Economic and environmental assessment of automotive plastic waste end‐of‐life options

Energy recovery versus chemical recycling

Bibliographic Data

ID19468238
AuthorsChristoph Stallkamp (0000-0001-8260-2889, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute for Industrial Production (IIP) Karlsruhe Germany, corresponding author), Malte Hennig (0000-0002-0289-5608, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute for Technical Chemistry (ITC) Karlsruhe Germany, corresponding author), Rebekka Volk (0000-0001-9930-5354, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute for Industrial Production (IIP) Karlsruhe Germany), Frank Richter (0000-0003-1929-5489, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute for Technical Chemistry (ITC) Karlsruhe Germany), Britta Bergfeldt (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute for Technical Chemistry (ITC) Karlsruhe Germany), Salar Tavakkol (0000-0001-5142-2439, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute for Technical Chemistry (ITC) Karlsruhe Germany), Frank Schultmann (0000-0001-6405-9763, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute for Industrial Production (IIP) Karlsruhe Germany), Dieter Stapf (0000-0001-6499-062X, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Institute for Technical Chemistry (ITC) Karlsruhe Germany)
Year2023
Volume27
Issue5
Pages1319-1334
Publication date2023-10-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Industrial Ecology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1088-1980 • E-ISSN: 1530-9290
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/jiec.13416
OpenAlexW4384068830
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited41

Most automotive plastic waste (APW) is landfilled or used in energy recovery as it is unsuitable for high‐quality product mechanical recycling. Chemical recycling via pyrolysis offers a pathway toward closing the material loop by handling this heterogeneous waste and providing feedstock for producing virgin plastics. This study compares chemical recycling and energy recovery scenarios for APW regarding climate change impact and cumulative energy demand (CED), assessing potential environmental advantages. In addition, an economic assessment is conducted. In contrast to other studies, the assessments are based on pyrolysis experiments conducted with an actual waste fraction. Mass balances and product composition are reported. The experimental data is combined with literature data for up‐ and downstream processes for the assessment. Chemical recycling shows a lower net climate change impact (0.57 to 0.64 kg CO 2 e/kg waste input) and CED (3.38 to 4.41 MJ/kg waste input) than energy recovery (climate change impact: 1.17 to 1.25 kg CO 2 e/kg waste input; CED: 6.94 to 7.97 MJ/kg waste input), while energy recovery performs better economically (net processing cost of −0.05 to −0.02€/kg waste input) compared to chemical recycling (0.05 to 0.08€/kg waste input). However, chemical recycling keeps carbon in the material cycle contributing to a circular economy and reducing the dependence on fossil feedstocks. Therefore, an increasing circularity of APW through chemical recycling shows a conflict between economic and environmental objectives

Circular economy · Energy recovery · Industrial ecology · Life-cycle assessment · Municipal solid waste · Pyrolysis · Raw material · Sustainability · Waste management · Chemistry · Engineering · Environmental Science · Microplastics and Plastic Pollution · Municipal Solid Waste Management · Recycling and Waste Management Techniques

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