Powering the impact calculator is a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)
performed on each product

This is how we did it

 

"Average Glow Stick" - LCA representative of 70% mass
The glow stick we are comparing to is an imaginary 'average' glow stick - 10g weight, made of HDPE, contains an inner glass ampoule, and the main chemical component we could find LCA data on is hydrogen peroxide. Currently the glow stick LCA represents about 70% of an 'average' glow stick by mass. We are working to add in the main chemical component (by mass) of chemical light formulations - organic solvents.


Lux Bio LUME - LCA representative of 95% mass
For our LCA we included enzyme production, 10g PHA material, and water. Our summary is incomplete too, as we did not include other trace formula components. Our LCA represents about 95% of the mass in our product. We reviewed LCA data from 6 different commercially produced enzymes, took an average, and applied it to our estimates. This is not as perfect as assessing our own production system. In the future, when we have set up a more established production process, we will conduct our own internal LCA.

Currently this impact calculator is based on data and literature that fantastic scientists have made publicly available. If you were to conduct you own LCA, average the values found in literature, and apply them to the weight/volume of material components of each product, you should see similar results. We recognize this is am imperfect process, but overall hope that this calculator helps outline the powerful improvements that are possible when switching to green materials and biomanufacturing processes!

If you would like to understand more about the process, review our data collection, or dig deeper, get in touch!