Energy Guide

CORIAN
®
SOLID SURFACE
According to ISO 14025
Underlying Life Cycle Assessment
The analysis was conducted according to the NSF product category rule for residential countertops (NSF International,
2013) and accompanying addendum (UL, 2017). The analysis represents the average environmental performance of
Corian
®
from DuPont’s facilities, as weighted by sales to North America. Since sales data was obtained for the 2015
calendar year, the Turkey facility was not included in primary data collection as DuPont only started importing product
from Europe in early 2017. All colors and sheet dimensions are included.
Functional Unit
The functional unit is 1 m
2
(10.76 ft
2
) of 12-mm thick surface for a period of 10 years in use.
System Boundary
The analysis represents the cradle-to-grave life cycle of Corian
®
. The following life cycle stages are included in the
analysis:
–
Material Acquisition and Pre-Processing:
This stage includes the extraction of materials from nature,
processing required to create the raw materials used in surfaces production, and transportation of the
materials to the construction stage. Any processing of secondary materials used in surfaces production is also
included.
–
Construction:
During construction, raw materials for the countertop are processed into sheet. The stage also
includes production and inbound transport of packaging materials.
–
Installation:
The installation stage starts with the transportation of the sheet to a warehouse, distributor,
and/or fabricator. The fabricator, who is responsible for customizing the sheet, is assumed to travel to the
installation site to take initial measurements. These measurements are used to customize the sheet back at
the fabrication facility. Since Corian
®
is used for more than residential countertops, a 10% scrap rate is
assumed. Lastly, the customized sheet is transported to the installation site and installed with DuPont
TM
Joint
Adhesive.
–
Use and Maintenance:
Use includes product maintenance—typically cleaning with tap water and soap—over
the 10-year timeframe. No sealing or additional maintenance is needed.
–
End-of-Life:
The end-of-life stage includes the disposal of the surface, as well as the disposal of packaging
from installation. Corian
®
is assumed to be disposed entirely to landfill or incinerated.
Cut-off Criteria
Cut-off criteria as defined by the PCR permit omission of mass and energy flows that represent less than 1% of inputs.
In practice, all inputs were considered with the exception of the landfilled plastic output from the Midwestern production
facility, which was cut off as the facility itself accounts for less than 5% of North American sales volume and it was
unclear whether this was associated with DuPont’s product or another product manufactured at the facility.
Allocation
Facility inputs were allocated based on DuPont’s engineering judgment. The cut-off allocation approach was used to
address secondary material use, as well as any packaging material recycling at end-of-life.