Environmental Aspects of Mechanical Recycling of PE and PET: A Life Cycle Assessment Study

Abstract

The quantification of the actual environmental advantage of mechanical recycling of post-consumer PET and PE liquid containers was the main aim of the study. The phases of collection, compaction, sorting, reprocessing and refuse disposal in the Italian system of plastic packaging waste recycling were individually analysed and quantified in terms of energy and material consumptions as well as of emissions in the environment. The results indicate that the recycling scenarios are always preferable to those of non-recycling. The energy saving could be as large as 185% if the energy recovery from scrap wastes is realised. The reduction in material consumption is even very large, indicating, for instance, that in only one year the Italian system for plastic liquid containers is able to save more than 83,000t of crude oil, 28,000t of gas and 23,000t of coal. The calculations were made with the (reasonable) assumption that the final utilization can use the virgin or the recycled polymer without any difference.