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Description

The most recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on the materials generation and management in the United States shows that plastic waste generation is approximately 36 million tons in 2018 while the recovery rate is estimated to be 9% (EPA, 2020). The solid waste industry may need to move beyond traditional mechanical methods and adopt emerging recycling processes including dissolution/precipitation, solvolysis, and pyrolysis. 

We investigate the climate impacts and system costs of optimal solid waste management (SWM) strategies when deploying emerging recycling processes in this study. We evaluate the climate impacts and costs associated with reprocessing plastics using emerging recycling technologies, identify the key factors that have the biggest impact on the SWM systems, and explore the cost-effective and environmentally sound waste management strategies under different recycling policies over time. 

When introducing a mix of emerging recycling technologies, we see a reduction in the overall SWM system costs and an increase in plastic recycling rates. Although such recycling scenarios can potentially lead to net reductions in life cycle emissions, the climate impacts are highly correlated with the system waste compositions. Specifically, systems containing larger percentages of polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) plastics can lead to more energy-intensive reprocessing treatments, which, in turn, can result in higher system emissions. 

Recycling programs that solely rely on traditional mechanical recycling incur higher system costs but can achieve the lowest life cycle emissions, regardless of whether the rejected plastic streams are landfilled or treated in waste-to-energy. Although waste-to-energy can play an important role in diverting plastics from landfills, such facilities generally emit more emissions compared to the average power grid, which can lead to an increase in system climate impacts. 

These findings are intended to provide insights for practitioners in the solid waste industry to make informed decisions about adopting advanced recycling technologies, as well as identify some interventions that can be quickly adopted without substantial upfront costs. Our sensitivity analysis shows that improving source separation levels during collection and enhancing treatment capacities in existing mechanical recycling facilities can significantly improve the climate impacts and alleviate the economic burden of SWM systems. In a future with increased recycling, upgrading waste collection infrastructure to increase plastic collection and reduce contamination, supporting education programs to raise awareness and provide clarity around what is recyclable, and rapidly scaling up emerging technologies to reduce capital and operational costs and enhance technology efficiencies can considerably increase the economic and environmental performance of SWM. 

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