Life cycle assessment of PE and PP multi film compared with PLA and PLA reinforced with nanoclays film

Plastic has become essential for our economy and the packaging industry. However, plastic use is linked to environmental problems such as waste generation and loss of resources, since only 42% of the plastic used for packaging purposes is recycled. Another problem associated with the use of plastic materials is caused by their abandonment in the environment since they are non-degradable polymers. This paper analyses the environ-mental performance of using biodegradable poly-lactic acid bags, pure (PLA) and reinforced with nanoclays (PLA + NC), in comparison to conventional alternatives made of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) for being used to pack fresh bakery products. The results reveal that for Climate Change and Fossil Resources use, PLA + NC performs better than the alternatives. In the case of Climate Change, it has 45% less impact than low density polyethylene (LDPE), 39% less than PP, and 2% less than PLA. However, the use of PLA + NC, results in higher impacts on Land Use and Water Use, because this is produced from crops. Compared with PLA, PLA + NC has 5% less impact on these impact categories, but between 99 and 100% more impact on Land Use and between 79 and 81% more impact on Water use than PP and LDPE. Thus, poly-lactic acid bags reinforced with nanoclays are shown as an alternative for fossil-based polymers (PE and PP) for certainty type of applications when we focus on Climate Change and Fossil resources use reduction. In this sense, the results also reveal that the most environmentally friendly end-of-life for PLA and PLA + NC is incineration instead of composting.

Automated summary

Plastic has become indispensable in the economy and packaging industry, but its usage leads to environmental issues like waste generation and resource loss. This paper analyzes the environmental performance of using biodegradable poly-lactic acid bags, both pure (PLA) and reinforced with nanoclays (PLA + NC), compared to conventional alternatives (polyethylene and polypropylene) for packing fresh bakery items. The results show that PLA + NC performs better in terms of climate change and fossil resource use compared to other materials, while it has a higher impact on land and water use due to being derived from crops. The study suggests that PLA bags reinforced with nanoclays can be considered as an alternative to fossil-based polymers for certain applications, particularly when focusing on reducing climate change and fossil resource use. The most environmentally friendly end-of-life option for PLA and PLA + NC is incineration rather than composting.