| Title |
End-of-Life Options for Bio-Based Plastics in a Circular Economy-Status Quo and Potential from a Life Cycle Assessment Perspective |
| ID_Doc |
4918 |
| Authors |
Spierling, S; Venkatachalam, V; Mudersbach, M; Becker, N; Herrmann, C; Endres, HJ |
| Title |
End-of-Life Options for Bio-Based Plastics in a Circular Economy-Status Quo and Potential from a Life Cycle Assessment Perspective |
| Year |
2020 |
| Published |
Resources-Basel, 9, 7 |
| DOI |
10.3390/resources9070090 |
| Abstract |
The bio-based plastic market is forecast to grow in the next years. With a growing market share and product range, the implementation of circular thinking is becoming more and more important also for bio-based plastics to enable a sound circular economy for these group of plastics. Therefore, it is important to assess the environmental performance for different end-of-life options of bio-based plastics from an early stage on. This review presents a comprehensive overview on the current status quo of different end-of-life options for bio-based plastics from an environmental perspective. Based on the status quo and the corresponding impact assessment results, the global plastic demand as well as the technical substitution potential of bio-based plastics, the environmental saving potential in case of the different end-of-life options was calculated. The review shows that there is a focus on polylactic acid (PLA) regarding end-of-life assessment, with studies covering all end-of-life options. The focus of the impact assessment has been set on global warming potential (GWP). With respect to GWP, the analysis of a future global potential of PLA showed, for mechanical recycling, the highest saving potential with 94.1 Mio. t CO2-eq. per year in comparison to virgin material. |
| Author Keywords |
bio-based plastics; life cycle assessment; end-of-life options; circular economy |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) |
| EID |
WOS:000557648700001 |
| WoS Category |
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology; Environmental Sciences |
| Research Area |
Science & Technology - Other Topics; Environmental Sciences & Ecology |
| PDF |
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