State of art review on Life Cycle Assessment of polymers

ABSTRACT

Sustainable polymers are environmentally benign and better alternative for fossil-based petrochemical polymers. Sustainable polymers consume lesser energy, minimal environmental impact and are economically balanced. This article presents cumulative review of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of fossil and biopolymers. LCA is performed for different polymers with different scenarios and categories: Cradle to Gate and Cradle to Grave. Environmental impact of different polymers is analysed and compared for different scenarios with different strategies (Cradle to Gate and Cradle to Grave). Product and process-based polymers are considered for review and Articles from various journals and publisher are considered for review. Based on the review, it was found that Global Warming (GW), Acidification Potential (AP) and Eutrophication Potential (EP) were focused impacts in many studies based on environmental viewpoint. SimaPro software and Ecoinvent database were widely used in studies to find environmental impact. Most of the articles were focused on Cradle to Gate boundary system, and among End of Life (EoL) scenarios, recycling, landfill, incineration and composting and energy recovery were mostly addressed.

Abbreviations

PLA: Poly Lactic Acid; TPS: Thermo Plastic Starch; PHA: Polyhydroxyalkanoates; PBS: Polybutylene succinate; ABS: Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene; HIPS: High Impact Polystyrene; HDPE: High Density Polyethylene; LDPE: Low Density Polyethylene; PE: Polyethylene; EG: Ethylene Glycol; PP: Poly Propylene; PS: Polystyrene; PET: Polyethylene Terephthalate; PL: Polyester; GPPS: General Purpose Polystyrene; Ozone Depletion: OD; CO₂ emission; COE; Greenhouse Gas: GHG; Climate Change: CC; Global Warming: GW; Acidification Potential: AP; Eutrophication Potential: EP; Carcinogenics: CAR; Non Carcinogenics: NCAR; Respiratory Effects / Respiratory Organics: RE / RO; Ecotoxicity: ET; Fossil Fuel Depletion: FFD; Metal Depletion: MD; Smog Formation: SF; Abiotic Depletion: AD; Natural Resources Depletion: NRP; Particulate Matter Formation: PMF; Radiation: R; Minerals Depletion: MSD; Urban Land use: ULU; Agricultural Land use / land occupation Potential/Urban Land Occupation/ Natural Land Transformation: ALU/ LOP/ULO/NLT; Water Depletion: WD; Fresh water Eutrophication: FWE; Fresh water/ Water Use: FW/WU; Human Health: HH; HH Cancer: HHC; HH Noncancer: HHNC; Carbon Footprint: CFP; Human Toxicity: HT; Energy: Marine Aquatic Ecotoxicity / Marine Ecotoxicity: MAET/ MET; Photo Chemical Oxidation: PCO; Terrestrial Ecotoxicity: TET; Terrestrial Acidification: TA: Terrestrial Eutrophication: TE; Non Renewable Energy Use: NREU; Ionizing Radiation: IR

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainability
• Life Cycle Assessment
• end of life management
• design for environment
• biopolymers
• sustainable polymers
• environmental impacts

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

P Ramesh

P Ramesh is Research Scholar from production engineering. He is pursuing Ph.D degree in National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India. His area of research is Additive manufacturing. Previously he worked as Assistant Professor in mechanical department from CARE group of institution, Tiruchirappalli. He completed his master’s degree in M.E CAD/CAM from Saveetha Engineering college, Chennai. He did bachelor’s degree in Mechanical engineering from J.J college of Engineering and Technology, Tiruchirappalli.

S Vinodh

S. Vinodh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. He completed his Ph.D. degree under AICTE National Doctoral Fellowship scheme from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. He completed his Master’s degree in Production Engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India and Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. He was a Gold Medallist in his undergraduate study. He has published over 100 papers in International Journals and Conference proceedings. He received Highly Commended Paper Award from Emerald Publishers for the year 2016.  His research interests include Sustainable Manufacturing, Lean Manufacturing, Agile Manufacturing, Rapid Manufacturing, Product Development and Industry 4.0.