What is sustainable plastic?

Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) considers the potential impact of plastic products throughout their life cycle

The choice of plastic material depends on its intended function
.
Before evaluating a material's chemically relevant sustainability criteria, the design team first defined its product requirements and sustainability goals using the following approach: Life Cycle Thinking
.
Product designers initially consider the intended product application and set technical, economic and market requirements
.
Different applications require plastics with very different properties (eg, flexibility, rigidity, etc.
)
.

        2.
Notes on raw materials

        Goal: Select raw material-based plastics that maximize resource efficiency and provide performance and sustainability benefits
.

        Link upstream material selection with downstream recycling options using feedstocks from recycled materials and easily recyclable plastics
.
Plastic products can be compared based on: 1) rapidly recyclable feedstock, 2) waste-derived material and/or 3) percentage (weight or volume) of material made from easily recycled plastic
.
Plastics derived from non-renewable feedstocks can support sustainable material stewardship, as long as product designs promote future recycling and sustainable use of renewable materials
.

        3.
Production and Manufacturing

        Goal: To produce and manufacture plastic products in a manner that maximizes resource efficiency and eliminates toxic chemicals and pollution to protect workers, the communities surrounding the production or manufacturing facility, and the environment
.

        The types of chemicals commonly used or generated in the production and manufacture of plastic materials are defined by the functions performed by the chemicals
.
Common chemical types include raw materials, monomers, oligomers, catalysts, polymers, performance additives (antioxidants, colorants, plasticizers, UV stabilizers, flame retardants, compatibilizers, etc.
) and manufacturing and processing aids.
Agents (solvents, additives, lubricants, molds) release agents, cross-linking agents
.

        Inventory chemicals throughout their life cycle
.
Identify chemicals used and produced throughout the life cycle of plastics to assess hazards, exposure, life cycle, and disposal/recycling impacts
.
Since each formulation is often proprietary, information for all life cycle stages may not be available even for manufacturers across the supply chain, so compiling a complete inventory of chemicals for each life cycle stage may challenging
.

        4.
Product use

        Goal: Eliminate hazardous chemicals used in plastic products and the pollution and waste associated with product use
.

        Ideally, product designers would know (1) the chemicals retained in the plastic material, (2) the hazard profile of each chemical including the polymer itself, (3) relevant exposure information such as quantity, exposure pathway, leaching potential,
etc.
4) Pollution from waste or product use, and (5) key data gaps
.

        In general, it is best to use plastics that meet performance requirements with no or very few additives
.
Or make a comparison based on the toxicity of plastics, the amount of resources used and the waste generated during use and maintenance
.

        5.
Precautions for product use termination

        Goal: Maximize resource efficiency and eliminate waste, hazards and pollution associated with the post-use fate of plastics
.

        Circular design means choosing safe materials for use in products that minimise waste generation and can be recycled or reused in areas where plastic products are sold
.

        Product designers should be aware that waste management infrastructure, including all elements of the waste hierarchy, is available wherever products are sold
.
These include waste prevention at the top, reuse and recycling, diversion to energy recovery, and other recovery and disposal
.

        6.
Overall Product Evaluation

        Goals: To maximize resource efficiency and eliminate the use and generation of pollution, waste and toxic chemicals throughout a product's life cycle; understand hotspots and drive innovation, not just incremental improvements
.

        Plastic products should be evaluated at each life cycle stage and throughout the product system in order to be optimized for all sustainable design principles
.
The assessment of each lifecycle stage identified room for improvement at each stage
.
However, it is also important to understand how each lifecycle stage contributes to the overall product impact
.
Using sensitivity analysis, the design team should determine which lifecycle stages drive the impact of the entire product system
.
An evaluation of the entire product system identifies overall product hotspots and stimulates innovative ideas
.

        7.
Evaluation and optimization

        Goal: To encourage transparency, avoid unacceptable compromises, ensure that all sustainable design principles are considered, and drive continuous improvement
.

        The knowledge gained by evaluating the entire product and its impact at each life cycle stage helps design teams select plastic materials and create plastic products optimized for sustainable design principles
.
Analysis shows where using different materials or product designs can provide the greatest overall benefit and where additional information or data may be required
.

        Impacts from various lifecycle stages and the entire product level are interconnected
.
Optimizing certain chemicals or materials may alter the impact at one or more lifecycle stages and potentially alter the impact of the entire system
.

        3.
Summary

        Plastic products are produced and used all over the world.
How to realize the recycling of plastics requires corresponding standards to give guidance and reference.
This report provides a set of methods
.

        To realize the closed loop of plastics, more innovative ideas and business models are needed to effectively deal with global plastic pollution
.