Environmental benefits of recycling: A case study on post-consumer plastic waste to produce poles in Mendoza, Argentina

Abstract

Argentina is one of the largest consumers of plastic materials in Latin America; the average consumption is 42 kg per capita per year. Mechanical recycling of plastics is a process for recovering plastic materials, and this practice produces recycled plastics substituting virgin materials. Substituting virgin materials with recycling plastics is a common practice that contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This work aims to assess the environmental performance of a case study on plastic waste recycling in Mendoza, Argentina. We applied the open-loop recyclability benefit rate indicator in the plastic waste treatment, which is based on an LCA approach. The indicator results in 22 %, this result indicates a potential environmental saving related to the recycling of the post-consumer plastic waste compared to the production of virgin material (wood) and landfilling of waste in terms of GHG emissions. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was performed to study the effect of the parameter that considers the lifetime of the products. There is a need to account for the lifetime of the product made from recycled material and the one made from virgin material. The accounting could be determined based on economic aspects, technical aspects, or material quality.