LCA of chemical recycling

The results are conclusive: chemical recycling reduces the carbon footprint and lowers the virgin fossil resource use of your new polymers, for example plastics.

Our LCA approach and credibility

Our LCA study on the environmental impacts of chemical recycling of waste plastic, with a focus on Neste, was conducted in October 2022, conforming to the internationally recognized standards ISO 14040, 14044, and 14067. Adherence to these standards is key to ensuring a robust and reliable assessment of the potential environmental impacts and benefits of products.

The study underwent an independent, concurrent critical review by a panel of experts from the University of Twente, the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and Quantis. This review confirmed that the LCA was carried out in full conformity with the respective ISO standards.

From waste management to plastic production and circular economy

To provide a comprehensive view on the benefits of chemicals recycling, three distinct perspectives were examined:

1. Chemical recycling versus incineration of waste plastic

2. The use of chemically recycled feedstock versus new virgin fossil feedstock for production of new polymers

3. The role in the circular economy

In the study two key environmental impact categories were analyzed:

• Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)

• Fossil resource use (Abiotic Depletion Potential)

Life Cycle Assessment: Key benefits and results from three perspectives

Across all approaches and time horizons (near-term 2023 and longer-term 2030), the Life Cycle Assessment on Environmental Impacts of Chemical Recycling of Waste Plastic - Case Neste (October 2022) consistently shows reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fossil resource depletion when chemical recycling is utilized instead of the status quo. The results of the LCA study are the following:

1. Recycling instead of incineration

When compared to incineration, Neste’s chemical recycling process provides a reduction of GHG emissions of at least 50% (the near-term scenario for 2023 in the LCA study) and 60% (the long-term scenario for 2030 in the LCA study).

In addition, when plastics are recycled instead of incinerated, the use of virgin fossil resources is reduced by at least 75% (2023 scenario).

Currently, the most common end-of-life treatment in Europe is incineration of waste plastic for energy recovery**. When comparing these two alternatives, incineration and chemical recycling, the chemical recycling process is taking into account the steps from pre-treatment to refining.

2. Benefit of using recycled plastics

The chemical recycling process provides a GHG emissions reduction of at least 60% (the near-term scenario for 2023 in the LCA study) in production of new plastic products when compared to using traditional virgin fossil raw material such as crude oil.

In the production of new plastic products, traditional virgin fossil plastic can be replaced with chemically recycled plastic without changes in the polymers and chemicals manufacturing infrastructure or process. In this perspective the study takes into account these additional steps: the collection and sorting of waste plastic as well as using the waste plastic derived petrochemical feedstock in a steam cracker and consecutive polymerization into polypropylene.

3. If the end-to-end scenario becomes circular

In the circularity scenario, chemical recycling provides a reduction of GHG emissions of at least 35% in addition to a reduction in the use of virgin fossil resources by 35% (abiotic depletion).

Assuming, in the future, that not all plastics will end up in plastic waste handling, the assumption is based on slightly over half of it being fully recirculated in the future. This future scenario accounted for the long-term scenario of 2030.

The end-to-end perspective adds a final step to the process where new plastic products in the end become waste that is circulated back as raw materials to produce new plastics. This is compared to the current scenario, where plastic from virgin fossil sources ends up in incineration.

Key finding

The LCA study by Neste, adhering to international standards and critically reviewed by third parties, shows that chemical recycling is well suited to complement mechanically recycled plastic raw materials as a source for producing polymers and chemicals.

_{*Life Cycle Assessment on Environmental Impacts of Chemical Recycling of Waste Plastic - Case Neste (October 2022).}

_{**PlasticsEurope: Plastics - the Facts 2022 (October 2022).}