life cycle assessment to evaluate sustainability of packaging
TRANSCRIPT
Life Cycle Assessment to evaluate
sustainability of packagingProf. Dr. Yvonne van der Meer | Chair Sustainability of Chemicals and
Materials | Scientific co-director AMIBM | 11 November 2020
Aachen Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials
www.amibm.org | www.amibm.de
Mission sustainability
team:
• to provide suitable
instruments and
accurate
sustainability
assessments of
materials
• to guide the
transition from a
fossil-based and
linear economy to a
sustainable biobased
and circular economy
Renewable carbon key to a sustainable chemical and plastic industry
Source: Nova InstituteGreenhouse Gas Sci Technol. 10:488–505 (2020)
Research portfolio – Sustainability of Chemicals and Materials
Resources
• Supply chains
• Renewables
• BIorefineries
Production
• Catalysis (bio/chemo)
• Process innovations
Materials
• Biobased additives
• Design for recycling
End of life
• Recycling systems
• Circularity indicators
Sustainability Assessment
• Life Cycle Assessment, Techno-economic Analysis, Life Cycle Costing, social LCA, Indicators/frameworks: renewability, circularity, environmental
• Data acquisition: process modelling, data science concepts, industry projects
• Development of decision support tools: e.g. environmental/economic modelling, early stage technology assessment. multi-criteria optimization
biomass building blocks polymers materials applications end-of-life
Biobased, circular, is it (more) sustainable? Life Cycle Assessment
• A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method to quantify the environmental impact of a product
• It is a standardized assessment method: ISO14040 (2006) & ISO 14044 (2006)
• Quantification (data driven) allows for comparison and improvement of environmental performance
• Methodological choices can be different (e.g. system boundaries, functional units): large variation in LCA results
• LCA-derived methods for economic and social impact: Life Cycle Costing & Social Life Cycle Assessment
Inputs
• energy
• mineral resources
• renewable resources
Outputs
• emissions to air
• emissions to water
• emissions to soil
adapted from: Hellweg and Milà i Canals, 2014
What we should know about LCAs of plastics
• Land use and land use change
often lacking (extraction of
fossil and mineral resources +
bio-based feedstock): models
for biobased feedstock
available, but uncertainty
issues
• Effects of terrestrial and
marine littering and the
subsequence effects on
ecosystems not yet included
• Fate of the used plastics: data
required on waste
management system, country
specific
Model of Dutch post-consumer plastic packaging recycling network
M.T. Brouwer et al., Waste Management 71 (2018) 62–8563
• Origins of the polymeric contaminants in recycled plastics determined; most contaminants originate from
packaging components and are hence design-related
• Model can be used to redesign the plastic recycling network towards a more circular economy
Environmental LCA of recycling scenarios PET bottles in NL
P. Fleury (2020), Combining Material Circularity Indicator
and Life Cycle Assessment to evaluate the environmental
impacts of recycling scenarios of PET bottles, Bachelor
Thesis, Maastricht Science Programme & AMIBM,
Maastricht University. Thesis supervised by
A.Ghannadzadeh (AMIBM) and Cris Garcia Saravia de
O.M. (AMIBM)
• With LCA results, environmental prices were
calculated to compare different options (CE
Delft. (2018). Environmental Prices Handbook
EU28 version)
• Excel tool developed for mass and energy
balance that can be used in future projects
Environmental LCA of recycling scenarios PET bottles in NL:
Mechanical recycling vs. chemical recycling
• The majority of the environmental impacts were found to be caused by the collection and sorting of waste prior to
recycling, highlighting the importance of a systemic approach for the establishment of a circular system.
• Testing the model: assuming an equal energy requirement for chemical recycling and mechanical recycling, the
environmental price of mechanical recycling was found to be 52% higher than chemical recycling. To be continued!
P. Fleury, BSc. thesis, (2020)
Recyclable Multilayer Food Packaging for a Circular Economy
• Project PACK-CE: Recyclable Multilayer Food
Packaging for a Circular Economy
• Aim: Accelerating the use of recyclable
multilayer food packaging for the transition
to a circular economy
• Role: Creating insight into the sustainability
of packaging through LCA: Chemical and
Mechanical Recycling
• LCA study with 3 scenarios
- PET-PE packaging, incineration with
energy recovery
- All-PE packaging, mechanical recycling
- PET-PE packaging, chemical recycling
PET with dissolution technology
• Dissolution technology for PE-PET packaging seems to have
lower environmental price than the reference incineration
with electricity generation
• To be continued!
Post-consumer plastic packaging recycling system
Beverage Carton (DKR510) in tons
Environmental Price Incineration
Polymers in Mixed Plastic (DKR350)
J. Schneider (2020), Material flow analysis and environmental sustainability assessment of a
post-consumer plastic packaging recycling system in The Netherlands: A focus on beverage
carton and mixed plastic, Bachelor Thesis, Maastricht Science Programme & AMIBM,
Maastricht University. Thesis supervised by A.Ghannadzadeh (AMIBM)
Flow diagram of fate beverage carton after sorting for improved
municipal solid waste recycling and incineration
Left: incineration only
Right: incineration with electricity production
(avoided burden)
Important parameters in LCAs of food packaging
• Type of material, weight
• Single or multi-use
• Resources, transport
• End-of life treatment
• Geographical context (energy, waste)
• Functional unit: recommendation to
include food impact in food
packaging LCA
• Recycling of materials: system
boundaries & modelling approach
important [cut off, system
expansion (avoided burden, product
basket approach)]
Molina-Besch et al. Int J Life Cycle Assess (2019) 24:37–50
Nakatani, Sustainability 2014, 6, 6158-6169
Single-use plastic take-away food packaging and its alternatives, Recommendations from Life Cycle Assessments, UNEP, 2020
Example LCA PET bottle recycling (GHG emissions) in Japan/China
Closed loop: recycling to new PET bottle
Open loop: recycling to different PET product (clothes, etc.)
Waste disposal: incineration
full life cycle | simplified system
Circularity metrics: Framework with value retention strategies
• PhD Cris Garcia Saravia de O.M.
• Project: Circular Economy and
sustainability assessment of
(biobased) materials
• Activities
- Build and test a Circularity
Assessment Framework
- Perform Life Cycle Assessment
on study cases to understand the
impact of circular alternatives
• Partners: Emma Safety
Footwear
Cris Garcia Saravia de O.M. and Y. van der Meer, 2020, under review
Sustainability assessment: additives
• Project: Pure Nature, 100%
Biobased (BB100), www.bb100.eu
• Aim: Development of 100%
biobased man-made fibre
materials. Demonstrators with
companies
• Role: Sustainability assessment of
the developed materials/products
with LCA; focus on additives: often
neglected in LCA and important
role in circular ecnomy
• Additives: plasticizers, flame
retardants, colorants, nucleating
agents, etc. P. Samani, Y. van der Meer , Journal of Cleaner Production 274
(2020) 1232592, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123259
Value Circle
Biobased
LCA of biodegradable plastics
Social and natural enviroment
Value chain
ChemistryBiologyProduct
engineering
State of the Art
Biology
ChemistryProduct
engineering
Social and natural enviroment
Common
language &
methodology
Goal
www.biobased-valuecircle.eu
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Industrial Doctorate program: Biobased Value Circle
• Full PhD project on LCA of biodegradable plastics (vacancy)
• Data collection & LCA case studies
• Comparison of recycling vs. biodegradation
Online course: LCA: Basic principles and uses
5th edition: Spring 2021
More information and registration:
www.lcatraining.nl
Take home message: let’s make it circular & more sustainable!• Tools available:
- KIDV tool ‘Five perspectives on sustainable packaging: detailed do’s and don’ts for 5 packaging categories
- GaBi Packaging Calculator (LCA-based)
• Life Cycle Assessment, take care of critical aspects for circularity/recycling and be transparent on what the
result reflects, make use of LCA expertise!
• Circularity metrics can be useful tools for circularity next to/on top of LCA
• Design for circularity: screening of sustainability impact in an early stage
plastics
productsresource
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Thank you! We are open for collaboration!
• https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/yvonne.vandermeer
• https://nl.linkedin.com/in/yvonnevandermeer
• https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/research/institutes/a
mibm/research/sustainability-materials