Abstract Description: Plastic in Solid waste management (SWM) is an exigent and pressing problem for many cities. Globally landfills/open dumpsites are used to dispose of over 80% solid wastes, currently serving around 3.5-4 billion people. This number is expected to grow with increased urbanization and population growth (ISWA, 2015). Methane generation, recovery, and emissions projections for single use plastic bottles plays a vital role in the recycling industry. The scope of work described in this research project includes providing the methane estimates that discusses the data, assumptions, and calculation methods used to develop the estimates. Methane emissions estimates to help assess the potential of single-use plastic bottles will have on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As some U.S. states move towards requiring extended producer responsibility (EPR) for the packaging industry to address its waste management impacts, the analysis for the project commends firms for taking steps to pro-actively find a waste management solution for single use plastic bottles, which may be the next target for Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) legislation. Objective 1 – Develop Estimates of emissions from single-use plastic bottles using OpenLCA software based on Life Cycle assessment analysis. Objective 2 – Prepare Comparative analysis for alternative recyclability scenarios. Objective 3 – Recommendations and solutions to the single use plastic bottles challenge.
The Case study results are based on the assumptions for the methane generation potential and emissions from the single-use plastic bottles supply chain from cradle to grave. Finally, recommendations for these impacts and challenges will be discussed in detail. Thus, diverting single-use plastic bottles going to landfills helps in reducing the overall environmental impact.
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