Assessing the Economic Viability of the Plastic Biorefinery Concept and Its Contribution to a More Circular Plastic Sector

It is widely accepted that plastic waste is one of the most urgent environmental concerns the world is currently facing. The emergence of bio-based plastics provides an opportunity to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and transition to a more circular plastics economy. For polyethylene terephthalate...

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Autores principales:	Megan Roux, Cristiano Varrone
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	plastic biorefinery plastic waste upcycling circular economy PET PEF Organic chemistry QD241-441
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/3f113eaf4e3d4a93b6f26cc4f548d7f9
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:3f113eaf4e3d4a93b6f26cc4f548d7f92021-11-25T18:47:54ZAssessing the Economic Viability of the Plastic Biorefinery Concept and Its Contribution to a More Circular Plastic Sector10.3390/polym132238832073-4360https://doaj.org/article/3f113eaf4e3d4a93b6f26cc4f548d7f92021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/22/3883https://doaj.org/toc/2073-4360It is widely accepted that plastic waste is one of the most urgent environmental concerns the world is currently facing. The emergence of bio-based plastics provides an opportunity to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and transition to a more circular plastics economy. For polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most prevalent plastics in packaging and textiles, two bio-based alternatives exist that are similar or superior in terms of material properties and recyclability. These are polyethylene furanoate (PEF) and polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT). The overarching aim of this study was to examine the transition from fossil-based to renewable plastics, through the lens of PET upcycling into PEF and PTT. The process for the production of PEF and PTT from three waste feed streams was developed in the SuperPro Designer software and the economic viability assessed via a discounted cumulative cash flow (DCCF) analysis. A techno-economic analysis of the designed process revealed that the minimum selling price (MSP) of second generation-derived PEF and PTT is 3.13 USD/kg, and that utilities and the feedstock used for the production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) needed in PEF synthesis contributed the most to the process operating costs. The effect of recycling PEF and PTT through the process at three recycling rates (42%, 50% and 55%) was investigated and it was revealed that increased recycling could reduce the MSP of the 2G bio-plastics (by 48.5%) to 1.61 USD/kg. This demonstrates that the plastic biorefinery, together with increasing recycling rates, would have a beneficial effect on the economic viability of upcycled plastics.Megan RouxCristiano VarroneMDPI AGarticleplastic biorefineryplastic wasteupcyclingcircular economyPETPEFOrganic chemistryQD241-441ENPolymers, Vol 13, Iss 3883, p 3883 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	plastic biorefinery plastic waste upcycling circular economy PET PEF Organic chemistry QD241-441
spellingShingle	plastic biorefinery plastic waste upcycling circular economy PET PEF Organic chemistry QD241-441 Megan Roux Cristiano Varrone Assessing the Economic Viability of the Plastic Biorefinery Concept and Its Contribution to a More Circular Plastic Sector
description	It is widely accepted that plastic waste is one of the most urgent environmental concerns the world is currently facing. The emergence of bio-based plastics provides an opportunity to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and transition to a more circular plastics economy. For polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most prevalent plastics in packaging and textiles, two bio-based alternatives exist that are similar or superior in terms of material properties and recyclability. These are polyethylene furanoate (PEF) and polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT). The overarching aim of this study was to examine the transition from fossil-based to renewable plastics, through the lens of PET upcycling into PEF and PTT. The process for the production of PEF and PTT from three waste feed streams was developed in the SuperPro Designer software and the economic viability assessed via a discounted cumulative cash flow (DCCF) analysis. A techno-economic analysis of the designed process revealed that the minimum selling price (MSP) of second generation-derived PEF and PTT is 3.13 USD/kg, and that utilities and the feedstock used for the production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) needed in PEF synthesis contributed the most to the process operating costs. The effect of recycling PEF and PTT through the process at three recycling rates (42%, 50% and 55%) was investigated and it was revealed that increased recycling could reduce the MSP of the 2G bio-plastics (by 48.5%) to 1.61 USD/kg. This demonstrates that the plastic biorefinery, together with increasing recycling rates, would have a beneficial effect on the economic viability of upcycled plastics.
format	article
author	Megan Roux Cristiano Varrone
author_facet	Megan Roux Cristiano Varrone
author_sort	Megan Roux
title	Assessing the Economic Viability of the Plastic Biorefinery Concept and Its Contribution to a More Circular Plastic Sector
title_short	Assessing the Economic Viability of the Plastic Biorefinery Concept and Its Contribution to a More Circular Plastic Sector
title_full	Assessing the Economic Viability of the Plastic Biorefinery Concept and Its Contribution to a More Circular Plastic Sector
title_fullStr	Assessing the Economic Viability of the Plastic Biorefinery Concept and Its Contribution to a More Circular Plastic Sector
title_full_unstemmed	Assessing the Economic Viability of the Plastic Biorefinery Concept and Its Contribution to a More Circular Plastic Sector
title_sort	assessing the economic viability of the plastic biorefinery concept and its contribution to a more circular plastic sector
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/3f113eaf4e3d4a93b6f26cc4f548d7f9
work_keys_str_mv	AT meganroux assessingtheeconomicviabilityoftheplasticbiorefineryconceptanditscontributiontoamorecircularplasticsector AT cristianovarrone assessingtheeconomicviabilityoftheplasticbiorefineryconceptanditscontributiontoamorecircularplasticsector
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Assessing the Economic Viability of the Plastic Biorefinery Concept and Its Contribution to a More Circular Plastic Sector

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