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Environmental Impacts from Plastic Production Updated

<p>Information on the energy use, solid waste and greenhouse gas emissions from the production of common plastics has been updated for the U.S. Life-Cycle Inventory Database.</p>

Information on greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste and energy use from the production of common plastics has been updated for the U.S. Life-Cycle Inventory Database.

The impacts of nine plastic resins and four polyurethane precursors are the focus on the latest report prepared by Franklin Associates for the American Chemistry Council.

The report looks at the production stages of each plastic, detailing greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste, emissions to the atmosphere and water, energy requirements and the energy sources associated with creating each of the plastics in North America.

The report updates information from a previous 2007 study and adds information on two polyurethane precursors. Data is available through the report, available on the ACC website (PDF), and through the U.S. Life-Cycle Inventory Database, a project of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The resins covered by the study are:

  • polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
  • high-density polyethylene (HDPE)
  • linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE)
  • polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
  • low-density polyethylene (LDPE)
  • polypropylene (PP)
  • general-purpose polystyrene (GPPS)
  • high-impact polystyrene (HIPS)
  • acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS)

The four polyurethane precursors are:

  • flexible foam polyurethane (PU) polyether polyols
  • rigid foam PU polyether polyols
  • methylene diphenylene diisocyanate (MDI)
  • and toluene diisocyanate (TDI)

Plastic straws - CC license by Flickr user 00dann

 

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