Moving from linear to circular household plastic packaging in Belgium: Prospective life cycle assessment of mechanical and thermochemical recycling

Civancik-Uslu, Didem; Nhu, Thuy Trang; Gorp, Bart Van; Kresovic, Uros; Larraín, Macarena; Billen, Pieter; Ragaert, Kim; Meester, Steven De; Huysveld, Sophie

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105633

Cited by 69 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Recycled plastics are seen as inferior substitutes for virgin plastics. -2.3 to -0.27 MakeInBusiness ( 2018 ); Gradus et al ( 2016 ); Devasahayam et al ( 2019 ); Civancik-Uslu et al ( 2021 ) Lifecycle cost of recycling (capital and O&M) is typically EUR204/ton Chemical recycling (pyrolysis) USD857,000 USD500–1,000 (in Europe and North America) The distribution of the gas, liquid, or solid fraction depends on process operating conditions applied and catalysts used. -1.5 to -0.1 Devasahayam et al ( 2019 ); Homolka ( 2018 ); Porcu et al ( 2019 ); Tullo ( 2019 ); Klean Industries Inc ( 2015 ); Devasahayam et al ( 2019 ); Jeswani et al ( 2021 ) Case 1 in the USA: • 0.68 m 3 of diesel and naphtha • 0.22 m 3 of industrial wax.…”

Section: Technologies To Control Plastics In Solid Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many authors reported that mechanical recycling results in better net environmental impact compared to other processes. In addition, pyrolysis is often reported to yield the highest positive environmental impacts compared to other chemical recycling processes or to incineration (Civancik-Uslu et al 2021 ; Jeswani et al 2021 ). Typically, in the UK, net carbon dioxide emissions are +71, +1,858, -160, -133, 431–1,104 kg per ton of mixed plastic waste subjected to landfill, incineration, pyrolysis, catalytic depolymerization, and gasification, respectively (Devasahayam et al 2019 ).…”

Section: Technologies To Control Plastics In Solid Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review of the cost and effectiveness of solutions to address plastic pollution

Nikiema

Asiedu

2022

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Plastic usage increases year by year, and the growing trend is projected to continue. However as of 2017, only 9% of the 9 billion tons of plastic ever produced had been recycled leaving large amounts of plastics to contaminate the environment, resulting in important negative health and economic impacts. Curbing this trend is a major challenge that requires urgent and multifaceted action. Based on scientific and gray literature mainly published during the last 10 years, this review summarizes key solutions currently in use globally that have the potential to address at scale the plastic and microplastic contaminations from source to sea. They include technologies to control plastics in solid wastes (i.e. mechanical and chemical plastic recycling or incineration), in-stream (i.e. booms and clean-up boats, trash racks, and sea bins), and microplastics (i.e. stormwater, municipal wastewater and drinking water treatment), as well as general policy measures (i.e. measures to support the informal sector, bans, enforcement of levies, voluntary measures, extended producer responsibility, measures to enhance recycling and guidelines, standards and protocols to guide activities and interventions) to reduce use, reuse, and recycle plastics and microplastics in support of the technological options. The review discusses the effectiveness, capital expenditure, and operation and maintenance costs of the different technologies, the cost of implementation of policy measures, and the suitability of each solution under various conditions. This guidance is expected to help policymakers and practitioners address, in a sustainable and cost-efficient way, the plastic and microplastic management problem using technologies and policy instruments suitable in their local context. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-021-18038-5.

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Section: Technologies To Control Plastics In Solid Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Technologies To Control Plastics In Solid Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the cost and effectiveness of solutions to address plastic pollution

Nikiema

Asiedu

2022

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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“…Materials such as PET, PVC, and PS will sink, while others such as PE, PP, and expanded polystyrene will float (Figure 5c). This type of separation guarantees an effective first separation, but it is not adequate to produce high-quality secondary materials and needs to be combined with other separation techniques [93][94][95].…”

Section: Primary and Secondary Recyclingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Advancements in Plastic Packaging Recycling: A Mini-Review

et al. 2021

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Today, the scientific community is facing crucial challenges in delivering a healthier world for future generations. Among these, the quest for circular and sustainable approaches for plastic recycling is one of the most demanding for several reasons. Indeed, the massive use of plastic materials over the last century has generated large amounts of long-lasting waste, which, for much time, has not been object of adequate recovery and disposal politics. Most of this waste is generated by packaging materials. Nevertheless, in the last decade, a new trend imposed by environmental concerns brought this topic under the magnifying glass, as testified by the increasing number of related publications. Several methods have been proposed for the recycling of polymeric plastic materials based on chemical or mechanical methods. A panorama of the most promising studies related to the recycling of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polystyrene (PS) is given within this review.

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“…Nevertheless, in the search for new and exciting properties and appearance, the diversity of plastic materials is still increasing, despite calls to reduce the complexity of plastics . The fact that mechanical recyclates with a quality similar to virgin materials have a favorable economic and environmental profile , indicates that the plastics recyclability challenge is not enthalpic but rather entropic in nature . In other words, wherever a clean plastic waste feedstock, i.e., having a low entropy, is present in sufficient quantity, mechanical recycling will be economically and environmentally favorable, given the valuable recyclates that can be obtained.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the Separation Complexity of Mixed Plastic Waste Streams with Statistical Entropy: A Plastic Packaging Waste Case Study in Belgium

Nimmegeers

Billen

2021

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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Mixed plastic waste streams are to date present in nearly all societies. Depending on the source of the plastic waste stream, the complexity and difficulty to separate and recycle the waste stream differs. In this paper, the concept of statistical entropy is used to quantify the separation complexity of mixed plastic waste streams. To this end, the recently proposed multilevel statistical entropy analysis method is extended by adding a multiproduct system level. Furthermore, an overview is presented of the research questions that can be addressed by different statistical entropy definitions. The proposed extended method is applied to a plastic packaging waste case study in Belgium for which the data are available in the literature. The results indicate that the method based on statistical entropy allows analyzing the separation complexity of real-life mixed plastic waste streams. More specifically, the multilayer films contribute the most to the separation complexity of the studied plastic packaging waste stream. In addition, it is illustrated how the method can be used to identify key contributors to the separation complexity of mixed plastic waste streams and to evaluate measures to reduce the separation complexity of mixed plastic waste streams.

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Moving from linear to circular household plastic packaging in Belgium: Prospective life cycle assessment of mechanical and thermochemical recycling

Cited by 69 publications

References 33 publications

A review of the cost and effectiveness of solutions to address plastic pollution

A review of the cost and effectiveness of solutions to address plastic pollution

Recent Advancements in Plastic Packaging Recycling: A Mini-Review

Quantifying the Separation Complexity of Mixed Plastic Waste Streams with Statistical Entropy: A Plastic Packaging Waste Case Study in Belgium

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