Life cycle assessment of an industrial dishwasher produced in Italy: Identifying the main contributions to environmental impact

Abstract Italy is one of the largest producers and consumers of dishwashers, ranking fourth in global sales. Half of Italian households have dishwashers (50.2%). To improve a dishwasher’s sustainability, however, it is necessary to assess its impact during its lifecycle. Herein, the environmental impact of an industrial dishwasher (Nexa U500, produced by Elframo) is evaluated by performing a comprehensive life cycle assessment. The functional unit is defined as ‘146,000 full dishwasher loads using a 500 mm × 500 mm basket’. The Environmental Protection Declaration 2018 method is employed for impact assessment, covering acidification, eutrophication, global warming, and other categories, and modelled using SimaPro software. The results show that the use phase contributes over 90% of the impact to most categories (contributing ~ 60% to the overall carbon footprint of 290 kg CO2 eq), mainly owing to the electricity consumption required for heating water. The pre-production phase is the second-highest contributor. End-of-life recycling scenarios may enable impact reductions, particularly for plastic and steel components. Hotspot analyses identify opportunities for improving the heating system and manufacturing processes, namely welding. Ultimately, this study provides insights that may guide design decisions and process optimisation to reduce the environmental footprint of industrial dishwashers.