A
Life Cycle Analysis: LifeProof Phone Cases
Camden
Wesolowski
Dr.
Rood
Sustainability
1
May 2015
There
are nearly 500 million IPhones being used around the world, as of March 13.
Seeing these kind of numbers would make any business person completely freak.
The business opportunity for selling accessories for the IPhone is one such
opportunity that only comes around every century. While the market for Apple
products, specifically the IPhone, is one of the largest in the world, the accessories
such as chargers, adapters, and especially cases is an ever expanding market.
One such company, Otterbox makes very safe and reliable cases for these phones.
In the past few years, Otterbox made a huge purchase, and maybe the smartest
one of their young business life. They decided to buy a company called
LifeProof. LifeProof is a company, now owned by Otterbox, that makes very heavy
duty, but also lightweight cases for the IPhone, along with other products. They
are waterproof, shockproof, and very durable, which makes the phone inside
almost unbreakable. LifeProof cases may seem basic but really involve a very
complicated cycle, involving 4 materials: Plastic, Rubber, Glass, and Paint.
The main material
that is involved in making these phone cases as plastic. There are many
different kinds of plastic that range from plastics as tough as metal to very
soft and giving plastic used in products such as children’s toys. The many
kinds of plastics are very complicated, as shown in the chart below.
As you can see, there are many
different types of plastics that each have many different uses and products
they are used in. The plastic that LifeProof uses for their phone cases is not
one of the main ones named, but actually fits into the “Other” category on this
list. It is actually a material called polycarbonate, which is in a particular
group of thermoplastic polymers. They are easily worked and molded, which as
good for these type of phone cases. Even though these plastics have a lot of
differences, they all share a similar production process. The first step in
this process, is obtaining the necessary raw materials involved. Crude oil is
the usual starting point for many plastics that we use every single day in our
lives. Something around five percent of the worlds oil production is used to
make these plastics, which may not seem like much, but in terms of how much oil
the world produces is an unbelievable amount of oil. Oil makes the world go
around. With everything we have today that runs on oil, we would be helpless if
it were all gone today. Oil is created by the chemical breakdown of organisms
from millions of years ago. These organisms are a primary source of about 40
basic chemicals on which chemical products are based. Plastics are created by tremendously
high temperatures. Crude oil is heated and then broken down. The hydrocarbon
chains in the oil are further broken down. This results in many substances,
including benzene, which is needed to produce plastics. Once all the necessary
raw materials are gathered, the next step in the process is to synthesize. This
is also called polymerization. The two ways this can happen is by addition and
condensation reactions. These two methods can happen in all the stages:; the
gas, liquid, and solid phase. Next, additives and added to the plastic, and
certain additives are added to create certain characteristics in the plastic
that you wish to create. The next step is to mold the plastic into whichever
shape or form you wish it to be. One of the oldest methods is called
compression molding, which is used to convert polymers into useful materials.
It uses pressure to force plastic into whatever shape you want. It is a pretty
simple process. Another common method for plastic shaping is called extrusion. An
extruder forces softened plastic through a stencil or shape which it emerges
from in almost an form you wish. Injection molding uses extruders to force
melted plastic into a mold where it sets into a required shape. In the case of
the LifeProof IPhone cases, It is likely that the manufacturer of the plastic
used the method of injection to shape the hot plastic into the shape necessary
for the case to fit around the phone with the other materials used in the
product. While this very strong, durable polycarbonate is the main material
used to make one of these cases, there are 3 other materials that are also
involved. The next most important material is probably the rubber that is on
the outside of the plastic in the case.
Rubber
may be a little simpler that the plastic used for the case, but it still has
its own complicated cycle just like any other product or material. The rubber
used is a synthetic rubber that is on the outer part of the case to absorb
shock from both electrical currents or the usually dropping of the phone on the
ground. Though there are many synthetic
types of rubber, there is actually natural rubber. It is derived from a milky
colloid called latex, that some plants naturally produce. This latex is
extracted from the plants by cutting into the bark and letting the latex pour
out. After that the latex is refined to create usable rubber.
The purified from of this is a
chemical called polyisoprene, which can also be produced synthetically. This is
the rubber that is used in the LifeProof cases. The methods for manufacturing
rubber are very similar for anyone who is producing it. The differences occur
when someone takes the natural rubber and adds other compounds or chemicals to
create the kind of rubber that they need. Natural rubber is supplied to
manufacturers by Far East countries such as Malaysia. Natural rubber is just
about useless unless formulated with other chemicals. After the natural rubber
is obtained, formulations are done to decide how much of what compounds need to
be added to the rubber to create the desired material. Once the material is
mixed, rolled out, and cut into desired slabs or strips, it is now suitable for
molding or extrusion. Molding is the process of super heating the rubber to
melt it, then injecting it into a mold and letting it dry to take the form that
you want. The other method is extrusion like with the plastic before. This is
more of a commercial method, because it stretches it out to from long, cured
sections, which are later used in the molding process. The process likely used
for the rubber on the LifeProof cases is the process of molding. The rubber is
heated, molded, and then delivered to LifeProof plants to be fit onto the
plastic part of the case. Besides the rubber on the outside, rubber is also
used to fill gaps in the design to make sure that the case is 100% waterproof
as advertised. Other than the plastic and the rubber, glass also plays a big
role in the manufacturing of the case.
The
phones that theses cases or protecting, the IPhone, creates one element that a
lot of phones don’t have, the touch screen. This complicates the case because
now there must be a way to both allow for touch screen capability, while also
keeping the case waterproof. The solution to this problem is a type of glass
called Polyurethane. Also, this form of glass, when superheated creates a
strong adhesive and sealant that holds all the parts of the case together. To
create this glass, you must first start with the basic materials that glass
calls for. The basic recipe is sand, soda ash, limestone, and other ingredients
such as iron and carbon. The materials are then mixed in large containers and
delivered to the furnaces for melting. The mixed materials are fed into a
furnace at around 500 degrees Celsius, and it takes about 24 hours for the
materials to become molten glass. It is then taken to the refinery, where it is
cooled down, and once cooled, is then shaped into the desired shape. In the
case of the LifeProof glass, other compounds are added to the basic materials
that give it the ability to have a touch screen used through it. Once they are
added, the glass is cut into super thin pieces to be used for the cases. The
last, and maybe least important as far as product quality goes, is the paint.
Though
the paint is not necessary as far as the durability of the case goes, it is
perhaps the most important part of marketing and selling the product. Everyone
always wants a nice looking case, no matter how effective it is. The paint
process is a simpler one compared to the other products. Paint is manufactured
through 4 basic ingredients. A batch process is used which ensures that all the
necessary ingredients are used. First, natural or organic resins are used as
binders are pumped to storage vessels. Then, solvents, or additives, such as
water, petroleum bases oils, or other synthetic liquids or pumped into the
mixture. After that, the desired color is then added by adding pigments mixed together with resins.
Last is the packaging of the paint. The packages are then sent off to wherever
their destination is. The LifeProof cases are manufactured in huge numbers, so
there is probably a system in place that allows for many cases to be painted at
the same time, saving time and money.
While
this whole process is very interesting and a big adventure around the world
with many different materials, there is one thing that cannot be left
unmentioned; what happens to this product when it is disposed of? You have to
look at the many components. First, the glass used could take somewhere up to 1
million years to decompose, even though it is mostly natural. Next, the
plastic, because it is so synthetic and also so thick, could also take millions
of years to decompose, The rubber, also despite being almost completely
natural, could take hundreds of years to decompose because of the synthetic
materials in it. Fortunately, Otterbox and LifeProof have a policy that you can
return any case that is damaged or is defective and receive a new one for free.
This helps them recycle a lot of their cases and avoid disposing of them into
the environment.
In turn, these 4
products, which I thought were just as simple as making them then putting them
together, are very complicated materials with complicated processes. These are
some of the products that are used in just about everything you can find in a
drawer at your house or in your pocket. In this case, LifeProof uses these
materials and puts them together to create their own product. They create very
reliable, and very useful phone cases for many different types of phones. It is
very interesting to know that something as simple as your phone case in your
everyday life has a much deeper and more complicated background than anyone may
have ever thought.
Work Cited
