An environmental and economic assessment of bioplastic from urban biowaste. The example of polyhydroxyalkanoate

Bio-based and biodegradable plastics promise considerable reductions in our dependency on fossil fuels the environmental impacts of plastic waste. This study quantifies economic consequences diverting municipal food waste wastewater sewage sludge from traditional management to biorefinery-based production polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) five geographical regions. The results show that PHA can outperform polyurethane first-generation biomass (sugarcane maize) with respect both societal costs (four times lower eight than polyurethane). To other polymers like low-density polyethylene (LDPE), biorefinery performance should be improved further by more efficient utilization sodium hypochlorite during extraction, minimization methane leakage biogas facilities, upgrading biomethane, effective handling liquid fraction digestate dewatering.