Quantifying the environmental impact of transportation for plastic film packaging end-of-life: Landfill, incineration, physical recycling, or chemical recycling

Abstract

This study assesses the often-overlooked environmental impact of waste transportation in the life cycle of polymer-based multilayer packaging (PMP) in New York State (NYS). Analyzing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and energy consumption, the research includes various waste management scenarios, including landfilling, incineration, material recovery facilities (MRF) with chemical recycling (CR), and retail return with CR. The study maps existing waste management facilities, calculates travel distances, and introduces a proposed central CR facility. Findings reveal that compared to landfilling, transportation GHG emissions are higher for incineration (64 %), MRF with CR (264 %), and retail return with CR (158 %). The research highlights the importance of well-distributed landfill locations over sparse CR and incineration sites, hindering plastic film recycling advancement in the US. The model introduces three new incinerators, reducing transport energy (28 %) and GHG emissions (31 %). This study stands as the most comprehensive assessment of transportation impacts on plastic film waste, offering a versatile model for research, policy, and facility siting.