Contribuição da reciclagem química de resíduos plásticos para o desenvolvimento sustentável

Abstract

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) associated with system expansion method was applied to impact evaluation of plastic waste chemical recycling processes. Various existing chemical recycling techniques and plastic material life cycle impacts have been studied. Five case studies were selected aiming to compare the impacts between chemical recycling processes themselves and with other plastic waste recovery techniques. Particularly, it was aimed to evaluate if catalyst use is advantageous in pyrolysis reactions of plastic waste, if the organic putrified material source of oxygen mixed with plastic waste exerts negative effect in impact evaluation, if temperature effects are significative in these processes and if waste disposal in landfills is unfavorable for plastic waste in Brazil. Results showed that impact evaluation is totally dependent of reaction products. In addition, it has been observed that the catalyst use may not be beneficial for the pyrolysis of polymeric residues in terms of environmental impact and that the energy gain presents little significance compared to the overall performance of the process. Finally, chemical recycling proved to be a competitive solution when comparing several plastic waste recovery techniques.