MSc Thesis: Life cycle assessment for selected Blue Lagoon skincare products
REYKJAVIK, June 1 - MSc in Sustainable Energy candidate, Silvana Loayza Leon, successfully defended her master's thesis where she performs a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of selected Blue Lagoon skincare products. Silvana's work was supervised by Dr. Halldór G. Svavarsson from Reykjavik University; Dr. Einar J. Ásbjörnsson from Reykjavik University; and Fannar Jónsson, Quality Manager at the Blue Lagoon. Examination was conducted by Dr. Ólafur Ögmundarsson from the School of Health Sciences at University of Iceland.
Silvana starts by introducing the Blue Lagoon ltd, which produces variety of skincare products by using natural ingredients appearing as by-products of geothermal energy harvesting in Svartsengi, Iceland. She then discusses the goal of her study: to identify opportunities for reducing environmental impacts of two selected skincare by applying Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the products for two distinct scenarios; 1) produced outside Iceland, and 2) produced in Iceland.
Silvana executes a cradle-to-grave LCA based on the ReCiPe2016 methods. Her results indicate that overall impacts are lower by producing in Iceland rather than abroad. She suggests future studies focused on packaging materials, and a complete sustainability assessment regarding the economic and social areas from the same product system are recommended to optimize processes.
Congratulations Silvana on an excellent thesis defense!