Work

Gate to gate life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions and acidification potential in plastic recycling technologies in Nepal

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT Almost all waste management steps produce greenhouse gas (GHG) and other emissions, therefore it is vital to choose the processes with less impacts. In this study, a gate-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) method has been applied to compare the climate change potential and acidification potential of mechanical recycling (MR), chemical recycling (CR) and landfilling (LF) of Municipal Plastic Waste (MPW) for Nepal. The chemical and mechanical recycling are incorporated with Waste to Energy (WTE) conversion for solid waste produced after MPW recycling process. This study has estimated the net GHG impacts of chemical recycling, mechanical recycling and landfilling alongside acidification potentials. The result show that mechanical recycling (-805 kgCO 2 -eq/t MPW) to be least detrimental to the environment when compared with chemical recycling (-544 kgCO 2 -eq/t MPW) and landfilling (114 kgCO 2 -eq/t MPW) due to high energy consumption and process emissions of chemical recycling and landfilling. In terms of energy emission, this study finds that electricity consumption during recycling contributes around 6%-24% of total climate change potentials highlighting the need for use of low carbon intensive (green) electricity for further impact reduction.

Source: Results in Engineering

DOI: 10.1016/j.rineng.2025.105367

Authors: Raghav Sharma, Ashim Joshi, Bivek Baral

Institution: Kathmandu University

Language: English

Topic: Municipal Solid Waste Management

Subfield: Waste Management and Disposal

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Climate action, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,940