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Plastic Waste Management: A Review of Existing Life Cycle Assessment Studies

Author

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  • Hatem Alhazmi

    (National Center for Environmental Technology, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia)

  • Faris H. Almansour

    (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Center (CCUS), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia)

  • Zaid Aldhafeeri

    (National Center for Environmental Technology, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool that can help to quantify the impacts of different processes to facilitate comparison and decision making. There are many potential methods for managing plastic waste, but it can be difficult to determine which methods are preferable in terms of environmental impact. Suitable existing LCA studies are identified through a screening process and the methodologies used and their outputs are compared. When undertaking an LCA, the researchers must define their scope and select their parameters, according to their aims and context, which leads to a wide variation in the approach taken. In this study, six parameters have been considered to analyze research progress in these fields regarding LCA, i.e., goals and scope, functional units, impact assessment categories, system boundaries, geographical context, and uncertainty analysis. These studies include the similar type of different studies considering plastic waste recycling, each taking a different approach to defining the system boundaries, revealing how the decision to include or exclude factors such as transport can have a significant impact on the outcomes. Additionally, compared to these similar studies on mixed-plastic waste management, different available options are used to quantitatively compare the impact outcomes, revealing how the context and parameter selection can affect the results. This review aims to highlight the prospect of LCA during the development of a waste management framework as an efficient waste recycling tool and recommend a research gap for the development of an improved management framework in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Hatem Alhazmi & Faris H. Almansour & Zaid Aldhafeeri, 2021. "Plastic Waste Management: A Review of Existing Life Cycle Assessment Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-21, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:10:p:5340-:d:551969
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eleonora Foschi & Sara Zanni & Alessandra Bonoli, 2020. "Combining Eco-Design and LCA as Decision-Making Process to Prevent Plastics in Packaging Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-13, November.
    2. Katarzyna Joachimiak-Lechman & Dawid Garstecki & Marcin Konopczyński & Anna Lewandowska, 2020. "Implementation of Life Cycle Based Tools in the Circular Economy Context—Case Study of Plastic Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-15, November.
    3. David Lazarevic & Emmanuelle Aoustin & Nicolas Buclet & Nils Brandt, 2010. "Plastic Waste Management in the context of a European recycling society," Post-Print halshs-00584531, HAL.
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