Plastic Parallel Pathways Platform - 4P Model
Conference
·
OSTI ID:2462702
Global momentum is building towards a circular economy capable of keeping plastics in use and out of waste streams. Given that 79% of all plastic produced since 1950 has accumulated in landfills or the natural environment,rapid implementation of various end-of-life (EoL) management technologies will be needed to reach this target. However, it can be challenging to develop an effective plastic EoL strategy when the available options - chemical or molecular recycling, energy recovery, upcycling, downcycling, closed-loop (plastic-to-plastic) or open-loop (plastic-to-x) recycling, among others - can generate products ranging from low-grade to virgin-quality plastic and from fuels to value-added chemicals. We present a flexible material flow model capable of analyzing the effects of both plastic-to-plastic and plastic-to-x EoL management strategies on the U.S. PET economy. This Plastic Parallel Pathways Platform (4P) assesses the environmental impacts, costs, and circularity of a PET system in which waste is managed through six potential EoL pathways: landfill, incineration with energy recovery, pyrolysis to fuel oil, upcycling to glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP), mechanical recycling to low-grade PET, and chemical recycling (glycolysis) to bottle-grade PET. We compare the pathways across multiple metrics using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and then use a brute force algorithm to predict an optimal combination of EoL pathways to minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and costs and maximize circularity. This work highlights the need to implement a diverse portfolio of EoL strategies in parallel to enable a PET economy that meets environmental, economic, and circularity requirements simultaneously.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE), Clean Coal and Carbon Management
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308;
- OSTI ID:
- 2462702
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/PR-6A20-87637; MainId:88412; UUID:be85d20c-ef44-4f2e-858c-8a80cc1cc257; MainAdminId:72370
- Conference Information:
- Presented at the ACLCA 2023 Conference, 26-29 September 2023, Burlington, Vermont
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Comparing Parallel Plastic‐to‐X Pathways and Their Role in a Circular Economy for PET Bottles
Journal Article
·
Wed Jun 14 20:00:00 EDT 2023
· Advanced Sustainable Systems
·
OSTI ID:1985190