How Does It Work

The science behind every number in your Carbin Counter

Polycarbin’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is conducted in accordance with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 and uses the U.S. EPA’s TRACI 2.1 impact model to quantify the full environmental footprint of our closed-loop recycling process. It has been independently reviewed by a third-party panel — so every outcome you report reflects real, verifiable environmental benefit.

Explore the Methodology View Your Data

The Carbin Counter dashboard showing plastic, glove, PPE, and product impact

ISO 14040LCA principles & framework

ISO 14044LCA requirements & guidelines

TRACI 2.1U.S. EPA impact assessment model

Panel ReviewIndependent third-party critical review

The Foundation

A methodology built to be checked

A Life Cycle Assessment measures the environmental burden of a product or process across every stage of its life. ISO 14040 sets out the principles and framework; ISO 14044 sets out the requirements.

Under ISO 14044, a critical review is mandatory before an LCA can support a publicly disclosed comparative environmental claim — and review by a panel of independent experts is the most rigorous form that review takes. Polycarbin’s LCA meets both criteria.

Methodological transparency

Assumptions, data sources, and system boundaries are documented, so the method can be examined rather than accepted at face value.

Scientific rigor

Impacts are characterized with TRACI 2.1, the U.S. EPA’s Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other environmental Impacts.

Comparability

A standardized framework lets results be compared against linear waste and virgin resin pathways, and carried into other ISO-aligned reporting.

What We Measure

A full environmental footprint, not just carbon

Using TRACI 2.1, we evaluate key impact categories, including but not limited to the six below, specific to both your location and Polycarbin’s operational geography.

Global Warming Potential

kg CO₂e

Greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change.

Ozone Depletion

kg CFC-11 eq

Emissions that thin the stratospheric ozone layer.

Eutrophication

kg N eq

Nutrient pollution that fuels algal blooms and oxygen loss in waterways.

Acidification

kg SO₂ eq

Emissions that form acid rain and acidify soil and water.

Human Toxicity

CTUh

Chemical emissions with potential effects on human health.

Ecological Toxicity

CTUe

Chemical emissions with potential effects on freshwater ecosystems.

Why geography matters

The same pound of material can carry a different footprint depending on where it starts and where it is processed — regional energy grids, transport distances, and local ecosystems all change the result. Our model is regionalized to your site and to the places Polycarbin operates, so your numbers reflect your program rather than a national average.

The System Boundary

Every stage of the loop, accounted for

The assessment follows your material through each stage of our circular supply chain — from collection and transport through processing, compounding, and logistics — up to the point our Closed-Loop Resin is delivered to one of our partnered lab product manufacturers.

LCA system boundary

1
Collection
Single-use materials leave your lab in Carbins, by mailback or scheduled pickup.
2
Transport
Material moves from your site to Polycarbin’s aggregation and processing network.
3
Processing
Recovered material is sorted by stream and prepared for recycling.
4
Compounding
Prepared material is compounded into Closed-Loop Resin (CLR).
5
Logistics
CLR ships to a partnered lab product manufacturer.
6
Delivery
Resin arrives at the manufacturer — the boundary of the assessment.

Traditional linear pathway

Virgin resinSingle-use productLandfill or incineration

New fossil-based resin for every product, and a disposal burden at the end of each one.

Polycarbin closed loop

Used lab materialClosed-Loop ResinNew lab products

Material leaves the lab as waste and returns to the same market as product.

By comparing the closed-loop system against traditional, linear waste and virgin resin pathways, the LCA quantifies the environmental burden your program avoids.

Illustration of recovered material being loaded onto a truck

Inside Polycarbin

The LCA informs how we operate

Our LCA isn’t a report that sits on a shelf. Because it models each stage of our supply chain, it shows us where our own footprint comes from — and gives us a consistent baseline for decisions about how material is collected, moved, processed, and compounded.

Identify steps or processes in our supply chain that contribute the greatest amount of environmental impact.
Model changes to logistics and transportation schedules to maximally reduce carbon impact for customers.
Highlight opportunities for improving equipment to reduce energy consumption per kg of material processed.

Powering the Carbin Counter

From Waste To Data

The Carbin Counter is Polycarbin’s cloud-based reporting platform, free to every customer. The LCA is the engine underneath it.

Tracked by the pound

Every pickup and mailback is weighed and logged by stream — plastics, gloves, PPE, and more.

Reviewed model applied

The regionalized, third-party-reviewed LCA model is applied to your actual volumes.

Metrics in your dashboard

Carbon, water, fossil fuel, and more — updated in your Carbin Counter as material moves.

Your Closed-Loop: pounds of plastic recycled and Closed-Loop Resin procured

Plastic Impact: CO2e reduced, water conserved, fossil fuels reduced

Verified methodology. Measured results.

The LCA model is independently reviewed by a third-party panel. Your individual figures are calculated by applying that reviewed model to the material you actually send us — not estimated from industry averages.

Learn more about the Carbin Counter →

Audit-Ready Reporting

Numbers that carry into your ESG and CSR reports

Because Polycarbin uses ISO standardization and the TRACI 2.1 model, the metrics in your Carbin Counter are transferable to most ESG and CSR reporting platforms — supporting Scope 3 disclosures, investor reporting, and sustainability communications without the manual reconciliation compliance reporting normally demands.