Life cycle analysis of polylactic acids from different wet waste feedstocks

Kim, Taemin; Bhatt, Arpit H.; Tao, Ling; Benavides, Pahola Thathiana

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.135110

Life cycle analysis of polylactic acids from different wet waste feedstocks

Journal Article · Sun Nov 13 04:00:00 EST 2022 · Journal of Cleaner Production

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.135110· OSTI ID:2328077

^[1]; ^[2]; Tao, Ling ^[2]; ^[1]

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Producing a valuable chemical product through diversion of wet wastes can simultaneously resolve the problems associated with increasing wastes and greenhouse gas emissions from conventional chemical production processes. In this work, we investigated the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, water, and fossil-fuel consumption for waste-derived polylactic acids (PLA) from three different waste feedstocks, namely wastewater sludge, food waste, and swine manure, using the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model. The decarbonization potential of replacing fossil-based resins with the waste-derived polymer was also investigated. The results show that swine manure-to-PLA pathway was the least carbon intensive (—1.4 kgCO₂e/kg) among the three waste-to-PLA pathways on a cradle-to-grave basis, followed by the food waste case (—1.3 kgCO₂e/kg) and then by the wastewater sludge case (0.6 kgCO₂e/kg). In the baseline scenario, all three waste-to-PLA pathways were less carbon intensive than both fossil-based PET and HDPE on a cradle-to-grave basis: 66% (vs. PET) and 56% (vs. HDPE), 171 and 192%, 181 and 205% reduction in GHG emissions for wastewater sludge-, food waste-, and swine manure-to-PLA pathway, respectively. For all sensitivity cases investigated, the food waste- and swine manure-to-PLA pathways were significantly less carbon intensive than their fossil-counterparts. In terms of the annual decarbonization potential of replacing fossil-based PET or HDPE, the wastewater sludge- and food waste-pathway showed higher mitigation potential than the swine manure-pathway: i) 18–28 kilotons CO₂e-reduction per year for wastewater sludge pathway; ii) 23–26 kTCO₂e-reduction/yr for food waste pathway; and iii) about 5 kTCO₂e-reduction/yr for swine manure pathway depending on the type of conventional resin replaced. However, given the abundant availability of the swine manure feedstocks across the United States, the decarbonization potential of swine manure-based pathway can also increase as the plant capacity or the number of plants grow.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357; AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 2328077

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1903174

Journal Information:: Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal Name: Journal of Cleaner Production Journal Issue: Part 2 Vol. 380; ISSN 0959-6526

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (37)

Life cycle assessment of polylactic acid and polyethylene terephthalate bottles for drinking water Gironi, Fausto; Piemonte, Vincenzo Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, Vol. 30, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.10490	journal	September 2010
Thermophysical properties of polypropylene/aluminum composites Boudenne, Abderrahim; Ibos, Laurent; Fois, Magali Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol. 42, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.10713	journal	January 2004
Mechanical Properties of High Density Polyethylene/Modified Calcium Silicate Composites Kusuktham, Boonsri; Teeranachaideekul, Pailin Silicon, Vol. 6, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-014-9204-4	journal	June 2014
Microplastics and Human Health: Our Great Future to Think About Now Kontrick, Amy V. Journal of Medical Toxicology, Vol. 14, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-018-0661-9	journal	April 2018
Microplastics in Seafood and the Implications for Human Health Smith, Madeleine; Love, David C.; Rochman, Chelsea M. Current Environmental Health Reports, Vol. 5, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-018-0206-z	journal	August 2018
Mechanical Properties of Low Density Polyethylene Jordan, Jennifer L.; Casem, Daniel T.; Bradley, Jermaine M. Journal of Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Vol. 2, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40870-016-0076-0	journal	August 2016
Density of polystyrene and polyvinyltoluene latex particles Pugh, Thomas L.; Heller, Wilfried Journal of Colloid Science, Vol. 12, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0095-8522(57)90004-1	journal	April 1957
Applications of life cycle assessment to NatureWorks™ polylactide (PLA) production Vink, Erwin T. H.; Rábago, Karl R.; Glassner, David A. Polymer Degradation and Stability, Vol. 80, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0141-3910(02)00372-5	journal	January 2003
Large-scale production, properties and commercial applications of polylactic acid polymers Lunt, James Polymer Degradation and Stability, Vol. 59, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0141-3910(97)00148-1	journal	January 1998
Biopolymers: overview of several properties and consequences on their applications Van de Velde, K.; Kiekens, P. Polymer Testing, Vol. 21, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-9418(01)00107-6	journal	January 2002
Poly(lactic acid)—Mass production, processing, industrial applications, and end of life Castro-Aguirre, E.; Iñiguez-Franco, F.; Samsudin, H. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, Vol. 107 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2016.03.010	journal	December 2016
Physical and mechanical properties of PLA, and their functions in widespread applications — A comprehensive review Farah, Shady; Anderson, Daniel G.; Langer, Robert Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, Vol. 107 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2016.06.012	journal	December 2016
Assessing amendment and fertilizing properties of digestates from anaerobic digestion through a comparative study with digested sludge and compost Tambone, Fulvia; Scaglia, Barbara; D’Imporzano, Giuliana Chemosphere, Vol. 81, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2010.08.034	journal	October 2010
Economic analysis of wet waste-to-energy resources in the United States Badgett, Alex; Newes, Emily; Milbrandt, Anelia Energy, Vol. 176 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.03.188	journal	June 2019
Strong and thermal-resistance glass fiber-reinforced polylactic acid (PLA) composites enabled by heat treatment Wang, Guilong; Zhang, Dongmei; Li, Bo International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, Vol. 129 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.02.020	journal	May 2019
Value Proposition of Untapped Wet Wastes: Carboxylic Acid Production through Anaerobic Digestion Bhatt, Arpit H.; Ren, Zhiyong (Jason); Tao, Ling iScience, Vol. 23, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.101221	journal	June 2020
Evaluation of landfill gas emissions from municipal solid waste landfills for the life-cycle analysis of waste-to-energy pathways Lee, Uisung; Han, Jeongwoo; Wang, Michael Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 166 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.08.016	journal	November 2017
Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and energy use of polylactic acid, bio-derived polyethylene, and fossil-derived polyethylene Benavides, Pahola Thathiana; Lee, Uisung; Zarè-Mehrjerdi, Omid Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 277 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124010	journal	December 2020
Life cycle analysis of renewable natural gas and lactic acid production from waste feedstocks Lee, Uisung; Bhatt, Arpit; Hawkins, Troy Robert Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 311 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.127653	journal	August 2021
Gas permeation properties of poly(lactic acid) revisited Bao, Lihong; Dorgan, John R.; Knauss, Dan Journal of Membrane Science, Vol. 285, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2006.08.021	journal	November 2006
Waste-to-Energy biofuel production potential for selected feedstocks in the conterminous United States Skaggs, Richard L.; Coleman, André M.; Seiple, Timothy E. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 82 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.09.107	journal	February 2018
Techno-economic Analysis and Life-Cycle Analysis of Renewable Diesel Fuels Produced with Waste Feedstocks Ou, Longwen; Li, Shuyun; Tao, Ling ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c06561	journal	December 2021
Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Water and Fossil-Fuel Consumptions for Polyethylene Furanoate and Its Coproducts from Wheat Straw Kim, Taemin; Bamford, James; Gracida-Alvarez, Ulises R. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Vol. 10, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c08429	journal	February 2022
A Literature Review of Poly(Lactic Acid) Garlotta, Donald Journal of Polymers and the Environment, Vol. 9, Issue 2, p. 63-84 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020200822435	journal	January 2001
Density of Amorphous Polyethylene Terephthalate Thompson, A. B.; Woods, D. W. Nature, Vol. 176, Issue 4471 https://doi.org/10.1038/176078b0	journal	July 1955
Increase the elongation at break of poly (lactic acid) composites for use in food packaging films El-hadi, Ahmed M. Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep46767	journal	May 2017
A techno-economic case for volatile fatty acid production for increased sustainability in the wastewater treatment industry Veluswamy, G. K.; Shah, K.; Ball, A. S. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, Vol. 7, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EW00853B	journal	January 2021
Review of recent advances in the biodegradability of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioplastics and their composites Meereboer, Kjeld W.; Misra, Manjusri; Mohanty, Amar K. Green Chemistry, Vol. 22, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1039/D0GC01647K	journal	January 2020
Threat of plastic pollution to seabirds is global, pervasive, and increasing Wilcox, Chris; Van Sebille, Erik; Hardesty, Britta Denise Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 112, Issue 38 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1502108112	journal	August 2015
Toward net-zero sustainable aviation fuel with wet waste–derived volatile fatty acids Huq, Nabila A.; Hafenstine, Glenn R.; Huo, Xiangchen Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 118, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023008118	journal	March 2021
Poly-Lactic Acid: Production, Applications, Nanocomposites, and Release Studies Jamshidian, Majid; Tehrany, Elmira Arab; Imran, Muhammad Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, Vol. 9, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2010.00126.x	journal	August 2010
Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made Geyer, Roland; Jambeck, Jenna R.; Law, Kara Lavender Science Advances, Vol. 3, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700782	journal	July 2017
Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean Jambeck, J. R.; Geyer, R.; Wilcox, C. Science, Vol. 347, Issue 6223 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1260352	journal	February 2015
Recent advances in compatibility and toughness of poly(lactic acid)/poly(butylene succinate) blends Zhao, Xipo; Zhang, Dianfeng; Yu, Songting e-Polymers, Vol. 21, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1515/epoly-2021-0072	journal	October 2021
Economic Perspectives of Biogas Production via Anaerobic Digestion Bhatt, Arpit H.; Tao, Ling Bioengineering, Vol. 7, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering7030074	journal	July 2020
Mechanical, Degradation and Water Uptake Properties of Fabric Reinforced Polypropylene Based Composites: Effect of Alkali on Composites Hoque, Mohammad Bellal; Alam, A. B. M. Hafizul Fibers, Vol. 6, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.3390/fib6040094	journal	December 2018
Environmental Impact of Food Packaging Materials: A Review of Contemporary Development from Conventional Plastics to Polylactic Acid Based Materials Ncube, Lindani Koketso; Ude, Albert Uchenna; Ogunmuyiwa, Enoch Nifise Materials, Vol. 13, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13214994	journal	November 2020