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A life cycle assessment of the closed-loop recycling and thermal recovery of post-consumer PET

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  • Chilton, Tom
  • Burnley, Stephen
  • Nesaratnam, Suresh

Abstract

Waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles collected by source-segregation recycling schemes can be treated by mechanical and chemical means to remove any contaminants. The cleaned PET can then be melted and formed into pellets with the same physical properties as virgin PET. Full-scale trials have shown that this reprocessed material can be used with virgin PET to make new bottles. An alternative recovery option is to collect the waste PET with the non-recyclable waste and burn it in an energy-from-waste plant. A life cycle inventory was produced for these two recovery options to compare the atmospheric emissions of key pollutants and the overall environmental impacts. The recycling option resulted in an overall reduction in the emission of each key pollutant and in the overall environmental impact. This was due to the reduction in emissions from displacing virgin PET. The energy-from-waste route also leads to a reduction in the emissions of several of the pollutants, depending on the assumptions made about the thermal efficiency of the process and the pollutants generated by burning the PET.

Suggested Citation

  • Chilton, Tom & Burnley, Stephen & Nesaratnam, Suresh, 2010. "A life cycle assessment of the closed-loop recycling and thermal recovery of post-consumer PET," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 54(12), pages 1241-1249.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:54:y:2010:i:12:p:1241-1249
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2010.04.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Burnley, S.J. & Ellis, J.C. & Flowerdew, R. & Poll, A.J. & Prosser, H., 2007. "Assessing the composition of municipal solid waste in Wales," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 264-283.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hunt, Emily J. & Zhang, Chenlong & Anzalone, Nick & Pearce, Joshua M., 2015. "Polymer recycling codes for distributed manufacturing with 3-D printers," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 24-30.
    2. Kunle Ibukun Olatayo & Paul T. Mativenga & Annlizé L. Marnewick, 2023. "Plastic value chain and performance metric framework for optimal recycling," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(2), pages 601-623, April.
    3. Lagioia, Giovanni & Calabrò, Grazia & Amicarelli, Vera, 2012. "Empirical study of the environmental management of Italy's drinking water supply," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 119-130.
    4. Rajendran, Saravanan & Scelsi, Lino & Hodzic, Alma & Soutis, Constantinos & Al-Maadeed, Mariam A., 2012. "Environmental impact assessment of composites containing recycled plastics," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 131-139.
    5. Muhammad Hammad Mushtaq & Fahad Noor & M. A. Mujtaba & Salman Asghar & Abdulfatah Abdu Yusuf & Manzoore Elahi M. Soudagar & Abrar Hussain & Mohamed Fathy Badran & Kiran Shahapurkar, 2022. "Environmental Performance of Alternative Hospital Waste Management Strategies Using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-16, November.
    6. Kang, DongHo & Auras, Rafael & Singh, Jay, 2017. "Life cycle assessment of non-alcoholic single-serve polyethylene terephthalate beverage bottles in the state of California," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 45-52.
    7. Joana C. Prata & Ana L. Patrício Silva & João P. da Costa & Catherine Mouneyrac & Tony R. Walker & Armando C. Duarte & Teresa Rocha-Santos, 2019. "Solutions and Integrated Strategies for the Control and Mitigation of Plastic and Microplastic Pollution," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-19, July.
    8. Coelho, T.M. & Castro, R. & Gobbo, J.A., 2011. "PET containers in Brazil: Opportunities and challenges of a logistics model for post-consumer waste recycling," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 291-299.
    9. Chen, Chung-Chiang & Chen, Yi-Tui, 2013. "Energy recovery or material recovery for MSW treatments?," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 37-44.
    10. Michael Martin & Sjoerd Herlaar & Aiden Jönsson & David Lazarevic, 2022. "From Circular to Linear? Assessing the Life Cycle Environmental and Economic Sustainability of Steel and Plastic Beer Kegs," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 937-960, September.
    11. Komly, Claude-Emma & Azzaro-Pantel, Catherine & Hubert, Antoine & Pibouleau, Luc & Archambault, Valérie, 2012. "Multiobjective waste management optimization strategy coupling life cycle assessment and genetic algorithms: Application to PET bottles," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 66-81.

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