A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Attributional and consequential life cycle perspectives of second-generation polylactic acid: The benefits of integrating a recycling strategy
The climate crisis calls for a shift from petrochemicals to bio-based products to reduce environmental consequences. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most widely used biopolymers, due to its mechanical properties and renewable origin, to produce bio-based compostable plastic for food packaging. The objective of this study is to determine the environmental feasibility of a second-generation PLA production based on wheat straw; and the role of a chemical recycling plant on the environmental performance of a bioproduct at an early design stage. A holistic assessment was performed through the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology considering both attributional and consequential perspectives, through a cradle-to-grave approach. The attributional LCA results show that lactic acid production was the main contributor due to the wheat straw pre-treatment and downstream separation and purification (DSP) processes. The integration of a recycling plant leads to a significant reduction of burdens, ranging from 1.38 to 0.44 kg CO2eq in the Global Warming category. Furthermore, consequential LCA results shows that the increased demand for substitute products for activities such as feeding, fertilisation and energy generation and the indirect emissions from land use change related to the conversion of land for the cultivation of raw materials are relevant factors in the environmental effects associated with the possible implementation of straw-based bioPLA production system ; This research is supported by the project Enhancing diversity in Mediterranean cereal farming systems (CerealMed), funded by PRIMA Programme and FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation– Spanish National Research Agency (PCI2020-111978) and the project Transition to sustainable agri-food sector bundling life cycle assessment and ecosystem services approaches (ALISE), funded by the Spanish National Research Agency (TED2021-130309B–I00). Rebolledo-Leiva R., Moreira, M.T., González-García, S. belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ...
Attributional and consequential life cycle perspectives of second-generation polylactic acid: The benefits of integrating a recycling strategy
The climate crisis calls for a shift from petrochemicals to bio-based products to reduce environmental consequences. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most widely used biopolymers, due to its mechanical properties and renewable origin, to produce bio-based compostable plastic for food packaging. The objective of this study is to determine the environmental feasibility of a second-generation PLA production based on wheat straw; and the role of a chemical recycling plant on the environmental performance of a bioproduct at an early design stage. A holistic assessment was performed through the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology considering both attributional and consequential perspectives, through a cradle-to-grave approach. The attributional LCA results show that lactic acid production was the main contributor due to the wheat straw pre-treatment and downstream separation and purification (DSP) processes. The integration of a recycling plant leads to a significant reduction of burdens, ranging from 1.38 to 0.44 kg CO2eq in the Global Warming category. Furthermore, consequential LCA results shows that the increased demand for substitute products for activities such as feeding, fertilisation and energy generation and the indirect emissions from land use change related to the conversion of land for the cultivation of raw materials are relevant factors in the environmental effects associated with the possible implementation of straw-based bioPLA production system ; This research is supported by the project Enhancing diversity in Mediterranean cereal farming systems (CerealMed), funded by PRIMA Programme and FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation– Spanish National Research Agency (PCI2020-111978) and the project Transition to sustainable agri-food sector bundling life cycle assessment and ecosystem services approaches (ALISE), funded by the Spanish National Research Agency (TED2021-130309B–I00). Rebolledo-Leiva R., Moreira, M.T., González-García, S. belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ...
Attributional and consequential life cycle perspectives of second-generation polylactic acid: The benefits of integrating a recycling strategy
Rebolledo-Leiva, Ricardo (author) / Ladakis, Dimitrios (author) / Ioannidou, Sofia-Maria (author) / Koutinas, Apostolis (author) / Moreira Vilar, María Teresa (author) / González-García, Sara (author) / Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Departamento de Enxeñaría Química / Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Instituto Interdisciplinar de Tecnoloxías Ambientais (CRETUS)
doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138354
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
DDC:
690