This literature review supports the following project: Life cycle analysis of distributed polymer recycling
Kuczensk, Brandon, and Roland Geyer. "LCA and Recycling Policy — a Case Study in Plastic." 1 Oct. 2001. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. [6].
- 11 states have bottle bills (MI included)
- producing 1 kg PET requires 206 g Natural Gas for ethylene, 588 g crude oil for xylene, Liquid oxygen, and water
- 1kg diverted from land fill saves 1kg disposal +.78kg primary production
- buy back centers/source separated processors: .044MJ primary energy per 1kg PET
- curbside collection: .65-.8 MJ primary energy per 1kg PET
- materials recovery center: .38 MJ primary energy per 1kg PET
- each additional kg recycled reduced primary energy 46.2-56.3 MJ
NOTES: good diagrams/flowcharts, necessary info for CA only [1]
Lofti, Ahmad. "Plastic / Polymer Recycling." Web. 11 Oct. 2011. [7].
- 1:PET (highly recyclable)
- 2:HDPE (highly recyclable)
- 3:PVC (not recycled)
- 4:LDPE
- 5:Polypropylene (not recycled)
- 6:Polystyrene (not recycled)
- 7:Other/mixed (no recycling)
- usually a single re-use
- can't mix PET and PVC in recycling
- steps: collection, sorting/seperating, processing, manufacturing
NOTES: outdated [2]
The ImpEE Project: Recycling of Plastics. The Cambridge-MIT Institute. 11 Oct 2011. [8]
- embodied energy analysis via input/output instead of thermo
- energy in/kg PET out
- energy in/bottles out
- LCA preformed on milk carton
- comparison of different materials (PET, glass, aluminum, steel)
- LCA of recycling PET into fleece
- chart of embodied energies and prices of polymers
- embodied energy and price of recycled material is half of virgin material (lower quality)
- "Transport does not have a great impact on the energy life cycle of this product."-slide 8
NOTES: great diagrams, equations [3]
Britz, David, Yohsi Hamaoka, and Jessica Mazorson. "Recology: Value in Recycling Materials." MIT Sloan Sustainability Lab, 13 May 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. [9].
- studied virgin material market, environmental impact, and recycling of virgin material
- used LCA databases
- materials flow and embodied energy
- energy input=energy stored product+energy stored in waste+energy released
- recycled material uses 80% less energy than virgin material
- producing 1 kg recycled PET uses 42-55 MJ/ 1kg virgin PET uses >77 MJ
NOTES:check sources 12-14 [4]
"Embodied Energy Coefficients." Web. 13 Oct. 2011. [10].
- coefficients in MJ/kg and MJ3
- ABS, HDPE,LDPE, polyester, pp, ps, polyurethane, PVC
- compares local data to worldwide data
- sourced
Embodied Energy Table
Table 1: Embodied Energy per kg material
Material | Embodied Energy (MJ/kg)[5] [6] | Embodied CO2 (kg CO2/kg) [7] | Transportation Energy (MJ/kg) [7] | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
ABS | 77.8-111 | 3.05 | From Franklin Associates Ltd, 1991.[5]. From Plastics Europe, 2005. [7] | |
HDPE | 79.7-103 | 1.57(resin)-2.02(pipe) | From Franklin Associates Ltd. and manufacturer. 1994. [5] | |
LDPE | 77-103 | 1.69(resin)-2.13(film) | From Lawson. 1994.[5] | |
Polyester | 53.7-58 | From American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide, 1991. [5] | ||
Polypropylene | 64-94 | 2.97-3.93 | From American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide, 1994. [5] From Plastics Europe, 2005. [7] | |
Polystyrene | 100-117 | 2.55-3.45 | From American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide, 1994. [5] From Plastics Europe, 2006. <refname="[7]"/> | |
Polyurethane | 72.2-74 | 3.48-4.06 | From American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide and manufacturer, 1991. [5]From Plastics Europe, 2005. <refname="[7]"/> | |
PVC | 38.6-189 | 2.56-2.61 | From American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide, Sheltair Scientific Ltd, and manufacturer. Best guess is 70 MJ/kg, 1992.[5] | |
PET | 77-90[4] | 2.73 | From international journal of Life Cycle Assessment. [4] |
Note: CO2 values are cradle to gate.
Transportation Energy
Variables for calculating transportation energy [8]
- Distance Traveled
- Speed Traveled
- Type of Vehicle (mpg)
- Loading of Vehicle
Table 2: Embodied Energy of Transportation
Vehicle | Fuel Efficiency (ton miles/gallon)[8] | Embodied CO2 of Transportation (lb CO2/gallon)[8] | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Garbage Truck | 41 | 19.56 | |
Airplane/Jet | 5 | 19.56 | |
Train | 100 | 19.56 | |
Ship | 140 | 19.56 | |
Passenger Vehicle | 15-40 (mpg) [9] | 19.56 |
|
References
- ↑ Kuczensk, Brandon, and Roland Geyer. "LCA and Recycling Policy — a Case Study in Plastic." 1 Oct. 2001. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. [1].
- ↑ Lofti, Ahmad. "Plastic / Polymer Recycling." Web. 11 Oct. 2011. [2].
- ↑ The ImpEE Project: Recycling of Plastics. The Cambridge-MIT Institute. 11 Oct 2011. [3]
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Britz, David, Yohsi Hamaoka, and Jessica Mazorson. "Recology: Value in Recycling Materials." MIT Sloan Sustainability Lab, 13 May 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. [4].
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 "Embodied Energy Coefficients." Web. 13 Oct. 2011. [5].
- ↑ Hammond, Geoff, and Craig Jones. "Inventory of Carbon & Energy (ICE V2.0) Embodied Energy & Carbon." University of Bath. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. <http://www.bath.ac.uk/mech-eng/sert/embodied/>.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Eco-profiles of the European Plastics Industry. Plastic Europe. 2005. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. http://lca.plasticseurope.org/main2.htm.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Pearce, Joshua M., Sara J. Johnson, and Gabriel B. Grant. "3D-mapping Optimization of Embodied Energy of Transportation." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 51.2 (2007): 435-53. Print.
- ↑ 2011 Most and Least Fuel Efficient Vehicles. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bestworst.shtml