IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i5p1487-d145326.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of Bio-Based Plastics on Current Recycling of Plastics

Author

Listed:
  • Luc Alaerts

    (Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, 3001 Leuven, Belgium)

  • Michael Augustinus

    (Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, 3001 Leuven, Belgium)

  • Karel Van Acker

    (Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, 3001 Leuven, Belgium)

Abstract

Bio-based plastics are increasingly appearing in a range of consumption products, and after use they often end up in technical recycling chains. Bio-based plastics are different from fossil-based ones and could disturb the current recycling of plastics and hence inhibit the closure of plastic cycles, which is undesirable given the current focus on a transition towards a circular economy. In this paper, this risk has been assessed via three elaborated case studies using data and information retrieved through an extended literature search. No overall risks were revealed for bio-based plastics as a group; rather, every bio-based plastic is to be considered as a potential separate source of contamination in current recycling practices. For PLA (polylactic acid), a severe incompatibility with PET (polyethylene terephthalate) recycling is known; hence, future risks are assessed by measuring amounts of PLA ending up in PET waste streams. For PHA (polyhydroxy alkanoate) there is no risk currently, but it will be crucial to monitor future application development. For PEF (polyethylene furanoate), a particular approach for contamination-related issues has been included in the upcoming market introduction. With respect to developing policy, it is important that any introduction of novel plastics is well guided from a system perspective and with a particular eye on incompatibilities with current and upcoming practices in the recycling of plastics.

Suggested Citation

  • Luc Alaerts & Michael Augustinus & Karel Van Acker, 2018. "Impact of Bio-Based Plastics on Current Recycling of Plastics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1487-:d:145326
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1487/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1487/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yuuki Yoshimoto & Koki Kishimoto & Kanchan Kumar Sen & Takako Mochida & Andrew Chapman, 2023. "Toward Economically Efficient Carbon Reduction: Contrasting Greening Plastic Supply Chains with Alternative Energy Policy Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Mousavi-Avval, Seyed Hashem & Sahoo, Kamalakanta & Nepal, Prakash & Runge, Troy & Bergman, Richard, 2023. "Environmental impacts and techno-economic assessments of biobased products: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    3. Halayit Abrha & Jonnathan Cabrera & Yexin Dai & Muhammad Irfan & Abrham Toma & Shipu Jiao & Xianhua Liu, 2022. "Bio-Based Plastics Production, Impact and End of Life: A Literature Review and Content Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-20, April.
    4. David O. Kazmer & Davide Masato & Leonardo Piccolo & Kyle Puleo & Joshua Krantz & Varun Venoor & Austin Colon & Justin Limkaichong & Neil Dewar & Denis Babin & Cheryl Sayer, 2021. "Multivariate Modeling of Mechanical Properties for Hot Runner Molded Bioplastics and a Recycled Polypropylene Blend," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-23, July.
    5. Piergiuseppe Morone, 2018. "Sustainability Transition towards a Biobased Economy: Defining, Measuring and Assessing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-6, July.
    6. Bulim Choi & Seungwoo Yoo & Su-il Park, 2018. "Carbon Footprint of Packaging Films Made from LDPE, PLA, and PLA/PBAT Blends in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-11, July.
    7. Elisabeth Pinter & Frank Welle & Elisa Mayrhofer & Andreas Pechhacker & Lukas Motloch & Vera Lahme & Andy Grant & Manfred Tacker, 2021. "Circularity Study on PET Bottle-To-Bottle Recycling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, July.
    8. Amina Baccar Chaabane & Esther Robbe & Gerald Schernewski & Hendrik Schubert, 2022. "Decomposition Behavior of Biodegradable and Single-Use Tableware Items in the Warnow Estuary (Baltic Sea)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, February.
    9. Léa Barbaut & Olivier Brette & Nathalie Lazaric & Valérie Massardier & Valérie Revest, 2023. "Bio-based Plastics: a ‘Sustainable’ Alternative for the Plastic Industry?," Post-Print halshs-04188889, HAL.
    10. Mohammad Nahid Siddiqui & Halim Hamid Redhwi & Abdulrahman A. Al-Arfaj & Dimitris S. Achilias, 2021. "Chemical Recycling of PET in the Presence of the Bio-Based Polymers, PLA, PHB and PEF: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-26, September.
    11. Giovanni Gadaleta & Sabino De Gisi & Francesco Todaro & Michele Notarnicola, 2022. "Carbon Footprint and Total Cost Evaluation of Different Bio-Plastics Waste Treatment Strategies," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 4(2), pages 1-14, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1487-:d:145326. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.