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Life cycle assessment of plastic waste end-of-life management: a systematic review
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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.
Plastic pollution is a global crisis with severe environmental and health repercussions. Consequently, research into the management of plastic waste (PW) has grown significantly over the last decade. This article provides an updated systematic review of life cycle assessment (LCA) of PW research from 2019 to June 2025, utilising the Scopus and Web of Science databases and following PRISMA guidelines. The analysis evaluates key parameters: objectives and scope, functional units, environmental impact categories, and inventories of software and data while considering geographical contexts. Theoretical information on the life cycle of PW, circular economic strategies, and their environmental impacts was also included. Most studies analyse different end-of-life management systems, such as recycling, landfilling, incineration, pyrolysis, and gasification, among others. Functional units typically vary between 1 kilogram (kg) and 1 tonne (t). The environmental impact category most frequently evaluated is global warming, an indicator of the greenhouse effect. These studies use primary sources, such as national reports, material flow analyses, industry data, surveys and interviews, as well as LCA databases. This systematic review aims to identify emerging research areas and knowledge gaps that require attention, providing an essential roadmap for researchers, policymakers, and industry seeking sustainable, evidence-based solutions to the PW crisis.
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