Combining MFA and LCA models to unveil the EU plastic value chain impacts

Plastics value chains are complex, due to different feedstocks, sectors of applications and variety of end-use products. Material Flow Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment can be integrated to map the life cycle impacts associated with material flows along the plastic value chain. In this study, the environmental impacts of the entire European Union plastic value chain were evaluated for 9 sectors, from production to end-of-life with polymers-specific granular details and addressing 16 environmental impact categories. In the baseline scenario, Climate Change impacts due to the EU plastic value chains amounted to 279 Mt CO2 eq., with plastic production contributing to 124 Mt CO2 eq. Sensitivity scenarios explored variations in flows and production volumes and implementation of cleaner energy mixes along the plastic life cycle, decreasing Climate Change up to 28 %. Results proved how combined improvements along the value chain or plastic production reductions are necessary to enable significant impacts’ savings.