IS CIRCULAR ECONOMY GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT ? Testing tools for circularity assessment

Geoffrey LONCA, Ph.DResearch associate at CIRAIG

Manuele MARGNI, research directorSophie BERNARD, research co-directorProfesors at Polytechnic school of Montreal

Greening Growth Partnership & Economics and Environmental Policy Research Network Annual Symposium

Ottawa, february 27th, 2020

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CASE STUDY ON PLASTIC BOTTLE CLOSED LOOP RECYCLING IN THE USA PET MARKET

PET BOTTLE CASE STUDY

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Is it environmentally beneficialto increase the amount of recycled PET (rPET) in a plastic bottle in the US ?

Circularity potential to reduce environmental impacts

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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

100% rPET

100% vPET

100% rPET

100% vPET

100% rPET

100% vPET

100% rPET

100% vPET

Human health Ecosystem quality Climate change Resources

PET production SSP

Data from EcoInvent v2.2

PET MARKET

PET BOTTLE CASE STUDY: SCOPES

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BOTTLE MARKETBRAND

PET BOTTLE CASE STUDY: BRAND SCOPE

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Functional Unit: Consumption of one PET bottle in the USA

Climate impact [CO2eq]

(RC: Recycled Content)

PET BOTTLE CASE STUDY: BRAND SCOPE

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Functional Unit: Consumption of one PET bottle in the USA

Material circularity indicator score

(RC: Recycled Content)

PET BOTTLE CASE STUDY

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What would be the consequences of using more recycled PET (rPET) in bottle production in the US market ?

PET BOTTLE CASE STUDY: MFA ON PET US MARKET

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vPET : virgin PETrPET : recycled PETHQ : High QualityLQ: Low Quality

PET BOTTLE CASE STUDY: BOTTLE MARKET SCOPE

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Functional Unit: Consumption of 2.78 Mt of PET bottles in a year in the USA.

Climate impact [CO2eq]

(RC: Recycled Content)

PET BOTTLE CASE STUDY: BOTTLE MARKET SCOPE

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Functional Unit: Consumption of 2.78 Mt of PET bottles in a year in the USA.

Material circularity indicator score

(RC: Recycled Content)

PET BOTTLE CASE STUDY: BOTTLE MARKET SCOPE

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Functional Unit: Consumption of 2.78 Mt PET bottles, 1.98 Mt PET fibers, 1.13 Mt PET sheets, 500 ktPET films and 69 kt strappings in a year in the USA.

Climate impact [CO2eq]

(RC: Recycled Content)

PET BOTTLE CASE STUDY: BOTTLE MARKET SCOPE

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Functional Unit: Consumption of 2.78 Mt PET bottles, 1.98 Mt PET fibers, 1.13 Mt PET sheets, 500 ktPET films and 69 kt strappings in a year in the USA. Material circularity indicator score

(RC: Recycled Content)

PET BOTTLE CASE STUDY: SUMMARY

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Effetcs from maximizing recycled content into bottle production:

Scopes

Brand

Bottle market

PET market

CC

- 40%

- 3%

∽

MCI

+ 175%

+ 25%

- 3,5%

Based on CC impacts

Sensitivity

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Based on CC impacts

Sensitivity

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Based on CC impacts

Sensitivity

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Based on CC impacts

Sensitivity

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Based on CC impacts

Sensitivity

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LESSONS

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Product circularity ≠ Market circularity

Is it environmentally beneficial to increase the amountof recycled PET (rPET) in a plastic bottle in the US ?

AS LONG AS PET COLLECTION DOES NOT IMPROVE, THEN NO !

DEDICATED PARTNERS

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