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Moving from Linear to Circular Economy in Saudi Arabia: Life-Cycle Assessment on Plastic Waste Management
Summary
Researchers conducted a life-cycle assessment comparing five different plastic waste management approaches in Saudi Arabia, from landfilling to recycling and incineration. They found that mechanical recycling combined with energy recovery had the lowest overall environmental impact, while landfilling, the country's current dominant practice, performed the worst. The study provides a data-driven roadmap for Saudi Arabia's transition from a linear to circular economy for plastic waste management.
The discovery of plastic caused a true transformation in human lives and it is used in many essential applications. Despite its significance, humanity struggles to control plastic waste and stop its infiltration into the natural environment. This study aims to review the existing waste management system in Saudi Arabia and evaluate environmental impacts of different plastic waste management scenarios by conducting a life-cycle assessment (LCA). This study covered five scenarios: landfill, incineration with energy recovery, mechanical recycling with incineration of residuals, pyrolysis with incineration of residuals, and combined mechanical recycling and pyrolysis with incineration of residuals. For all scenarios in this study, the CML-IA Baseline method was used, utilizing OpenLCA software. Sources of data for this study were obtained from the Ecoinvent 3.9.1 database and from published peer-reviewed reports. The LCA study revealed that the combined mechanical recycling and pyrolysis with incineration of residuals scenario has the lowest environmental impact. Additionally, the combined scenario can accept a broader range of plastic waste, which improves the overall waste management system towards shifting to circular economy. Therefore, to meet the various recycling requirements, it is recommended to establish a portfolio of plastic waste management techniques in Saudi Arabia to produce high-quality recycled products. It is also recommended to utilize renewable energy for electricity generation in Saudi Arabia, since it was shown in this study that it has a significant positive environmental impact across all impact categories.
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