Abstract
Plastics are used for various applications, including in the food and beverage industry, for the manufacturing of plastic utensils and straws. The higher utilization of plastic straws has indirectly resulted in the significant disposal of plastic waste, which has become a serious environmental issue. Alternatively, bio-plastic and paper straws have been introduced to reduce plastic waste. However, limited studies are available on the environmental assessment of drinking straws. Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies for bio-plastic and paper straws have not been comprehensively performed previously. Therefore, the impact of both bio-plastic and paper straws on the environment are quantified and compared in this study. Parameters, such as the global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP) and eutrophication potential (EP), were evaluated. The input–output data of the bio-plastic and paper straws processes from a gate-to-grave analysis were obtained from the literature and generated using the SuperPro Designer V9 process simulator. The results show that bio-plastic straws, which are also known as polylactic acid (PLA) straws, had reduced environmental impacts compared to paper straws. The outcomes of this work provide an insight into the application of bio-plastic and paper straws in effectively reducing the impact on the environment and in promoting sustainability, especially from the perspective of Malaysia.
Highlights
To compare the environmental impacts of bio-plastic and paper drinking straws, data were normalized to a functional unit of 100 units of drinking straws produced which was equivalent to 133 g of bio-plastic straws or 260 g of paper straws
This could be attributed to the lower energy-intensive processes in the later sections of the overall manufacturing process of bio-plastic straws
global warming potential (GWP),acidification potential (AP), AP,and and bio-plastic straws were successfully evaluated the with data obtained from process simulator
Summary
Plastic pollution is a serious and long-standing issue that threatens human health at a global scale. Malaysia has been listed as the eighth-worst country worldwide for the mismanagement of plastic waste [2]. It was estimated that there were almost one million tons of mismanaged plastic waste in Malaysia, of which 0.14 to 0.37 million tons may have been washed into the oceans in 2010 [3]. The incineration of plastic waste could emit dioxin, which is carcinogenic and a hormone disruptor, and, with persistent exposure, dioxin can accumulate in human body fat [4] and cause toxicity. Plastic packaging and straws that have been washed into the ocean and were disposed of in landfills threaten the lives of the marine and land animals [5]. According to the United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, plastic debris kills an estimated 100,000 marine mammals and millions of birds and fishes annually [6]
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