We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Economic and environmental optimisation of mixed plastic waste supply chains in Northern Italy comparing incineration and pyrolysis technologies
AI summary Read the abstract
This study used mathematical optimization to compare incineration versus pyrolysis for managing mixed plastic waste in Northern Italy, finding that incineration maximizes economic profit while pyrolysis significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions — revealing a trade-off between financial and environmental outcomes.
In the quest for sustainable plastic waste management, understanding economic and environmental implications enables optimal selection of treatment technologies. This study presents a multi-objective mixed integer linear programming framework to optimise the supply chain for mixed plastic waste in Northern Italy. Two technologies are considered: incineration and pyrolysis. Results offer quantitative insights into economic and environmental performance, balancing trade-offs between maximising gross profit and minimising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Economic optimisation favours incineration for treating mixed plastic waste, resulting in the highest gross profit of 115 M€ per year, and the highest net GHG emissions of about 680 kt CO2eq per year. When the aim is environmental optimisation, pyrolysis is preferred due to its lower GHG emissions of 387 kt of CO2eq per year and yielding a gross profit of 54 M€ per year. Trade-off Pareto optimal solutions were analysed to identify reasonable trade-off configurations between the two objectives.
More Papers Like This
Methodology for integrating lumped kinetic models and decision-making frameworks to enhance sustainability of plastic waste pyrolysis
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers developed a multi-scale methodology linking laboratory pyrolysis kinetics to high-level sustainability decision-making, demonstrating that using pyrolysis gas for heat supply maximizes circularity while selling LPG byproducts yields the highest profit, offering a replicable framework for evaluating plastic waste conversion options.
Advancing Sustainable Energy: Environmental and Economic Assessment of Plastic Waste Gasification for Syngas and Electricity Generation Using Life Cycle Modeling
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers conducted a life cycle and economic assessment of gasifying plastic waste into syngas for electricity generation, finding that solar-powered gasification cuts climate impact by 44% and that a 50-ton-per-day plant can achieve a 2-year payback period with a net present value of $5.32 million over 20 years.
Optimisation of Process Parameters to Maximise the Oil Yield from Pyrolysis of Mixed Waste Plastics
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers optimized the process parameters for thermal pyrolysis of mixed waste plastics to maximize oil yield from HDPE, polypropylene, and polystyrene. The study used response surface methodology to identify ideal conditions for converting plastic waste into pyrolytic oil, supporting chemical recycling as a strategy to reduce plastic pollution.
Life Cycle Assessment of Plastic Waste Incineration At End-of-life
AI summary Read the abstract
Life cycle assessment of incinerating five major plastic types (PET, PE, PP, PS, PVC) shows that environmental impacts are primarily driven by pollution-control inputs required during incineration, while energy recovery substantially reduces those impacts under reduced-burden allocation. The findings provide decision-makers with plastic-type-specific environmental profiles to optimize waste management strategies and identify which plastics are more suitable for incineration versus alternative disposal routes.
Life cycle assessment of plastic waste end-of-life management: a systematic review
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers systematically reviewed 2019–2025 life cycle assessment literature on plastic waste end-of-life management, finding that global warming potential dominates as the studied impact category and that recycling, incineration, pyrolysis, and landfilling each carry distinct environmental trade-offs, with significant gaps remaining in geographic coverage and functional unit standardization.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.