{"id":36412,"key":"Life_cycle_analysis_of_polymer_recycling_literature_review","title":"Life cycle analysis of polymer recycling literature review","latest":{"id":1220488,"timestamp":"2025-12-29T15:01:35Z"},"content_model":"wikitext","license":{"url":"https://www.appropedia.org/Appropedia:Copyrights","title":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"source":"{{MOST}}\n\n{{MOST-RepRap}}\n\n{{MOST literature review notice}}\n\nThis literature review supports the following project: [[Life cycle analysis of distributed polymer recycling]].\n\nSee also: [[Energy Payback Time of a Solar Photovoltaic Powered Waste Plastic Recyclebot System]]\n\n=== MOST group articles on waste plastic extrusion ===\n\n* Dennis J. Byard, Aubrey L. Woern, Robert B. Oakley, Matthew J. Fiedler, Samantha L. Snabes, and Joshua M. Pearce. [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221486041830695X Green Fab Lab Applications of Large-Area Waste Polymer-based Additive Manufacturing]. ''Additive Manufacturing'' 27, (2019), pp. 515-525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2019.03.006 [https://www.academia.edu/38728877/Fab_Lab_Applications_of_Large-Area_Waste_Polymer-based_Additive_Manufacturing open access]\n* David Shonnard, Emily Tipaldo, Vicki Thompson, Joshua Pearce, Gerard Caneba, Robert Handler. Systems Analysis for PET and Olefin Polymers in a Circular Economy. 26th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering Conference. ''Procedia CIRP'' 80, (2019), 602-606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2019.01.072 [https://www.academia.edu/39017985/Systems_Analysis_for_PET_and_Olefin_Polymers_in_a_Circular_Economy open access]\n* Aubrey L. Woern, Joseph R. McCaslin, Adam M. Pringle, and Joshua M. Pearce. RepRapable Recyclebot: Open Source 3-D Printable Extruder for Converting Plastic to 3-D Printing Filament. HardwareX 4C (2018) e00026 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2018.e00026 [https://www.academia.edu/36721604/RepRapable_Recyclebot_Open_source_3-D_printable_extruder_for_converting_plastic_to_3-D_printing_filament open access]\n* Aubrey L. Woern and Joshua M. Pearce. 3-D Printable Polymer Pelletizer Chopper for Fused Granular Fabrication-Based Additive Manufacturing. ''Inventions'' 2018, 3(4), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/inventions3040078 [https://www.academia.edu/37860682/3-D_Printable_Polymer_Pelletizer_Chopper_for_Fused_Granular_Fabrication-Based_Additive_Manufacturing open access]\n* Woern, A.L.; Byard, D.J.; Oakley, R.B.; Fiedler, M.J.; Snabes, S.L.; Pearce, J.M. Fused Particle Fabrication 3-D Printing: Recycled Materials' Optimization and Mechanical Properties. ''Materials'' '''2018''', 11, 1413. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11081413 [https://www.academia.edu/37223823/Fused_Particle_Fabrication_3-D_Printing_Recycled_Materials_Optimization_and_Mechanical_Properties open access]\n* Adam M. Pringle, Mark Rudnicki, and Joshua Pearce (2017) Wood Furniture Waste-Based Recycled 3-D Printing Filament. ''Forest Products Journal'' 2018, Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 86-95. https://doi.org/10.13073/FPJ-D-17-00042 [https://www.academia.edu/37662455/Wood_Furniture_Waste-Based_Recycled_3-D_Printing_Filament open access]\n* Debbie L. King, Adegboyega Babasola, Joseph Rozario, and Joshua M. Pearce, \"[http://www.librelloph.com/challengesinsustainability/article/view/cis-2-1-18 Mobile Open-Source Solar-Powered 3-D Printers for Distributed Manufacturing in Off-Grid Communities],\" ''Challenges in Sustainability'' '''2'''(1), 18-27 (2014). [https://www.academia.edu/8603622/Mobile_Open-Source_Solar-Powered_3-D_Printers_for_Distributed_Manufacturing_in_Off-Grid_Communities open access]\n* Shan Zhong & Joshua M. Pearce. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.023 Tightening the loop on the circular economy: Coupled distributed recycling and manufacturing with recyclebot and RepRap 3-D printing],''Resources, Conservation and Recycling'' 128, (2018), pp. 48–58. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.023 [https://www.academia.edu/34738483/Tightening_the_Loop_on_the_Circular_Economy_Coupled_Distributed_Recycling_and_Manufacturing_with_Recyclebot_and_RepRap_3-D_Printing open access]\n* M.A. Kreiger, M.L. Mulder, A.G. Glover, [[J. M. Pearce]], [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.02.009 Life Cycle Analysis of Distributed Recycling of Post-consumer High Density Polyethylene for 3-D Printing Filament], ''Journal of Cleaner Production'', 70, pp. 90–96 (2014). DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.02.009. [https://www.academia.edu/6188555/Life_cycle_analysis_of_distributed_recycling_of_post-consumer_high_density_polyethylene_for_3-D_printing_filament open access]\n* Shan Zhong, Pratiksha Rakhe and Joshua M. Pearce. [http://www.mdpi.com/2313-4321/2/2/10/htm Energy Payback Time of a Solar Photovoltaic Powered Waste Plastic Recyclebot System]. ''Recycling'' 2017, 2(2), 10; doi: 10.3390/recycling2020010 [https://www.academia.edu/33479368/Energy_Payback_Time_of_a_Solar_Photovoltaic_Powered_Waste_Plastic_Recyclebot_System open access]\n* Feeley, S. R., Wijnen, B., & Pearce, J. M. (2014). [http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jsd/article/view/32187 Evaluation of Potential Fair Trade Standards for an Ethical 3-D Printing Filament]. ''Journal of Sustainable Development'', '''7'''(5), 1-12. DOI: 10.5539/jsd.v7n5p1 [https://www.academia.edu/8406439/Evaluation_of_Potential_Fair_Trade_Standards_for_an_Ethical_3-D_Printing_Filament open access]\n* M. Kreiger, G. C. Anzalone, M. L. Mulder, A. Glover and J. M Pearce (2013). Distributed Recycling of Post-Consumer Plastic Waste in Rural Areas. MRS Online Proceedings Library, 1492, [https://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8851128 mrsf12-1492-g04-06] doi:10.1557/opl.2013.258. [http://www.academia.edu/2921972/Distributed_Recycling_of_Post-Consumer_Plastic_Waste_in_Rural_Areas open access]\n* Christian Baechler, Matthew DeVuono, and Joshua M. Pearce, \"[http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13552541311302978 Distributed Recycling of Waste Polymer into RepRap Feedstock]\" ''Rapid Prototyping Journal,'' '''19'''(2), pp. 118-125 (2013). [http://www.academia.edu/2643418/Distributed_Recycling_of_Waste_Polymer_into_RepRap_Feedstock open access]\n\nKuczensk, Brandon, and Roland Geyer. \"LCA and Recycling Policy — a Case Study in Plastic.\" 1 Oct. 2001. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. [http://www.lcacenter.org/LCA9/presentations/208.pdf].\n\n* 11 states have bottle bills (MI included)\n* producing 1 kg PET requires 206 g Natural Gas for ethylene, 588 g crude oil for xylene, Liquid oxygen, and water\n* 1kg diverted from land fill saves 1kg disposal +.78kg primary production\n* buy back centers/source separated processors:.044MJ primary energy per 1kg PET\n* curbside collection:.65-.8 MJ primary energy per 1kg PET\n* materials recovery center:.38 MJ primary energy per 1kg PET\n* each additional kg recycled reduced primary energy 46.2-56.3 MJ\n\nNOTES: good diagrams/flowcharts, necessary info for CA only<ref>Kuczensk, Brandon, and Roland Geyer. \"LCA and Recycling Policy — a Case Study in Plastic.\" 1 Oct. 2001. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. [http://www.lcacenter.org/LCA9/presentations/208.pdf].</ref>\n\nLofti, Ahmad. \"Plastic / Polymer Recycling.\" Web. 11 Oct. 2011. [http://www.lotfi.net:80/recycle/plastic.html].\n\n* 1:PET (highly recyclable)\n* 2:HDPE (highly recyclable)\n* 3:PVC (not recycled)\n* 4:LDPE\n* 5:Polypropylene (not recycled)\n* 6:Polystyrene (not recycled)\n* 7:Other/mixed (no recycling)\n* usually a single re-use\n* can't mix PET and PVC in recycling\n* steps: collection, sorting/separating, processing, manufacturing\n\nNOTES: outdated<ref>Lofti, Ahmad. \"Plastic / Polymer Recycling.\" Web. 11 Oct. 2011. [http://www.lotfi.net:80/recycle/plastic.html].</ref>\n\nThe ImpEE Project: Recycling of Plastics. The Cambridge-MIT Institute. 11 Oct 2011. [http://www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/impee/topics/RecyclePlastics/files/Recycling%20Plastic%20v3%20PDF.pdf]\n\n* embodied energy analysis via input/output instead of thermo\n* energy in/kg PET out\n* energy in/bottles out\n* LCA preformed on milk carton\n* comparison of different materials (PET, glass, aluminum, steel)\n* LCA of recycling PET into fleece\n* chart of embodied energies and prices of polymers\n* embodied energy and price of recycled material is half of virgin material (lower quality)\n* \"Transport does not have a great impact on the energy life cycle of this product.\"-slide 8\n\nNOTES: great diagrams, equations<ref>The ImpEE Project: Recycling of Plastics. The Cambridge-MIT Institute. 11 Oct 2011. [http://www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/impee/topics/RecyclePlastics/files/Recycling%20Plastic%20v3%20PDF.pdf]</ref>Britz, David, Yohsi Hamaoka, and Jessica Mazorson. \"Recology: Value in Recycling Materials.\" MIT Sloan Sustainability Lab, 13 May 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. [http://actionlearning.mit.edu/files/slab_files/Projects/2010/report,%20recology.pdf].\n\n* studied virgin material market, environmental impact, and recycling of virgin material\n* used LCA databases\n* materials flow and embodied energy\n* energy input=energy stored product+energy stored in waste+energy released\n* recycled material uses 80% less energy than virgin material\n* producing 1 kg recycled PET uses 42-55 MJ/ 1kg virgin PET uses >77 MJ\n\nNOTES:check sources 12-14<ref name=\"[4]\">Britz, David, Yohsi Hamaoka, and Jessica Mazorson. \"Recology: Value in Recycling Materials.\" MIT Sloan Sustainability Lab, 13 May 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. [http://actionlearning.mit.edu/files/slab_files/Projects/2010/report,%20recology.pdf].</ref>\n\n== \"Embodied Energy Coefficients.\" Web. 13 Oct. 2011. [http://www.victoria.ac.nz/cbpr/documents/pdfs/ee-coefficients.pdf]. ==\n\n* coefficients in MJ/kg and MJ<sup>3</sup>\n* ABS, HDPE,LDPE, polyester, pp, ps, polyurethane, PVC\n* compares local data to worldwide data\n* sourced<ref name=\"[5]\">\"Embodied Energy Coefficients.\" Web. 13 Oct. 2011. [http://www.victoria.ac.nz/cbpr/documents/pdfs/ee-coefficients.pdf].</ref>\n\n== Embodied Energy Table ==\n\n'''Table 1: Embodied Energy per kg material'''\n\n{| class=\"wikitable\"\n! width=\"220\" |Material\n! width=\"180\" |Embodied Energy (MJ/kg)<ref name=\"[5]\" /><ref name=\"[6]\">Hammond, Geoff, and Craig Jones. \"Inventory of Carbon & Energy (ICE V2.0) Embodied Energy & Carbon.\" University of Bath. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. <http://web.archive.org/web/20120205181448/http://www.bath.ac.uk/mech-eng/sert/embodied/>.</ref>\n! width=\"240\" |Embodied CO<sub>2</sub> (kg CO<sub>2</sub>/kg)<ref name=\"[7]\">Eco-profiles of the\nEuropean Plastics Industry. Plastic Europe. 2005. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. http://web.archive.org/web/20101124202138/http://lca.plasticseurope.org:80/main2.htm.</ref>\n! width=\"220\" |Transportation Energy (MJ/kg)<ref name=\"[7]\" />\n! width=\"220\" |Notes\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| ABS\n| align=\"center\"| 77.8-111\n| align=\"center\"| 3.05\n| align=\"center\"|\n| align=\"center\"| From Franklin Associates Ltd, 1991..<ref name=\"[5]\" /> From Plastics Europe, 2005.<ref name=\"[7]\" />\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| HDPE\n| align=\"center\"| 79.7-103\n| align=\"center\"|1.57(resin)-2.02(pipe)\n| align=\"center\"|\n| align=\"center\"| From Franklin Associates Ltd. and manufacturer. 1994.<ref name=\"[5]\" />\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| LDPE\n| align=\"center\"| 77-103\n| align=\"center\"|1.69(resin)-2.13(film)\n| align=\"center\"|\n| align=\"center\"| From Lawson. 1994.<ref name=\"[5]\" />\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| Polyester\n| align=\"center\"| 53.7-58\n| align=\"center\"|\n| align=\"center\"|\n| align=\"center\"| From American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide, 1991.<ref name=\"[5]\" />\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| Polypropylene\n| align=\"center\"| 64-94\n| align=\"center\"| 2.97-3.93\n| align=\"center\"|\n| align=\"center\"| From American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide, 1994.<ref name=\"[5]\" /> From Plastics Europe, 2005.<ref name=\"[7]\" />\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| Polystyrene\n| align=\"center\"| 100-117\n| align=\"center\"| 2.55-3.45\n| align=\"center\"|\n| align=\"center\"| From American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide, 1994.<ref name=\"[5]\" /> From Plastics Europe, 2006.<refname=\"[7]\" />\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| Polyurethane\n| align=\"center\"| 72.2-74\n| align=\"center\"| 3.48-4.06\n| align=\"center\"|\n| align=\"center\"| From American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide and manufacturer, 1991.<ref name=\"[5]\" />From Plastics Europe, 2005.<refname=\"[7]\" />\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| PVC\n| align=\"center\"| 38.6-189\n| align=\"center\"| 2.56-2.61\n| align=\"center\"|\n| align=\"center\"| From American Institute of Architects, Environmental Resource Guide, Sheltair Scientific Ltd, and manufacturer. Best guess is 70 MJ/kg, 1992.<ref name=\"[5]\" />\n|-\n| align=\"center\"| PET\n| align=\"center\"| 77-90<ref name=\"[4]\" />\n| align=\"center\"| 2.73\n| align=\"center\"|\n| align=\"center\"| From international journal of Life Cycle Assessment.<ref name=\"[4]\" />\n|}\n\nNote: CO<sub>2</sub> values are cradle to gate.\n\n== Transportation Energy ==\n\nVariables for calculating transportation energy<ref name=\"[8]\">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.</ref>\n\n* Distance Traveled\n* Speed Traveled\n* Type of Vehicle (mpg)\n* Loading of Vehicle\n\n{| class=\"wikitable\"\n|+ Table 2: Embodied Energy of Transportation\n! width=\"220\" |Vehicle\n! width=\"180\" |Fuel Efficiency (ton miles/gallon)<ref name=\"[8]\" />\n! width=\"240\" |Embodied CO<sub>2</sub> of Transportation (lb CO<sub>2</sub>/gallon)<ref name=\"[8]\" />\n! width=\"220\" |Notes\n|-\n| Garbage Truck\n| 41\n| 19.56\n|\n|-\n| Airplane/Jet\n| 5\n| 19.56\n|\n|-\n| Train\n| 100\n| 19.56\n|\n|-\n| Ship\n| 140\n| 19.56\n|\n|-\n| Passenger Vehicle\n| 15-40 (mpg)<ref name=\"[9]\">2011 Most and Least Fuel Efficient Vehicles. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bestworst.shtml</ref>| 19.56\n|\n* Fuel efficiency calculated in mpg due to low loading capactity\n* Average can be taken as 31 mpg\n\n|}\n\n'''Best Case Scenario: Detroit, MI'''<ref>http://www.wm.com/about/press-room/2009/20090617_WM_Opens_Detroit_Recycling_Center.pdf</ref>'''Worst Case Scenario: Copper Harbor, MI'''\n\n== References ==\n\n<references />\n\n{{Page data\n| license = CC-BY-SA-3.0\n}}\n\n[[Category:MOST literature reviews]]\n[[Category:3D printing]]"}