Unpacking the Challenges of Life Cycle Assessment: Evaluating the Environmental Impact of PET Upcycling in upPE-T

The publication discusses the challenges and potential of the EU-funded upPE-T project, which aims to upcycle post-consumer PE and PET plastic waste into biodegradable and recyclable bioplastics (PHBVs) for food and beverage packaging. It highlights how Life Cycle Assessment is used to evaluate the environmental impacts of this novel process, focusing currently only on PET due to technological limitations in PE processing. Initial results from lab-scale LCA show high energy consumption, but improvements are expected with scale-up. Industrial-scale assessment reveals challenges like fragmented data, high chemical demands, and the need to transition from batch to continuous processing. Despite limitations, the study underscores the importance of process optimization and ongoing LCA to achieve sustainable and scalable plastic upcycling.