Evaluation of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and sound absorption properties of composite materials made from coconut and sugarcane fibers

Agriculture plays a crucial part in the economic growth of several developing nations; however, it creates 1,300 million tons of waste each year, which generates environmental issues. Noise pollution, particularly in urban environments, is an expanding global health issue for emotional and physical health. Conventional synthetic sound absorption materials used for sound absorption pose environmental and health risks; therefore, agricultural wastes including coconut fiber and sugarcane fiber, are being sought for safer alternatives. Natural fibers as sustainable sound-absorbing solutions draw increasing research attention. This paper evaluates the Life Cycle Assessment of agriculture waste based on the SWM-GHG calculator to compare the waste management approaches by calculating the GHG emission related to the recycling and disposal of wastes from cradle to grave, and sound absorption properties of coconut and sugarcane fibers in composite materials. A non-toxic PVA binder was utilized to prepare samples with densities of 75, 100, and 125 kg/m3, and sound absorption was evaluated based on ISO 10534-2. The results show a cost-benefit trade-off in waste management where higher recycling reduces GHG emissions but increases costs; the Default Scenario results in the highest emissions (20,439 t CO2e/yr) at the lowest cost, and Scenario 3 results in the lowest emissions (5,148 t CO2e/yr) at the highest cost. Also, sugarcane fiber (75 kg/m³) achieved the highest absorption coefficient (0.94 at 800 Hz), while coconut fiber (125 kg/m³) reached 0.91 at 1000 Hz, making both suitable for acoustic applications, with coconut fiber excelling in mid to high frequencies and sugarcane fiber in low to mid frequencies, particularly at lower densities.