Environment impacts assessment of petroleum plastic and bioplastic carrier bags in Thailand

บทความในวารสาร

ผู้เขียน/บรรณาธิการ

กลุ่มสาขาการวิจัยเชิงกลยุทธ์

ไม่พบข้อมูลที่เกี่ยวข้อง

รายละเอียดสำหรับงานพิมพ์

รายชื่อผู้แต่ง: Sudarat Rattana;Sudarat Rattana;Shabbir H. Gheewala;Shabbir H. Gheewala

ปีที่เผยแพร่ (ค.ศ.): 2019

วารสาร: Journal of Sustainable Energy and Environment (1906-4918)

Volume number: 10

Issue number: 1

หน้าแรก: 9

หน้าสุดท้าย: 17

นอก: 1906-4918

URL: http://www.jseejournal.com/journal.php?id=41

บทคัดย่อ

Due to the rapid increase in petroleum plastic consumption leading to severe waste problems and non-renewable resource depletion, bioplastics are an alternative option which can substitute petroleum plastic, serving as alternative renewable materials and expected to be more environmentally friendly. The goal of this study is to evaluate the environmental impacts in terms of global warming, fossil depletion, water depletion, land occupation, acidification, eutrophication, and toxicity for single-use carrier (shopping) bags produced from conventional plastic (HDPE) and bioplastic (PLA) and to find pros and cons of both products by applying the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool. In addition, this study also focuses on the different waste management options. The results illustrate that petroleum plastic bags perform better than bioplastic bags in all categories and are quite similar in term of fossil depletion impact. The major stages contributing to the impacts of bioplastic bags are PLA production stage followed by the agricultural phase, particularly due to the higher resin requirement for bioplastic bag production as compared to plastic bags. Moreover, this study found that mechanical recycling is the most appropriate waste management option not just for petroleum plastic bags but also for bioplastic bags. However, there are other effects to the environment where bioplastics may be preferable to petroleum plastics, for instance, plastic waste accumulated in the deep marine environment and turning into microplastics affecting on the marine species, as well as persisting in the landfill for decades or centuries. Currently, the LCA study does not cover these impacts which are thus not mentioned in the study but will be beneficial to study further in the future.

คำสำคัญ

High-density polyethylene (HDPE), Single use carrier bags