Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions and the associated carbon-peak strategies for PS, PVC, and ABS plastics in China

Abstract

The plastic industry is a high carbon emission industry in China. Previous studies mainly focused on the flows and stocks of polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) plastics. However, there is limited detailed information on the GHG emissions of PS, PVC, and ABS in China and the key paths of carbon peak in 2030. Therefore, we established the GHG accounting model of PS, PVC, and ABS based on dynamic material flow analysis and life cycle assessment, and further analyzed the carbon peak path and strategy in 2030. The results show that the main source of GHG is the production and manufacturing stages. Notably, the key paths of GHG emissions are the manufacturing process of PS STP&C and foam plastics, PVC film and STP&C, and ABS STP&C. Moreover, the cumulative GHG emissions of these plastics reached 230.34, 677.43, 143.12 Tg CO2e in 2007-2017, respectively. From 2007 to 2017, the trends of GHG emissions from the PS, PVC, and ABS had their characteristics. PVC had the largest GHG emissions. Different from PVC and ABS, GHG emissions from PS showed a trend of slow rise and then slow decline in this period. According to the current trend, the life-cycle GHG emissions of PS, PVC, and ABS would not reach the carbon peak in 2030. Under some mitigation strategies, the carbon peak would be achieved before 2030. This study clarifies the main sources of life-cycle GHG emissions of these plastics, and reveals the path and strategy of carbon peak in 2030.