Life Cycle Environmental 

Impacts of Plastics: A Review

12/08/2022
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data is recognized by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol as a data 

source for calculating Scope 3 GHG emissions. 

In operation for over 20 years, VitalMetrics has worked with 

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VitalMetrics has three lines of service: our GHG emissions 

database (CEDA Global), GHG accounting, and life cycle 

assessment. 

CEDA is a listed data source 

on the Greenhouse Gas 

Protocol website. 

VitalMetrics is a CDP 

accredited solutions 

provider. 
Dr. Sangwon Suh

Founder & Chief Scientist

VitalMetrics was founded by Dr. Sangwon Suh, a leading 

industrial ecologist and LCA expert. Dr. Suh has contributed 

to ISO GHG standards, the GHG Protocol, and International 

Panel on Climate Change reports. He leads VitalMetrics’ 

content and product development with his pioneering 

approach to GHG emissions data, calculations, and stepwise 

approach to sustainability maturity. Dr. Suh has worked with 

leading organizations like Microsoft, Kellog’s, Virgin Atlantic, 

top consulting firms, and multiple Fortune 100 companies. Dr. 

Suh is also a professor at UCSB Bren School and Leiden 

University. 

Basics of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Source: Life 

Cycle Initiative
LCA Process (ISO 14040)
Objectives

1 Review existing research and activities related to 

LCA in plastic material and plastic -based products

2 Identify the challenges and gaps in current studies, 

standards, tools, and other resources

3 Discuss the current research gaps that are being filled 

by ongoing initiatives and those yet to be addressed
Total: 144 total sources reviewed

- 98 peer-reviewed journal papers

- 25 reports

- 21 reviews
Source of Data Description

US LCI database National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) created the US Life Cycle Inventory Database to provide gate-to-gate, 

cradle-to-gate, and cradle-to-grave accounting for plastic environmental impacts

Ecoinvent Life cycle inventory database encompassing around 18,000 processes including energy supply, agriculture, transport, 

chemicals, construction, and waste treatment.

Plastics Europe Association of plastic manufacturers in the European plastic industry.

Gabi Plastics 

Extension Database

Gabi provides life-cycle inventory data on mass plastics (e.g. PE with various densities, PP, PS), vinyl polymers (e.g. 

PVC, PVAL), technical plastics (e.g. ABS, PMMA, PTFE), polyamide (e.g. PA 6, PA 6.6, PA 6.12), special plastics (e.g. 

PPS, PEEK, SMA)

USEEIO database The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides an LCA database on US products and services. This database 

includes datasets for multiple plastic products (e.g. plastic bottles).

Comprehensive 

Environmental Data 

Archive (CEDA)

CEDA is an extensively peer-reviewed suite of environmentally extended input-output databases first launched in 2000. 

These are designed to assist various environmental systems analyses including life cycle assessments (LCA), carbon, 

energy, water, waste, and toxic impact assessment throughout the supply chain.

CarbonMinds CarbonMinds has developed a CM.CHEMICAL database from a regionalized model of the global chemical industry, 

built from plant-level. The database provides life cycle inventory datasets for national averages of consumption, 

production and per technology.

The GREET Model The GREET model is developed by the Argonne National Laboratory to address the life-cycle emissions of various 

fuel-vehicle combinations. Since plastic is widely used in automobile manufacturing, this model includes LCA data for 

plastic resins and products.
Relevant LCA databases

● These databases provide LCIs of several hundred plastic materials

● Temporal and spatial system boundaries vary

● The level of aggregation / resolution also varies

● Overall, Europe is better represented 

● Limited coverage in additives and bio -based plastics
Distribution of plastic demand by resin types

Source: Life 

Cycle Initiative

Packaging

● Largest portion of primary non -fiber plastic production (42% in 

2015)

● Short product life-time: mostly less than 1 year

● Common uses : bags, bottles, take-away food containers

● Materials : HDPE, PET,PP, PS, PLA, PE, cotton, paper

● Important factors on environmental impact : Use pattern, 

weight, geographical context and waste management practices 
Packaging cont.

● The impact categories evaluated in the LCA are important to the 

results and conclusions of the studies

○ PLA has lower global warming potential, fossil energy use, 

and human toxicity 

○ PET has lower impact in acidification and eutrophication 

categories
Agriculture

● Common uses : Greenhouses, mulching, irrigation systems, crop 

transportation

● Mulch film makes up 41% of agricultural plastic use

○ Mechanic recycling is challenging due to contamination with 

soil, stones and biological waste

○ Biodegradable film 25-80% less impact depending on the 

impact categories and the end -of-life scenario compared to 

non biodegradable PE film
Source: Wang et 

al. (2021)
Building and Construction

Replacement materials for concrete : Fiber reinforced plastics (FRP), 

Polypropylene (PP) fiber

● Compared to traditional steel reinforcing mesh (SRM), recycled PP 

fiber consumed 99% and 91% less water and fossil fuel

● Produced 93% less CO2 e and 97% less PO4 e

Replacement for copper : polyethylene (PEX)

● Consumes 42% less CO2 e and contains 47% less embodied 

energy 
Building and Construction cont.

Replacement for flowing and sewer pipes : Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

● Life-cycle energy consumption and GHG emissions from PVC are 

lower than similar materials

● There is also a higher rate of exposure to health hazards such as 

toxic mold growth, and heavy metals

Insulation material : Extruded polystyrene (XPS)

● 57% CO2 e more than fiberglass, 2.8 times the CO2 e of corkboard

● Produced 50% and 29% more SO 2 e than fiberglass and 

corkboard
Automotive

Plastics primarily used for reinforcements:

● Typical filler or reinforcement materials include talc, clay, natural 

fiber, carbon fiber, and glass fiber

● Reinforcement materials have different environmental impacts

○ Cotton reinforced PP has the worse environmental 

performance due to its cultivation process

● CFRP saves 17–25% energy with 65–70% weight savings

● High energy content carbon fibers- higher energy recovery in 

recycling
Consumer goods

● Common uses : Toothbrushes, wipes, nappies, feminine products, 

and other personal care products

● Johnson & Johnson toothbrush case study:

○ Pre-consumption plastic waste in toothbrushes 

○ Lower environmental impacts and the production cost

● Drivers of environmental impact for single -use and reusable 

nappies and feminine products:

○ Single-use products: Production phase

○ Reusable products: Use phase 

● Cultural context affects the adoption of alternative materials and 

user behavior
Electronics

● Additives in the composition make it difficult to recycle and reuse

○ Low recycling efficiency 

● Printer panels : Additives are the biggest contributors to cradle-togate GHG emissions of a printer (up to 40% )

● Laptops : The recycled content of the product should be above a 

certain percentage depending on the metal, replacing the primary 

metal production for metals to be a better option than plastics
Additives

● Categories: functional additives, colorants, reinforcements, and 

fillers

● Few LCA studies have incorporated additives, especially functional 

additives, into their scope

● Including additives into plastic LCA studies are challenging since:

○ There are a large number of potential substances

○ Some additives will alter the characteristics of the product, 

which requires more data for a comprehensive analysis

○ The impact of plastic additives also depends on the end of life 

(EOL) treatment for the product, which is also a blindspot in 

plastic LCA
Bioplastics

Bioplastics is divided into three 

main groups:

1. Bio-based or partly biobased, non-biodegradable 

plastics, such as bio-based 

PE, PP, or PET, and biobased technical performance 

polymers such as PTT or 

TPC-ET; 

1. Plastics that are both biobased and biodegradable, 

such as PLA and PHA or PBS; 

1. Plastics that are based on 

fossil resources and are 

biodegradable, such as PBAT.
Bioplastics concerns

Using bioplastics may reduce climate impacts but may result in other 

environmental tradeoffs:

● Use of fossil-derived pesticides and fertilizers in large-scale 

agricultural products 

● Feedstock of energy- and chemical-intensive crops

● Environmental impacts of land use change

● Ecosystem services damage due to excessive harvesting
Challenges and gaps in plastics LCA

1. Lack of reliable, high -quality regional data on plastics

○ Asia has little LCI data is available

○ Region-specific emission factors are needed to accurately represent the 

background energy mix scenarios and EoL treatment options 

1. Lack the assessment of impacts from microplastics

1. Not all additives are well -studied using an LCA approach

1. No publicly available tool with which manufacturers and researchers can 

assemble reliable LCIs of plastics

1. Challenging to model of plastics’ end -of-life treatment

○ Waste collection rate, type and severity of contamination, and accessible 

recycling technologies vary widely across geographies and times
Conclusions

● LCA is well suited to evaluate plastics’ life -cycle environmental impacts

● Further development in data and impact assessment is needed

○ Impact of plastics on marine and terrestrial ecosystems have been 

neither fully understood nor incorporated into LCIA

○ The fate, transport, and exposure of plastics in the environment 

including their degradation pathways are not fully understood

● Results are not directly comparable - differences in system boundaries, 

completeness of the study, assumptions made, and base years used, etc.

● Asia is the main production outlet, but existing LCIs focus on Europe

● LCI data on additives are scarce

● Representative LCAs for widely used plastics are scarce 
Future outlook

● Harmonized and transparent LCA data that represent continents other than 

Europe is needed

● A protocol or standard to build representative LCAs of plastics needs to be 

developed 

● Incorporation of LCA research into on -going and relevant research

○ The prediction of service life of plastics with the consideration of 

additives

○ Standardization and the method of identifying additives used in 

plastics 

● Develop reference LCIs for major plastic materials, additives, and 

prevailing processes to enable rapid and reliable LCA of plastics

● Develop a life-cycle screening tool focusing on plastics life -cycle
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Overview of terms

Source: Life 

Cycle Initiative

Terms Description

Polymer A large molecule composed of monomers typically connected by covalent bonds.

Plastic A colloquial term for wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic polymers.1

Bioplastic While exact definitions vary, it generally refers to both biodegradable plastics and bio-based plastics.19

Compostable 

plastic

Plastic that is capable of biodegrading at elevated temperatures in soil under specified conditions and time 

scales, usually only encountered in an industrial composter (standards apply).

Degradable plastic Plastic that is capable of a partial or complete breakdown as a result of e.g., UV radiation, oxygen attack, 

biological attack, which implies an alteration of the properties, such as discoloration, surface cracking, and 

fragmentation.19

Microplastic The generic term for small pieces of plastic the longest dimension of which is under 5 mm.20

Bio-based plastic A type of plastic derived from biomass such as organic waste material or crops grown specifically for the 

purpose, which may or may not be biodegradable.19 It applies to both naturally occurring polymers and natural 

substances that have been polymerized into high molecular weight materials.

Biodegradable 

plastic

Plastic that is capable of biodegrading under biological process of organic matter, which is completely or 

partially converted to water, CO2/methane, energy, and new biomass by microorganisms (bacteria and fungi).19

Fiber reinforced 

plastic

Composite material made of a resin matrix reinforced with fibers to enhance the mechanical properties 21