Life Cycle Assessment: A Tool for Comparing and Evaluating Different Treatment Options for Plastic Wastes

1. Dept. of Geosystem Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113 - 8656, Japan

2. AIST, Tsukuba 305-8569, Japan

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a powerful method for evaluating the environmental performance of a product or a process, starting from raw material extraction, through manufacture and final disposal. LCA is carried out in four steps: (1) specifying the processes required in the manufacture, use and eventual disposal of the products or materials; (2) quantifying energy, materials usages and environmental releases for the entire life-cycle; (3) a ssessing the human and ecological effects of energy, materials usages and the environmental releases identified in the inventory analysis; (4) e valuating the results in order to select the most suitable option.

In the present work, two treatment options for plastic wastes from the discarded TV sets, have been compared in the context of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The total environmental burden (TEB) of each option was calculated as the sum of the depletion of a biotic resources ( ADP ), the g lobal warming potential (GWP), the acidification potential (AP), the photo-oxidant formation potential (POCP), the eutrophication potential (EP), and the human toxicity potential (HTP). After calculating the total environmental burden of each treatment option, the sensitivity analysis was conducted. The ultimate aim was t o indicate which parameters of the system have the strongest influence on the results of LCA in order to find ways for lowering the environmental burden, and ultimately suggest a “design strategy”.

Keywords : LCA, plastic waste, evaluation, sensitivity analysis, recycling