Life cycle assessments of biodegradable, commercial biopolymers—A critical review

Yates, Madeleine R.; Barlow, Claire Y.

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2013.06.010

Cited by 360 publications

(197 citation statements)

References 48 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

190

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Very few empirical data exist on the carbon and toxin footprint of single-use plastics (Hendrickson et al 2006, Yates & Barlow 2013, but work on alternatives to plastic has focused on this group of products. Included in the growing list of alternate materials are biodegradable materials such as those made with prodegradant concentrates (PDCs), additives known as TDPA (totally degradable plastic additives), or MasterBatch Pellets (MBPs).…”

Section: What Are the Alternatives To Plastic?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Global research priorities to mitigate plastic pollution impacts on marine wildlife

Vegter¹,

Barletta²,

Beck³

et al. 2014

Endang. Species. Res.

294

134

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Marine wildlife faces a growing number of threats across the globe, and the survival of many species and populations will be dependent on conservation action. One threat in particular that has emerged over the last 4 decades is the pollution of oceanic and coastal habitats with plastic debris. The increased occurrence of plastics in marine ecosystems mirrors the increased prevalence of plastics in society, and reflects the high durability and persistence of plastics in the environment. In an effort to guide future research and assist mitigation approaches to marine conservation, we have generated a list of 16 priority research questions based on the expert opinions of 26 researchers from around the world, whose research expertise spans several disciplines, and covers each of the world's oceans and the taxa most at risk from plastic pollution. This paper highlights a growing concern related to threats posed to marine wildlife from microplastics and fragmented debris, the need for data at scales relevant to management, and the urgent need to develop interdisciplinary research and management partnerships to limit the release of plastics into the environment and curb the future impacts of plastic pollution.

show abstract

Section: What Are the Alternatives To Plastic?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Global research priorities to mitigate plastic pollution impacts on marine wildlife

Vegter¹,

Barletta²,

Beck³

et al. 2014

Endang. Species. Res.

294

134

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In contrast, the bioproduction of products with plastic-like properties is still awaiting its ultimate success on the market [2]. In this context, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are biologically synthesized polymers of hydroxyalkanoic The ecological advantages of PHA over their petrochemical competitors which, in most cases, display highly recalcitrant full-carbon-backbone polymers, is evidenced by a number of recent scientific studies, mainly based on modern tools of Life Cycle Assessment, such as the Sustainable Process Index [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Nevertheless, in order to make PHA production competitive also in economic terms, a number of process steps have to be optimized.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Production of Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) Biopolyesters by Extremophiles?

Koller¹

2017

MOJPS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The article reviews the current state of knowledge of the production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolyesters under extreme environmental conditions.Although PHA production by extremophiles is not realized yet at industrial scale, significant PHA accumulation under high salinity or extreme pH-or temperature conditions was reported for diverse representatives of the microbial domains of both Archaea and Bacteria. Several mechanisms were proposed to explain the mechanistic role of PHA and their monomers as microbial cell-and enzyme protective chaperons and the factors boosting PHA biosynthesis under environmental stress conditions. The potential of selected extremophile strains, isolated from extreme environments like glaciers, hot springs, saline brines, or from habitats highly polluted with heavy metals or solvents, for efficient future PHA production on an industrially relevant scale is assessed based on the basic data available in the scientific literature. The article reveals that, beside the needed optimization of other cost-decisive factors like inexpensive raw materials or efficient downstream processing, the application of extremophile production strains can drastically safe energy costs, are easily accessible towards long-term cultivation in chemostat processes, and therefore might pave the way towards cost-efficient PHA production, even combined with safe disposal of industrial waste streams. However, further challenges have still to be overcome in terms of strain improvement and process engineering aspects.

show abstract

“…Alternatively, packaging materials based on biomaterials could potentially reduce environmental impacts but requires a systems analysis approach to ensure reductions are made across all five environmental impact categories (Saraiva et al, 2016;McDevitt and Grigsby, 2014;Yates and Barlow, 2013). As such, further research is required to develop packaging materials that have a lower concentration of heavy metals and reduce the overall environmental impact.…”

Section: Packaging Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental management of confectionery products: Life cycle impacts and improvement strategies

Miah

Griffiths

McNeill³

et al. 2018

Journal of Cleaner Production

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tThis paper presents the first environmental life cycle analysis for a range of different confectionery products. A proposed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) was developed to characterise and identify the environmental profiles and hotspots for five different confectionery products; milk chocolate, dark chocolate, sugar, milk chocolate biscuit and milk-based products. The environmental impact categories are based on Nestle's EcodEX LCA tool which includes Global Warming Potential (GWP), Abiotic Depletion Potential (ADP), ecosystems quality, and two new indicators previously not considered such as land use and water depletion. Overall, it was found that sugar confectionery had the lowest aggregated environmental impact compared to dark chocolate confectionery which had the highest, primarily due to ingredients. As such, nine key ingredients were identified across the five confectionery products which are recommended for confectionery manufacturers to prioritise e.g. sugar, glucose, starch, milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, milk liquid, wheat flour and palm oil. Furthermore, the general environmental hotspots were found to occur at the following life cycle stages: raw materials, factory, and packaging. An analysis of five improvement strategies (e.g. alternative raw materials, packaging materials, renewable energy, product reformulations, and zero waste to landfill) showed both positive and negative environmental impact reduction is possible from cradle-to-grave, especially renewable energy. Surprisingly, the role of product reformulations was found to achieve moderate-to-low environmental reductions with waste reductions having low impacts. The majority of reductions was found to be achieved by focusing on sourcing raw materials with lower environmental impacts, product reformulations, and reducing waste generating an aggregated environmental reduction of 46%. Overall, this research provides many insights of the environmental impacts for a range of different confectionery products, especially how actors across the confectionery supply chain can improve the environmental sustainability performance. It is expected the findings from this research will serve as a base for future improvements, research and policies for confectionery manufacturers, supply chain actors, policy makers, and research institutes towards an environmentally sustainable confectionery industry.

show abstract

Life cycle assessments of biodegradable, commercial biopolymers—A critical review

Cited by 360 publications

References 48 publications

Global research priorities to mitigate plastic pollution impacts on marine wildlife

Global research priorities to mitigate plastic pollution impacts on marine wildlife

Production of Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) Biopolyesters by Extremophiles?

Environmental management of confectionery products: Life cycle impacts and improvement strategies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About