Environmental Impact Assessment of Eco-Friendly Sanitary Absorbents Made from Plantain Waste

This section provides granular Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data validating the hypothesis that plantain derived absorbent cores (PDCs) can outperform conventional wood/SAP alternatives environmentally only with optimized production. Four tables underpin the findings: Table S1 details process inputs/outputs per functional unit (240 cores), derived from scaled lab experiments and industrial equipment specs, quantifying resources like pseudostems, water and electricity. Table S2 breaks down environmental impacts per manufacturing phase using SimaPro generated metrics (CML/ReCiPe/AWARE methods), revealing materials preparation as the dominant hotspots. Table S3 compares four sensitivity scenarios: data confirms transport distance increases global warming 22%, while pre-drying biomass cuts transport emissions by 90%, and eliminating bleaching reduces human health damage by 52%. Table S4's uncertainty statistics show high reliability for climate impacts but low precision for water scarcity due to spatial variability in the AWARE method. Key finding shows electricity and chemicals are priority mitigation areas whiles yield variability drastically alters resource demands. Also manufacturers should adopt pre-drying and renewable energy to reverse PDC's higher carbon footprint versus SAP alternatives. Stakeholders can scale Table S1 inputs for production planning, use Table S3 to benchmark process changes, and apply Table S4's SEM/CQV metrics to gauge result robustness; noting water impacts require region specific refinement.