THE USE OF STREAMLINED LCA FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF PLASTICS RECYCLING: THE CASE OF A PVC CONTAINER

The problem of disposal of plastic wastes due to declining landfill capacity, together with the polluting emissions when thermal treatment is involved, has encouraged plastics recycling. Recy­ cle strategies for plastic-based products can be yield significant environmental benefits. How­ ever, these strategies have also been criticized because of their possible links to other types of re­ source and environmental impacts. The purpose of the present paper is to identify and quantify the environmental effect of recycling of a PVC container. For this evaluation, the methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used, and especially its version of Streamlined LCA. Accord­ ing to the results of this analysis, recycling can substantially reduce the environmental burden of

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