Sustainable design-centered integration for polylactic acid in the bioprinting process

Sustainability design is important for industries to enhance their competitive advantages. This research developed a sustainable, design-centered integration method to evaluate one of the biomaterials, Polylactic Acid (PLA) in the bioprinting manufacturing process from cradle-to-gate.;This study utilized a holistic method to decide the most sensitive and significant sustainability factors among economic, environmental, and social pillars. A leading PLA manufacturer was selected as the example for this investigation. ISO 14040 and 14044 framework, life cycle cost analysis, and regression analysis methods were adopted as well. The results show that three major sustainability impact factors are profits, water consumption, and health and wellness effects. Decision makers could utilize the methodology to reconsider existing product development processes, focusing on the most significant factors, in order to create a new strategic plan to increase profitability, create positive social impacts, to reduce waste of resources, and to utilize resources with efficiency.