LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) on Recycled Polyester

Abstract

Polyester is a synthetic material which is produced from the petroleum products. The various environmental impacts are associated with polyester from manufacturing to end of life. Therefore, the manufacturing of recycled polyester (rPET) is an important to process as concerned with environmental impact and also inevitable. The rPET has a wide scope of their potential applications similar to virgin polyester. Generally, life cycle assessment (LCA) technique investigates the environmental impacts of the particular products from its cradle to grave. Therefore, it helps to identify the critical phase which creates the maximum impact on the entire product life cycle. So, it is significant to understand the environmental impact of rPET, nevertheless, LCA on rPET is foreseeable. The data from the LCA can initiate preliminary steps to reduce the environmental burdens from the products, also it provides the detailed information on how it affects the ecosystem. In this chapter we discussed about the LCA on rPET, initially, the brief introduction will be provided about the present manufacturing techniques of rPET. Various issues associated with sustainability of rPET manufacturing, importance and methodology of LCA on rPET were explained in detail. Based on the LCA results, the important parameters with respect to the sustainability of rPET would be present in this chapter.