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From page 65... ... 65 Replacing the use of common construction materials and virgin plastics in infrastructure with recycled plastics requires consideration of the lifecycle implications of these material substitutions. Using plastics waste as feedstock to manufacture infrastructure components involves different supply chains, processing methods, and material properties compared to manufacturing with primary feedstocks. Read the entire page →
From page 66... ... 66 RECYCLED PLASTICS IN INFRASTRUCTURE et al.) describes life-cycle environmental benefits and trade-offs with a focus on pavement materials. Read the entire page →
From page 67... ... LIFE-CYCLE CONSIDERATIONS 67 From primary resource extraction to material manufacturing to use and disposal, both plastics and infrastructure have direct and indirect impacts on the economy and the environment. A change in one part of the life cycle (e.g., "disposing" of plastics in infrastructure) Read the entire page →
From page 68... ... 68 RECYCLED PLASTICS IN INFRASTRUCTURE characteristics (e.g., supply chain issues, or market power) Read the entire page →
From page 69... ... LIFE-CYCLE CONSIDERATIONS 69 BOX 4-3 An Introduction to eLCA Environmental life-cycle assessment is a process for evaluating the environmental impacts of manufacturing of a product, taking into account both upstream (e.g., materials extraction) and downstream (e.g., disposal) Read the entire page →
From page 70... ... 70 RECYCLED PLASTICS IN INFRASTRUCTURE the questions matter. To achieve real-world benefits from the recycling of plastics into infrastructure a holistic assessment is needed to avoid overlooking important burdens or benefits within either the plastics system or the infrastructure system. Read the entire page →
From page 71... ... LIFE-CYCLE CONSIDERATIONS 71 of global GHG emissions by 2050. At the end of life, landfilling of plastics occupies space for a long time; the plastic degrades slowly, meaning longterm storage is required, and pollutants can leach into soil, water, and air during degradation (Morath 2022) Read the entire page →
From page 72... ... 72 RECYCLED PLASTICS IN INFRASTRUCTURE created; it will not reduce the problem of too much plastics waste occurring in the first place. To reduce the environmental burden of end-of-life plastics waste, Basuhi et al. Read the entire page →
From page 73... ... LIFE-CYCLE CONSIDERATIONS 73 nonplastic construction material, and few applications have been deployed past the laboratory scale or limited in-field piloting (see Chapter 7) Read the entire page →
From page 74... ... 74 RECYCLED PLASTICS IN INFRASTRUCTURE concrete found potential durability impacts ranging from changes in water absorption of the concrete to greater shrinkage (Gu and Ozbakkaloglu 2016) Read the entire page →
From page 75... ... LIFE-CYCLE CONSIDERATIONS 75 is no different. As the volume of plastics that must be either disposed of or recycled continues to grow in the United States and around the world, the impacts have also grown. Read the entire page →
From page 76... ... 76 RECYCLED PLASTICS IN INFRASTRUCTURE States, Saphores and Nixon (2014) found that 42 percent of the participants did not recycle plastics, while 34 percent indicated that they recycled plastics more than 90 percent of the time. Read the entire page →
From page 77... ... LIFE-CYCLE CONSIDERATIONS 77 Virginia, and West Virginia) Read the entire page →
From page 78... ... 78 RECYCLED PLASTICS IN INFRASTRUCTURE recycled plastics are found to be competitive with, or superior to, those made with traditional materials, from an economic perspective the cost to obtain the material will still be a consideration. Market Dynamics The above discussion on the supply and demand for recycled plastics is framed mainly from static analysis. Read the entire page →
From page 79... ... LIFE-CYCLE CONSIDERATIONS 79 BOX 4-4 Circular Economy The concept of a circular economy is increasingly receiving attention as an actionable goal toward sustainability, which is often seen as too vague a goal or concept. Circularity is discussed in contrast to a linear economy, where virgin resources are turned into products, used once (or for one lifetime) Read the entire page →
From page 80... ... 80 RECYCLED PLASTICS IN INFRASTRUCTURE recycling (e.g., Chen et al. Read the entire page →
From page 81... ... LIFE-CYCLE CONSIDERATIONS 81 cost of processing the plastics waste, and the competition for the processed plastics waste all impact the economic viability. It will be important, from a societal standpoint, to understand the full economic and environmental benefits and costs of candidate applications to make best use of these supplies. Read the entire page →
From page 82... ... 82 RECYCLED PLASTICS IN INFRASTRUCTURE market, nascent and evolving technologies, and a market that is dynamic and responsive to shifting policies. REFERENCES Angelone, S., Balige, M., Zorzutti, L., Cauhapé Casaux, M., and Martínez, F Read the entire page →
From page 83... ... LIFE-CYCLE CONSIDERATIONS 83 Greenpeace. Read the entire page →
From page 84... ... 84 RECYCLED PLASTICS IN INFRASTRUCTURE Searchinger, T., Heimlich, R Houghton, R Read the entire page →

From page 65...

... 65 Replacing the use of common construction materials and virgin plastics in infrastructure with recycled plastics requires consideration of the lifecycle implications of these material substitutions. Using plastics waste as feedstock to manufacture infrastructure components involves different supply chains, processing methods, and material properties compared to manufacturing with primary feedstocks.