Environmental impact analysis of the injection molding process: analysis of the processing of high-density polyethylene parts

This paper studies the environmental impact of the injection molding process by carrying out a life cycle assessment. A review of how EcoInvent's Life Cycle Inventory database characterizes this process has been conducted, and a new methodology based on that analysis has been carried out. Aspects such as the infrastructure of the factory or waste treatment are part of the environmental impact of the injection molding process, but the most significant factor is electricity consumption; therefore, electricity consumption measurements of the process have been performed. This environmental analysis has been applied to the processing of several parts made of high-density polyethylene, which have been characterized by measuring the electricity consumption. As a consequence of this work, it has been proven that electricity consumption can be used as an injection molding machine selection criteria, from an environmental standpoint, as it produces the highest environmental burden of the process.