Consistent with George Eastman’s legacy of social responsibility, Kodak people involved in product development have long considered the potential environmental impacts of our products. One of the methods employed is life-cycle assessment, which considers each phase of a product life cycle. Typically, these include raw material acquisition, manufacturing processes, product distribution, use, and end-of-life management. The primary purpose of life-cycle assessment is to identify product attributes that offer the greatest opportunity for improvement.
Recently, I had the opportunity to review a life-cycle assessment conducted for motion picture workflows. The study began with the manufacture of film and concluded with the movie theater experience and a consideration of archiving technologies. As you might expect, a variety of opportunities emerged across all phases. For example, the study validated our ongoing commitment to conserve resources during manufacturing (over the last 30 years, we have reduced the materials needed to sensitize film by one third and the energy and water required to manufacture film by one half). The study also highlighted the potential of our new laser projection technology to reduce energy consumption at theaters.
