Environmental life cycle assessment of polyhydroxyalkanoates production from cheese whey

Asunis, Fabiano; Gioannis, Giorgia De; Francini, Giovanni; Lombardi, Lidia; Muntoni, Aldo; Polettini, Alessandra; Pomi, Raffaella; Rossi, Andreina; Spiga, Daniela

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2021.07.010

Cited by 29 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Through comparative analysis, the reasons are as follows: The energy consumption of some research was based on data immigration from pure culture cultivation , or laboratory-scale MMC PHA production, in which the energy usage might not match that in MMC PHA production. Differences in regional power structures: according to Heimersson et al, the GWP depends on the selected electricity type since PHA production was an energy-intensive activity. The emission factor of the electricity was 0.29 and 0.25 CO 2 -equiv/kW h by Roibás-Rozas et al and Asunis et al, respectively, while in this study, it was 0.83 CO 2 -equiv/kW h using the Gabi data sets based on China. Differences in particular processes of adoption: Asunis et al utilized the H 2 -rich biogas from a molten carbonate fuel cell to provide electricity and heat, while scenario #1 and #2 did not consider green electricity. Differences in system expansion methods: a comprehensive report by Andreasi Bassi et al used six alternatives to avoid the environmental burden of food waste disposal with a GWP ranging from −16 to 10 kg CO 2 -equiv/kg PHAs. In this article, the system was expanded according to the local situation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 39%

“…Differences in regional power structures: according to Heimersson et al, the GWP depends on the selected electricity type since PHA production was an energy-intensive activity. The emission factor of the electricity was 0.29 and 0.25 CO 2 -equiv/kW h by Roibás-Rozas et al and Asunis et al, respectively, while in this study, it was 0.83 CO 2 -equiv/kW h using the Gabi data sets based on China.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 39%

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Comprehensive Techno-environmental Evaluation of a Pilot-Scale PHA Production from Food Waste in China

Gong

Liu

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), a biodegradable plastic that might replace petroleum-based plastics, can be recovered from organic waste using mixed microbial cultures (MMCs). Research in this field has been ongoing for about 25 years and is now in a critical commercialization period. However, few pilot-scale studies are available to analyze its technical feasibility and environmental impact. We ran an MMC PHA production pilot plant for 6 months using local food waste as the feedstock. The traditional three-stage process achieved PHA content of 47.91 ± 1.91% dry cell weight and volumetric productivity of 9.94 ± 0.01 g/L·d, while a novel rapid proliferation stage was built in, the PHA content and productivity could reach 41.39 ± 2.39% cell dry weight and 20.02 ± 0.01 g/L·d, respectively. Life cycle assessment using field data showed that greenhouse warming potential was much more than five times that of the known literature, and the fossil depletion potential was 10.30 (scenario #1)/7.59 (scenario #2) times higher than petroleum-based polyethylene (PE) plastic. However, establishing a resource–energy–water union instead of an isolated plant could achieve environmental benefits compared to PE plastic. This techno-environmental analysis provides emerging MMC PHA producers worldwide with a valuable reference for further development opportunities and market planning.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 39%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 39%

Comprehensive Techno-environmental Evaluation of a Pilot-Scale PHA Production from Food Waste in China

Gong

Liu

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…According to them, valorization of CW via anaerobic digestion is superior to PHA production in terms of environmental contribution. For instance, anaerobic digestion had a negative carbon footprint of −35.7 kg CO 2 eq/t CW . Using the cradle-to-factory gate technique, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) were compared with biologically based polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB).…”

Section: End-of-life–life Cycle Assessment Nexus For Poly(hydroxyalka...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, anaerobic digestion had a negative carbon footprint of −35.7 kg CO 2 eq/t CW. 203 Using the cradle-to-factory gate technique, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) were compared with biologically based polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). PHB outperformed PP in all life cycle areas, including CO 2 production.…”

Section: ■ Introduction Of Bioplasticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Poly(hydroxyalkanoates): Production, Applications and End-of-Life Strategies–Life Cycle Assessment Nexus

Muiruri

Yeo

Zhu

et al. 2022

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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The runaway production and consumption of oilbased plastics are key drivers of global warming and the increased carbon footprint. Besides, most of this plastic debris ends up in the oceans and constitutes about 80% of all marine debris. This pollution problem calls for a seismic shift to eco-friendly plastics and marine biodegradable ones. Unlike other biobased polymers, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) take pride in their degradation in soil and marine environments. This intriguing marine biodegradation property of PHAs sets it apart as the best choice to curb microplastics, particularly in marine ecosystems. PHAs have also grown in popularity due to other quintessential properties such as biocompatibility, structural variety, and similarity to conventional plastics in terms of physical properties. PHAs are being widely researched for various applications, including packaging, medical, energy, and agriculture. This perspective comprehensively focuses on the state-of-art production and applications of PHA plastics as well as the practical recycling strategies for postconsumer PHAs. The innovative "next generation industrial biotechnology" (NGIB) is well covered in this perspective. Moreover, the nexus between end-of-life strategies and life cycle assessment (LCA) of PHAs waste is elucidated to understand its impact on the environment thoroughly.

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“…Biogas produced during AD of PW is valorized into an ICE to produce both EE and TE (efficiencies equal to 39 and 42%, respectively). The ICE stack emissions (NO x , CO, particulate matter) are calculated according to Asunis et al [40]. CO 2 emissions from biogas combustion are not considered, since carbon is generated by a renewable carbon source.…”

Section: Htc + Ad Scenariomentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Hydrothermal Carbonization of Sewage Sludge and Its Products Valorization Pathways

Mannarino

Caffaz²,

Gori

et al. 2022

Waste Biomass Valor

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This study is aimed at evaluating through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) the environmental performances of an integrated system of an existing Water Resources Recovery Facility (WRRF) and a hypothetical hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) plant applied to the generated sewage sludge (SS). Beside the valorisation of the solid product (hydrochar, HC) as a fuel substituting lignite, the possibility to valorize also the liquid fraction (process water, PW) derived by the HTC, by anaerobic digestion to produce biogas, is here proposed and analysed. Additionally, phosphorus recovery from HC, prior its use, by acid leaching with nitric acid is also suggested and evaluated. Thus, four integrated scenarios, based on SS carbonization, are proposed and compared with the current SS treatment, based on composting outside of the WRRF (Benchmark scenario). The proposed scenarios, based on HTC, show improved performances with respect to the benchmark one, for thirteen of sixteen considered impact indicators. For the Climate Change (CC) indicator, the two HTC scenarios are able to reduce the impacts up to -98%, with respect to the Benchmark. Further, the introduction of anaerobic digestion of PW proves to reduce impacts more than other configurations in eleven on sixteen impact categories. On the contrary, the introduction of phosphorus recovery process negatively affects the values for most of indicators. Thus, possible solutions to improve the integration of this process are outlined (e.g., the use of sulfuric acid instead of nitric one, or the application of a different ratio between solid and acidified solution during acid leaching of HC to recover phosphorus).

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Environmental life cycle assessment of polyhydroxyalkanoates production from cheese whey

Cited by 29 publications

References 66 publications

Comprehensive Techno-environmental Evaluation of a Pilot-Scale PHA Production from Food Waste in China

Comprehensive Techno-environmental Evaluation of a Pilot-Scale PHA Production from Food Waste in China

Poly(hydroxyalkanoates): Production, Applications and End-of-Life Strategies–Life Cycle Assessment Nexus

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Hydrothermal Carbonization of Sewage Sludge and Its Products Valorization Pathways

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