Plastic-to-Plastic Recycling Life Cycle Assessment Report

Abstract

This Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) report, commissioned by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), evaluates the environmental impacts of producing plastic through six different methods: virgin production, mechanical recycling, and four chemical recycling technologies (pyrolysis, gasification, methanolysis, and dissolution). The study focuses on three major plastic types— polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET)—selected because they were optimally fit for the chemical recycling technologies and corresponding outputs chosen for this study. These plastic types also had overlap between scenarios which facilitated comparison of recycling technologies per plastic type.