Cost-Normalized Circular Economy Indicator and Its Application to Post-Consumer Plastic Packaging Waste
This work presents an adaptation of the material circularity indicator (MCI) that incorporates economic consideration. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) has developed the MCI to characterize the sustainability, viz., the “circularity”, of a product by utilizing life cycle assessment data of a pro...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Polymers |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/20/3456 |
| _version_ | 1797513351675248640 |
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| author | Rafay Tashkeel Gobinath P. Rajarathnam Wallis Wan Behdad Soltani Ali Abbas |
| author_facet | Rafay Tashkeel Gobinath P. Rajarathnam Wallis Wan Behdad Soltani Ali Abbas |
| author_sort | Rafay Tashkeel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This work presents an adaptation of the material circularity indicator (MCI) that incorporates economic consideration. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) has developed the MCI to characterize the sustainability, viz., the “circularity”, of a product by utilizing life cycle assessment data of a product range rather than a single product unit. Our new “circo-economic” indicator (MCIE), combines product MCI in relation to total product mass, with a cost-normalization against estimated plastic recycling costs, for both separately collected and municipal solid waste. This is applied to assess Dutch post-consumer plastic packaging waste comprising polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), film, and mixed plastic products. Results show that MCIE of separate plastic collection (0.81) exceeds municipal solid waste (0.73) for most plastics, thus suggesting that under cost normalization, there is greater conformity of separately collected washed and milled goods to the circular economy. Cost sensitivity analyses show that improvements in plastic sorting technology and policy incentives that enable the production of MSW washed and milled goods at levels comparable to their separately collected counterparts may significantly improve their MCI. We highlight data policy changes and industry collaboration as key to enhanced circularity—emphasized by the restrictive nature of current Dutch policy regarding the release of plastic production, recycling, and costing data, with a general industry reluctance against market integration of weight-benchmarked recycled plastics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:15:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7f357ea3e07d4985885aa35f7b8a17fb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4360 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:15:21Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Polymers |
| spelling | doaj.art-7f357ea3e07d4985885aa35f7b8a17fb2023-11-22T19:46:00ZengMDPI AGPolymers2073-43602021-10-011320345610.3390/polym13203456Cost-Normalized Circular Economy Indicator and Its Application to Post-Consumer Plastic Packaging WasteRafay Tashkeel0Gobinath P. Rajarathnam1Wallis Wan2Behdad Soltani3Ali Abbas4School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, AustraliaSchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, AustraliaSchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, AustraliaSchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, AustraliaSchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, AustraliaThis work presents an adaptation of the material circularity indicator (MCI) that incorporates economic consideration. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) has developed the MCI to characterize the sustainability, viz., the “circularity”, of a product by utilizing life cycle assessment data of a product range rather than a single product unit. Our new “circo-economic” indicator (MCIE), combines product MCI in relation to total product mass, with a cost-normalization against estimated plastic recycling costs, for both separately collected and municipal solid waste. This is applied to assess Dutch post-consumer plastic packaging waste comprising polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), film, and mixed plastic products. Results show that MCIE of separate plastic collection (0.81) exceeds municipal solid waste (0.73) for most plastics, thus suggesting that under cost normalization, there is greater conformity of separately collected washed and milled goods to the circular economy. Cost sensitivity analyses show that improvements in plastic sorting technology and policy incentives that enable the production of MSW washed and milled goods at levels comparable to their separately collected counterparts may significantly improve their MCI. We highlight data policy changes and industry collaboration as key to enhanced circularity—emphasized by the restrictive nature of current Dutch policy regarding the release of plastic production, recycling, and costing data, with a general industry reluctance against market integration of weight-benchmarked recycled plastics.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/20/3456circular economycirco-economicsmaterial circularity indicatorplastic wastepackaging |
| spellingShingle | Rafay Tashkeel Gobinath P. Rajarathnam Wallis Wan Behdad Soltani Ali Abbas Cost-Normalized Circular Economy Indicator and Its Application to Post-Consumer Plastic Packaging Waste Polymers circular economy circo-economics material circularity indicator plastic waste packaging |
| title | Cost-Normalized Circular Economy Indicator and Its Application to Post-Consumer Plastic Packaging Waste |
| title_full | Cost-Normalized Circular Economy Indicator and Its Application to Post-Consumer Plastic Packaging Waste |
| title_fullStr | Cost-Normalized Circular Economy Indicator and Its Application to Post-Consumer Plastic Packaging Waste |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cost-Normalized Circular Economy Indicator and Its Application to Post-Consumer Plastic Packaging Waste |
| title_short | Cost-Normalized Circular Economy Indicator and Its Application to Post-Consumer Plastic Packaging Waste |
| title_sort | cost normalized circular economy indicator and its application to post consumer plastic packaging waste |
| topic | circular economy circo-economics material circularity indicator plastic waste packaging |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/20/3456 |
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