Process Carbon Footprint and LCA

Eigure 14.5 shows the process and material carbon footprint of the above mentioned plastic products PLA, PE and PET. As can be seen from the diagram, the process carbon footprint for PE (values for PP are very close to the PE data) is around 200 kg CO2 emitted per 100 kg plastic manufactured, whereas that for PLA is around 385 kg CO2 emitted per 100 kg plastic manufactured - a much higher carbon footprint for the bio-based product (see www.plasticseurope.org/, accessed 23 June 2013) [6]. However, if one includes the material carbon footprint, then PLA has a lower total carbon footprint - 385 kg CO2 emission per 100 kg plastic manufactured versus 519 kg CO2 emission per 100 kg plastic manufactured. This is because the material 

Of course it is important to calculate and report on the process carbon and environmental footprint using LCA tools and ensure that the process carbon and environmental footprint is equal or better than the process being replaced. Howevex, the intrinsic fundamental value proposition for bio-based plastics arises from the zero material carbon footprint in harmony with time scales of the natural biological carbon cycle. 

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