Replacing Plastics
with Alternatives Is Worse for
Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Most Cases
Posted on 2024-01-31 - 05:26
Plastics are controversial due to their production from
fossil
fuels, emissions during production and disposal, potential toxicity,
and leakage to the environment. In light of these concerns, calls
to use less plastic products and move toward nonplastic alternatives
are common. However, these calls often overlook the environmental
impacts of alternative materials. This article examines the greenhouse
gas (GHG) emission impact of plastic products versus their alternatives.
We assess 16 applications where plastics are used across five key
sectors: packaging, building and construction, automotive, textiles,
and consumer durables. These sectors account for about 90% of the
global plastic volume. Our results show that in 15 of the 16 applications
a plastic product incurs fewer GHG emissions than their alternatives.
In these applications, plastic products release 10% to 90% fewer emissions
across the product life cycle. Furthermore, in some applications,
such as food packaging, no suitable alternatives to plastics exist.
These results demonstrate that care must be taken when formulating
policies or interventions to reduce plastic use so that we do not
inadvertently drive a shift to nonplastic alternatives with higher
GHG emissions. For most plastic products, increasing the efficiency
of plastic use, extending the lifetime, boosting recycling rates,
and improving waste collection would be more effective for reducing
emissions.
CITE THIS COLLECTION
DataCite
3 Biotech
3D Printing in Medicine
3D Research
3D-Printed Materials and Systems
4OR
AAPG Bulletin
AAPS Open
AAPS PharmSciTech
Abhandlungen aus dem Mathematischen Seminar der Universität Hamburg
ABI Technik (German)
Academic Medicine
Academic Pediatrics
Academic Psychiatry
Academic Questions
Academy of Management Discoveries
Academy of Management Journal
Academy of Management Learning and Education
Academy of Management Perspectives
Academy of Management Proceedings
Academy of Management Review
Meng, Fanran; Brandão, Miguel; Cullen, Jonathan M (1753). Replacing Plastics
with Alternatives Is Worse for
Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Most Cases. ACS Publications. Collection. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c05191
or
Select your citation style and then place your mouse over the citation text to select it.
SHARE
Usage metrics
Read the peer-reviewed publication
AUTHORS (3)
FM
Fanran Meng
MB
Miguel Brandão
JC
Jonathan M Cullen
KEYWORDS
product life cycleboosting recycling ratesglobal plastic volumefewer emissions acrossreduce plastic useplastic products versuscalls often overlookassess 16 applicationshigher ghg emissionsgreenhouse gas emissionsplastic useplastic productsgreenhouse gas16 applicationsreducing emissionssectors accountresults showresults demonstratepotential toxicityinadvertently drivefossil fuelsformulating policiesenvironmental impactsemission impactcontroversial dueconsumer durablescare mustarticle examinesalternative materials