Environmental impact study on conversion of multilayer metallized packaging to paving blocks with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach

Abstract

Plastic waste management in Indonesia is relatively poorly implemented due to the limited number of recyclers. One of the most abundant plastic wastes is multilayer metallized plastic packaging (MLP). This study was conducted to analyze the environmental impacts of MLP and plastic bag waste conversion to paving blocks (PVB) with a life cycle assessment approach and aimed to determine whether such a process brings positive or negative impacts to the surrounding environment. The assessment was performed gate-to-gate on input data, including raw materials, energy, support materials, and output, using openLCA 1.11 software, ecoinvent 3.8 databases, and CML-IA baseline method. Secondary data on waste plastic treatment in a sanitary landfill was inferred from the database for comparative analysis. Environmental impacts arising from the production of 1 PVB (20 × 10 × 6 cm, 700 g) are acidification 0.00913 kg SO2 eq, eutrophication 0.00243 kg PO4 eq, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity 0.8391 kg 1,4-DB eq, global warming (GWP100a) 2.68006 kg CO2 eq, human toxicity 1.2672 kg 1,4-DB eq, and terrestrial toxicity 0.00247 kg 1,4-DB eq. Compared to treatment in a sanitary landfill, conversion of MLP lowered eutrophication and freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity to the environment, whilst other impacts are higher due to energy input in the processes. Conversion of MLP to PVB is proposed as an alternative to plastic waste management.