ENVIRONMETAL SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT OF RECYCLED PET BOTTLES USING LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT APPROACH

Abstract

In this study, life cycle assessment was applied to assess the environmental impact of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle-to-fibre recycling. The following scenario, based on our field survey, was evaluated. The functional unit was one metric ton of recycled polyester staple fibre. The system boundary ranged from cradle-to-factory gate. All the inventory data of recycling processes were obtained from field visits, observations, and semi-structured interviews with the recyclers. The LCA results showed the numerical value of global warming potential (701 kg CO2 eq), acidification (3.32 kg SO2 eq), eutrophication (1.82 kg PO4- eq,) abiotic depletion (7.97 kg Sb eq), ozone layer depletion ( 7.62E-05 kg CFC-11 eq) human toxicity (762 kg 1,4 DB eq) fresh water ecotoxicity (429 kg 1,4-DB eq) and marine ecotoxicity (705754 kg 1,4 -DB eq) of recycling of 1 ton of PET bottles into fibre. Conventional electricity consumption showed an average of 49% higher impact in seven out of ten impact categories, As compared to virgin PET fibre production, the recycled PET fibre had much lower environmental impact (below 20%) in eight out of ten impact categories except eutrophication and freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity (66% to 86%) respectively.