Location: GLO - Global
This service activity represents thermoforming of plastic pellets of 200 microns to 2 mm thickness in plastic packaging for the food industry. The amount of plastic processed is NOT included. The activity refers to an INPUT of 1 kg of plastic sheets, i.e. all inputs and outputs are expressed per kg of raw materials input, i.e. T, where
t (final product)= 0.946 kg / kg of raw material input
Y ( losses being recycled within the process (=internal recycling), closed loop)= 0.261 kg / kg of raw material
t' (losses recycled in external, opened loop)= 0.053 kg / kg of raw material
T (raw materials, exluding internal recycling)= 1 kg / kg of raw material.
That is, an input of 1 kg of plastic sheet yields 0.946 kg of thermoformed plastic containers. Losses caused during production which are recycled internally are not accounted for explicitly. However, the additional energy requirements associated with the internally recycled plastic are considered.
In detail, the activity includes:
- water and energy consumption
- required auxiliaries such like detergents and solvents
- production infrastructure
- direct emissions to air (VOC)
- wastewater treatment of the used auxiliaries
- end of life of the production wastes incinerated and recycled externally

None
Undefined unit processes (UPRs) are the unlinked, multi-product activity datasets that form the basis for all of the system models available in the ecoinvent database. This is the way the datasets are obtained and entered into the database by the data providers. These activity datasets are useful for investigating the environmental impacts of a specific activity (gate-to-gate), without regard to its upstream or downstream impacts.