3rd International PLASTiCE Conference Future of Bioplastics October 1-2 nd 2013, Warsaw, Poland COBRO Packaging Research Institute Konstancińska 11 Street, 02-942 Warsaw Poland Projekt współfinansowany jest ze środków Unii Europejskiej - Europejskiego Funduszu Rozwoju Regionalnego w ramach Programu dla Europy Środkowej, 3CE368P1, www.plastice.org This project is implemented through the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme and co-financed by the ERDF
Plastice project Life cycle assessment of grocery bags Opportunity of biodegradable plastics? Mitja Mori
Agenda 1.The scope of the study and methodology and boundary conditions a. Basic materials b. Transport c. Production processes d. Waste management 5. Gabi 5 numerical models used in the study and analysis and recommendations 9. Basic measures 2
1. The scope and target audience The goal and the scope of the study 3 plastic grocery bags (LDPE as basic bag) LCA methodology from CRADLE to GRAVE Environmental impact - environmental indicators Life cycle of bags basic scenarios Variations in the end of life phase (waste management) Target audience: Bags producers Customers Waste management companies Policy 3
of the study Functional unit: 1 grocery bag LCA methodology: Gabi 6 From cradle to grave 4
and boundary conditions Cut of criteria: Process / Materials Production materials TiO2, inks & dies Storehouse activity Transport: store - customers Industrial power plants Auxiliary materials Human labor Auxiliary activities 5 Simple scheme of LCA model
basic materials 6
4. Materials: PP vs. LDPE vs. Mater-BI 1 kg of virgin granulate From cradle to door Mater-BI seems competitive: Less energy demand Additional absorption of CO 2 -> GWP = 0,93 More water consumption: agriculture
production processes Electricity consumption in production process of LDPE bag, source: Plasta d.o.o. 8
transport (LDPE, Mater-BI) 9
transport (PP-Life) 10
End Life Scenarios Mechanical recycling: 50 % share: LDPE, PP-Life 0 % share: Mater-BI Include: Transport (recyclate) El. energy consumption Grinding of recyclate source: Plasta d.o.o., Vietnam, literature 11
End Life Scenarios Landfill of municipal solid waste, EU 27 The use of landfill gas environmental credits: Electrical energy production Question!: How many landfills have this installed? Mass: 43 % of grocery bags to landfill (EU27 data) 12
End Life Scenarios Waste incineration, EU 27 Plastics, paper, municipal waste, biodegradable waste fraction Environmental credits: Heat Electricity Mass: 7 % of grocery bags to incineration (EU27 data) 13
End Life Scenarios Industrial composting (source: literature) Additional burdens: Transport: diesel fuel Diesel/Electricity consumption in composting process: Grinding & Air supply CO 2 in NH3 emissions NO environmental credits as in the case of landfill/incineration NOT suitable for agricultural Opportunity: Credits the case of HOME compost (Mater-BI)! 14
: Mater-BI base case 15
: PP-Life base case 16
: LDPE base case 17
6. Environmental indicators (CML 2001) Global warming potential (100 years), GWP / kg CO2-eq Abiotic Depletion, ADP elements / kg Sb-eq Acidification Potential, AP / kg SO2-eq Eutrophication Potential, EP / kg PO4-eq Ozone Layer Depletion Potential, ODP steady state / kg R11-eq Photochem. Ozone Creation Potential, POCP / kg Eten-eq Primary energy demand from ren. and non ren. resources, MJ Global warming potential (GWP) for greenhouse gases 18
GWP / kgco2-eq. : GWP, 1 bag - functional unit 3,0E-01 2,5E-01 2,0E-01 0,2978 waste management transport manufacturing material ABSOLUTE VALUE 1 bag Different masses 1,5E-01 Base scenarios 1,0E-01 5,0E-02 0,0224 0,0406 Industrial composting 0,0E+00 LDPE PP-Life Mater-BI RELATIVE CONTRIBUTION Granulate production Bag manufacturing Waste management Transport 100% 9% 6% 2% 15% 34% 80% 24% 3% 38% 60% 19% 40% 66% 41% 45% 20% 0% LDPE PP-Life Mater-BI 19
GWP / kgco2-eq. : Break-even analysis (LDPE as base) Primary reuse of PP-Life & Mater-BI bag till GWP drops below GWP of LDPE bag 2,5E-02 0,0224 0,0213 0,0203 2,0E-02 1,5E-02 1,0E-02 5,0E-03 0,0E+00 waste management transport manufacturing material 14x primary reuse of PP-Life 2x primary reuse of Mater-BI LDPE, 1x PP-Life, 14x Mater-BI, 2x
The share / % : Environmental indicators (Mater BI) 90% 0% 4% 1% 1% 3% 3% 12% 34% 0% 1% 1% 4% 70% 3% 50% 100% 83% 93% 19% 99% 96% 30% 45% 10% -10% 0% ADP elements [kg Sb- Equiv.] AP [kg SO2-Equiv.] EP [kg Phosphate- Equiv.] GWP 100 years [kg CO2-Equiv.] ODP, steady state [kg R11-Equiv.] Waste management Transport Manufacturing Materials -2% POCP [kg Ethene- Equiv.] Relative contribution of life cycle phases for Mater-BI bag
Share / % : Environmental indicators (PP-Life) 90% 9% 5% 6% 4% 4% 15% 20% 41% 70% 60% 59% 38% 50% 79% 17% 30% 20% 10% 72% 41% 43% 10% -10% 14% 22% -2% -1% ADP elements [kg Sb- Equiv.] AP [kg SO2-Equiv.] 26% EP [kg Phosphate- Equiv.] GWP 100 years [kg CO2-Equiv.] ODP, steady state [kg R11-Equiv.] Waste management Transport Manufacturing Materials -1% POCP [kg Ethene- Equiv.] Relative contribution of life cycle phases for PP-Life bag
Share / % : Environmental indicators (LDPE) 90% 1% 2% 38% 25% 19% 4% 9% 8% 2% 0% 5% 14% 24% 70% 21% 50% 30% 66% 77% 57% 66% 87% 91% 10% -10% -5% -4% ADP elements [kg Sb- Equiv.] AP [kg SO2-Equiv.] EP [kg Phosphate- Equiv.] GWP 100 years [kg CO2-Equiv.] ODP, steady state [kg R11-Equiv.] Waste management Transport Manufacturing Materials -4% -2% POCP [kg Ethene- Equiv.] Relative contribution of life cycle phases for LDPE bag
: Indicators for 1 bag Mass influence: 14,8 g 127 g 20,2 g Mater-BI vs. LDPE bag: Mater-BI inferior to LDPE 37 % more mass of granulate Influence of industry composting (relatively 34 %): NO credits, Energy consumption (electricity, diesel)
: Mass equality - 20 g Theoretical approach; Equality / Competitiveness of Mater-BI bag! Opportunity Implementation of agricultural composting credits! 34 % of overall burden (GWP) comes from industry composting
GWP / kgco2-eq. : GWP of Mater-BI (potential) 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 9% 6% 4% 1% 2% 15% 28% 24% 38% 66% 67% 41% NO industrial composting influence. Equal to LDPE! 0% LDPE PP-Life Mater-BI 3,0E-01 2,5E-01 0,2978 ravnanje z odpadki transport proizvodnja material 2,0E-01 1,5E-01 1,0E-01 5,0E-02 0,0224 0,0269 0,0E+00 LDPE PP-Life Mater-BI 26
: Primary & Secondary REUSE Primary REUSE (All bags) As many as possible. Proportional reduction of environmental burdens. Secondary reuse (LDPE, Mater-BI) As bin linears Separate LCA model Same manufacturing process 50 % material mass 1x use end life: landfill of municipal waste REDUCTION of environ. burdens in average for 40 % LDPE REDUCTION of environ. burdens in average for 46 % Mater-BI
: Waste management scenarios All scenario analysis are done as comparison to base scenario.
: Waste management scenario LDPE Mechanical recycling lowers burdens significantly Landfill all indicators are worse (not GWP? Why: time) Incineration: all indicators are better Why? (credits) GWP excluded reason? (emissions)
: Waste management scenario Mater-BI BASE industrial composting Landfill - Credits are included (electricity) - Some indicators are worsen, some stay the same Incineration - Credits are included (electricity, heat) - In the range of industrial composting
: Actual bags consumption in Slovenia (9,2 bags/month household) 5 years life expectancy of long life PP bag Superiority of PP-Life: 50 100x differnece in most indicators
MANUFACTURERS! Enlarge the share of recyclate Energetic efficiency of manufacturing : Less electricity; Heat consumption; CONSUMERS: Which bag to pick?? PP Life advantages: 14x primary reuse reaches the GWP of LDPE In 5 years (lifetime) 41x less GWP of LDPE
CONSUMERS: REUSE! Primary: proportional reduction of burdens Secondary: reduction of burdens in both cases more for LDPE, bit less for Mater-BI! CONSUMERS: How to properly dispose the bag? LDPE & PP-Life: yellow litter bin!! Mater-BI: 1st alternative = home compost avoid fertilizers production reduction of burdens 2st alternative = brown litter bin (industrial comp.) NOT IN YELLOW LITTER BIN!
CONSUMERS Inappropriate waste management! LDPE in black linear bin: 7 % incensement of burdens PP-Life black linear bin: 3 % incensement of burdens Mater-BI in black linear bin: GWP +13 %, 0 % < others < +49 %
9. Basic recommendations: 3R
10. Further research 1. Exclude all environmental credits: - Landfill - Incineration 2. Compare Mater-BI with PLA: Polylactic acid (PLA) (based on literature, modified PE) next steps
Relativity of results 140 m 1 LDPE bag in whole LIFE CYCLE = 140 m average car drive