Assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Polylactic acid (PLA)/ starch and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) trays

Abstract

This study aims to assess greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Poy(lactic acid) (PLA) with cassava starch blend (PLA/starch) and Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) trays from cradle to grave. The various waste treatment scenarios were considered. The functional unit is specified as 10,000 units of 8 × 10 × 2.5 cm. of PLA/starch and PET trays which weigh 597.6 and 582.7.5 kilograms, respectively. The results from cradle to production gate were found that GHG emissions of PLA/starch has 51.38% lower than that of PET. This is because PET has higher weight of the trays. The resin production stage of PET tray has the highest of greenhouse GHG emissions. The results from cradle to grave show that the highest total GHG emissions are observed from PLA/starch or PET trays with 90% of landfill and 10% of incineration. The lowest GHG emissions from disposal PLA/starch and PET trays are from landfill with biogas recovery and incineration with heat recovery. This can be reduced GHG emissions by 3.11×10 3 and 1.28×10 3 kg CO 2 equivalent. © (2012) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.