PET and polyolefin plastics supply chains in Michigan: present and future systems analysis of environmental and socio-economic impacts

Authors

Utkarsh S. Chaudhari, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Kamand Sedaghatnia, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Barbara K. Reck, Yale School of the Environment
Kate Maguire, Resource Recycling Systems
Anne T. Johnson, Resource Recycling Systems
David Watkins, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Robert M. Handler, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Tasmin Hossain, Idaho National Laboratory
Damon S. Hartley, Idaho National Laboratory
Vicki S. Thompson, Idaho National Laboratory
Alejandra Peralta, Chemstations, Inc.
Jenny L. Apriesnig, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
David Shonnard, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-22-2024

Department

Department of Chemical Engineering; Department of Chemistry; Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering; College of Business

Abstract

Many actions are underway at global, national, and local levels to increase plastics circularity. However, studies evaluating the environmental and socio-economic impacts of such a transition are lacking at regional levels in the United States. In this work, the existing polyethylene terephthalate and polyolefin plastics supply chains in Michigan were compared to a potential future (‘NextCycle’) scenario that looks at increasing Michigan’s overall recycling rate to 45%. Material flow analysis data was combined with environmental and socio-economic metrics to evaluate the sustainability of these supply chains for the modeled scenarios. Overall, the NextCycle scenario for these supply chains achieved a net 14% and 34% savings of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy impacts, when compared with their respective baseline values. Additionally, the NextCycle scenario showed a net gain in employment and wages, however, it showed a net loss of revenue generation outside of Michigan due to the avoided use of virgin resins in Michigan.

Publisher's Statement

© 2024 Chaudhari, Sedaghatnia, Reck, Maguire, Johnson, Watkins, Handler, Hossain, Hartley, Thompson, Peralta, Apriesnig and Shonnard. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2024.1405427

Publication Title

Frontiers in Sustainability

Recommended Citation

Chaudhari, U., Sedaghatnia, K., Reck, B., Maguire, K., Johnson, A., Watkins, D., Handler, R. M., Hossain, T., Hartley, D., Thompson, V., Peralta, A., Apriesnig, J., & Shonnard, D. (2024). PET and polyolefin plastics supply chains in Michigan: present and future systems analysis of environmental and socio-economic impacts. Frontiers in Sustainability, 5. http://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2024.1405427
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p2/856

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Version

Publisher's PDF