are analysed using Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA). Products analysed are: regular powder (RP), compact powder (CP), powder tablet (PT), compact liquid (CL) and liquid unit-dose system (LT). The analysis represents a 'cradle-to-grave' LCA for 1 wash under UK conditions for wash habits and infrastructure. Under the studs conditions, it is concluded that compact detergents (both powder & liquid) are environmentally preferable detergent formulations, mainly due to the lower use of chemicals, resulting in benefits on aquatic toxicity, eutrophication, ozone depletion and photochemical smog. Less pronounced benefits for CP and CL are also observed on energy requirements and on impact categories such as acidification, human toxicity and climate change. For most indicators, the outcome of the study is dominated (> 70% contribution) by the use stage (washing machine), which is common to all product formulations. Because of this, no significant differences are observed between scenarios using different laundry products. Hence, the present study demonstrates that for the 'cradle-to-grave' approach there is no single detergent formulation that is clearly outperforming all others on all indicators.