Life cycle assessment of single use thermoform boxes made from polystyrene (PS), polylactic acid, (PLA), and PLA/starch: cradle to consumer gate

Evaluation of the environmental performance of alternatives for polystyrene production in Brazil

“…Therefore, for this class of materials, our analysis was carried out on two levels: environmental loads (LCI) and the Impact Profile (LCIA). Table 6 compares the LCI results obtained by Suwanmanee et al (2013) and Zabaniotou and Kassidi (2003) from Attributional LCA with those of S1 for the production of 1.0 t of GPPS. The crude oil and natural gas consumption of S1 is consistent with the data reported in both references, despite being respectively 40.7% and 66% higher than the results obtained by Suwanmanee et al (2013).…”

“…Table 6 compares the LCI results obtained by Suwanmanee et al (2013) and Zabaniotou and Kassidi (2003) from Attributional LCA with those of S1 for the production of 1.0 t of GPPS. The crude oil and natural gas consumption of S1 is consistent with the data reported in both references, despite being respectively 40.7% and 66% higher than the results obtained by Suwanmanee et al (2013). This is mainly due to the transport of additives (by road) and natural gas (from Bolivia) and the energy consumption in the production of C 2 H 4 , C 6 H 6 , and styrene monomers.…”

“…When applied to different polymers (GPPS, HIPS, the Polylactic acid -PLA, the Polyethylene terephthalate -PET, etc. ), LCA results have shown that the production stage appears to be the main source of concern in environmental terms because it is a step that is highly dependent on energy sources, as noted by Suwanmanee et al (2013).…”

“…Companies have examined the consequences of such an expansion, especially with regard to the environmental performance of PS production. In many cases, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been used for these evaluations (ACC, 2011;Madival et al, 2009;PlasticsEurope, 2008;Suwanmanee et al, 2013;Zabaniotou and Kassidi, 2003). When applied to different polymers (GPPS, HIPS, the Polylactic acid -PLA, the Polyethylene terephthalate -PET, etc.…”

Eco-Efficiency Assessment of Bioplastics Production Systems and End-of-Life Options

“…However, some researchers studied the impacts from acquisition of feedstock to end-of-life (EOL) or 'cradle-to-grave' approach [14,16,17]. Bioplastics have been reported to have lower environmental impacts in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil depletion than their conventional plastic counterparts [18][19][20]. Despite consuming less fossil resources, cultivation of agricultural crops for feedstocks can result in environmental impacts such as land use change and may also give rise to issues pertaining to competition between food, energy and materials.…”