Greenhouse gas emissions, land use and employment in a future global bioplastics economy

Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Primary Energy Demand of Agricultural Greenhouse Plastics: Proposed Optimization toward Agricultural Plastic Sustainability

“…5,10 First, biobased plastics derived from biomass are generally considered to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. 11,12 A study demonstrated that the carbon emissions of HDPE and LDPE were 2.6 and 2.9 kgCO 2 eq/kg plastic, respectively, while the production of Bio-PE plastics from corn was only −1.0 kgCO 2 eq/kg plastic, and there were similar results in primary energy consumption. 13 The results of biobased plastics prepared from different biomass raw materials were also different.…”

“…Greenhouse plastics mainly include two kinds: one is the film greenhouse mainly prepared by low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), poly­(vinyl chloride) (PVC), and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) plastic; the other is the hollow sheet greenhouse mainly using polycarbonate (PC). − They are currently prepared from nonrenewable resources such as petroleum and are accompanied by huge GHG emissions and primary energy demand (PED). At present, three pathways including appropriate management practices, biomass feedstock substitution, and green energy use were considered to decrease the environmental impact. , First, biobased plastics derived from biomass are generally considered to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. , A study demonstrated that the carbon emissions of HDPE and LDPE were 2.6 and 2.9 kgCO 2 eq/kg plastic, respectively, while the production of Bio-PE plastics from corn was only −1.0 kgCO 2 eq/kg plastic, and there were similar results in primary energy consumption . The results of biobased plastics prepared from different biomass raw materials were also different.…”