Biowaste to carbon capture: LCA

The aim of the study was to compare Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottle production and Polyethylene furanoate (PEF) plastic bottle production which uses captured carbon, by using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). From this, its viability in replacing PET on a global scale would have been determined. The scope of the LCA catered for a cradle to gate system boundary being utilized, and the functional units being used were 1 ton of PET and 1 ton of PEF. The software utilized for the LCA was SimaPro and in this software, a ReCiPe 2016 methodology was utilized to obtain the LCIA results. It was concluded that the production of PEF produced a higher rate of environmental emissions and impacts. It was also noted however that other research conducted previously has shown the opposite. This conclusion guides the other conclusion of more research being required for PEF production as it is still a new field of research. Another simple conclusion involved the general encouragement of recycling. A major limitation involved the use of a cradle to gate analysis as opposed to cradle to grave. A recommendation would be for further research to involve cradle to grave system boundaries, as well as the exploration of other biomasses.