Recycling ofCablePlastics - A Life Cycle Assessment ofSeveral Different Alternatives

resulted inthedevelopment ofadecision tool fordesigninghowtobest recycle cable plastics. This paper presents alife cycle assessment ofseven Stena Metall ABistheNordic leader inbothrecycling different recycling alternatives forcable plastic waste: andenvironmental services. Theyareprocessing andre"Mechanical recycling intheVinyloop process'; cycling ferrous andnon-ferrous scrap, recovered paper, "Chemical recycling intheStigsnaes process'; "Energy electronic scrap, hazardous waste, chemicals andother recovery inagarbage incineration facility'; "Energyproduction waste1. Their recycling operations convert recovery inacement kiln'J; "Open burning inChina"' waste into high-quality rawmaterials that canbeusedin "Granulation andenergy recovery inChina "and"Cable themanufacture ofnewproducts. stripping inChina ".Thefunctional unit isonetonofcable plastic waste after metal separation. 2.GoalandScopeDefinition Theconclusion isthat theChinese alternatives arenot preferred fromanenvironmental point ofview duetothe 2.1. Goaldefinition large energy consumption andemissions output fromthe transport byship fromSweden toChina. Fromthis the Themaingoal ofthis study hasbeento, based onLife conclusion canbedrawnthat regardless ofthemethod Cycle Assessment methodology [2], compare anumber of usedinSweden, orinthenearvicinity ofSweden, the presumptive cable recycling methods fromanenvironrecycling ofplastics fromSweden inChina isless desir-mental point ofview, andwiththefollowing alternatives: able fromanenvironmental point ofview. Ofthealterna-1.Mechanical recycling intheVinyloop process tive methods, theVinyloop process issomewhat betterfor Presently, only oneVinyloop plant exists, whichis theenvironment thantheStigsnaes process, butonly be- located inFererra, Italy. However, itisnotconsidcause theexisting Vinyloop plant islocated inItaly. The eredeconomical totransport material sofar. ThereStigsnaes process isstill preferred until aVinyloop plant fore, animaginary plant, located inMalmo, Sweden2, isconstructed nearer toorinSweden. isassumed. Transportation tothisimaginary plant will occur vialong distance truck.