| Title |
Effects of Circularity Interventions in the European Plastic Packaging Sector |
| ID_Doc |
10786 |
| Authors |
Cimpan, C; Bjelle, EL; Budzinski, M; Wood, R; Stromman, AH |
| Title |
Effects of Circularity Interventions in the European Plastic Packaging Sector |
| Year |
2023 |
| Published |
Environmental Science & Technology, 57, 27 |
| DOI |
10.1021/acs.est.2c08202 |
| Abstract |
Thiswork illustrates potential emission savings and socioeconomiceffects induced by increasing the implementation of circular approachesin plastic packaging. Low levels of plastics circularity today reflect majorchallengesfor the sector to reduce environmental impacts and a need for widersystemic change. In this work, we investigated the potential for climateand socioeconomic benefits of circular economy (CE) interventionsin the plastic packaging system. By means of a mixed-unit input-output(IO) model, we performed a comparative scenario analysis for the developmentof demand and waste management up to 2030 within the EU-28 (EU27 +United Kingdom). We modeled the development of material flows andassessed the effects of both demand-side and end-of-life interventions.Different levels of ambition toward 2030 based on EU circular economystrategies were tested. Results showed that on reaching high levelsof circularity, between 14 and 22 Mt CO2-eq/year couldbe reduced by 2030 (20-30% of the total sector impact in 2018)compared to business-as-usual. Demand change (e.g., by decreasingproduct packaging intensities) showed similar emission-saving potentialas achieving the current recycling target of 55%, which emphasizesthe role of demand-side actions. Most scenarios displayed moderateemployment gains and potential economic losses, pertaining to bothdirect and indirect activity shifts in the economy. While consideringmodel limitations, the approach is useful in indicating potentialfirst-order effects of system changes. |
| Author Keywords |
socioeconomic effects; scenario analysis; policytargets; plastic recycling; industrial ecology |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) |
| EID |
WOS:001018985800001 |
| WoS Category |
Engineering, Environmental; Environmental Sciences |
| Research Area |
Engineering; Environmental Sciences & Ecology |
| PDF |
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c08202
|