Bioplastics Material Flow Analysis And Their Environmental Impacts

Abstract: This research is conducted to have a better understanding on the future develop- ment of bioplastics and their environmental impacts. This research first studies the future consumption and waste of bioplastics till 2050 by material flow analysis (MFA).  Life cycle assessment is used to assess the environment impacts of three plastics (bio-PET, PEF and petrol-PET).  The total consumption of bioplastics will be near 5 million tons in 2050 and the waste will be near 4 million tons.  The environment of PEF is the highest among the compared plastic types; Coal as the energy input has the would affect the environment more than other two energy inputs;  Sugarcane has the lowest environment impacts among three raw materials.