Assessment the environmental impacts of polylactic acid/starch and polyethylene terephthalate boxes using life cycle assessment methodology: Cradle to waste treatments

Abstract

The study assess the environmental impacts of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and PLA/cassava starch blend at the ratio of 1:1 (PLA/starch) boxes for a single use box from cradle to waste treatment. The various waste management options for both PLA/starch and PET boxes were considered. The functional unit is specified as 10,000 units of 8×10×2-5 cm of PET and PLA/starch boxes which weigh 582.7.5 and 430.6 kilograms, respectively. Non-renewable energy, global warming, acidification, and eutrophication were considered. The results from cradle to production gate were found that in all impact categories of PLA/starch has 0.14-3.01 times lower than that of PET except EU impact, because PET has higher weight of the PET box. The resin production stage of both PET and PLA/starch boxes has the highest contribution in all impacts categories studied. The results from cradle to grave showed that the high impacts are observed from the disposal incineration and landfill for PET and PLA/starch boxes respectively. The less impacts from disposal PLA/starch and PET boxes are from composting and incineration with heat recovery. Copyright © 2013 American Scientific Publishers.