Description
With plastic waste generation in the U.S. reaching 36 million tons and recovery rates stuck at just 9%, traditional recycling alone won’t close the gap. This study, supported by EREF, analyzes how emerging recycling technologies—like solvolysis, pyrolysis, and dissolution/precipitation—can impact the cost and climate performance of solid waste systems.
Key Findings:
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Lower Costs, Higher Recovery: Integrating advanced recycling methods reduces overall solid waste management (SWM) system costs and increases plastic recycling rates.
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Climate Impacts Vary: While some technologies cut emissions, systems with high levels of polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) can increase emissions due to energy-intensive processing.
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Mechanical Recycling Still Matters: Despite higher costs, mechanical recycling consistently delivers the lowest life cycle emissions.
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Waste-to-Energy Tradeoffs: Though it diverts waste from landfills, waste-to-energy typically produces more emissions than the current power grid.
Actionable Insights:
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Improve source separation and expand mechanical recycling capacity for immediate climate and cost benefits.
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Invest in infrastructure, education, and scale-up of emerging technologies to drive long-term system performance.
These results offer a roadmap for more efficient, climate-smart recycling systems—and help solid waste professionals plan for a more circular future.
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