Social, Economic, and Environmental Impacts of Bio-Based Versus Fossil-Derived Polyethylene Production

Abstract

The urgency to achieve carbon neutrality underlines the importance of shifting from carbon-based fossils to renewable resources. Bio-based polyethylene (bio-PE) is a key component of this transition, which is obtained from natural and renewable sources such as sugarcane. The environmental impact of bio-PE and fossil-based PE production is compared building ad-hoc sustainability indicators while exploring environmental, social, economic, and energetic aspects to provide a comprehensive evaluation. This methodology involves analyzing the entire lifecycle of both processes for polyethylene production, from extraction/harvesting to post-disposal actions, such as mechanical recycling or incineration. The main goal is to represent numerous sustainability indicators on a radar diagram, thus comparing process scores of sustainability. Bio-PE production has significantly higher scores than fossil carbon PE in terms of global warming potential (from cradle-to-gate), safety, and contribution to ozone depletion. Additionally, bio-PE offers a quite better scenario in terms of mass input and energy operating costs. On one side, bio-PE exhibits similar potential of eutrophication and acidification; on the other side, it also guarantees almost same potential revenues. This can address the choice to the most sustainable post-disposal method, that regards the mechanical separation and re-introduction of end-of-life PE into the manufacturing process.