Plastics and Sustainability: Towards a Peaceful Coexistence between Bio-based and Fossil Fuel-based Plastics

Preface xiii

1. General Introduction 1

1.1 What is Environmental Sustainability? 4

1.2 Facing the Contradictions of Plastics 8

1.3 Plastics at Play in Consumer Lifestyles 10

1.4 Controversies Concerning Plastics: Recent Examples 11

1.5 The Desire to be “Green” 19

1.6 The Course of This Book: A Chapter-by-Chapter Overview 26

2. The Life Cycles of Plastics 31

2.1 “Green Principles” – A basis for Discussion 26

2.2 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – A Baseline Tool 33

2.3 Plastic Lifetimes: Cradle-to-Gate… to Gate-to-Grave 46

2.4 Towards a Hierarchy of Choosing Plastics for Sustainability 66

References 68

3. Polymer Properties and Environmental Footprints 73

3.1 Background on Polymers and Plastics 75

3.2 Common Commodity Thermoplastics 82

3.3 Traditional Engineering Thermoplastics 95

3.4 Traditional Thermosets and Conventional Composites 100

3.5 Biopolymers: Polymers and Biological Origin 104

3.6 Additives and Fillers: Conventional and Bio-based 116

3.7 Concluding Summary 125

References 126

4. Applications: Demonstrations of Plastics Sustainability 133

4.1 Trends in Sustainable Plastics Applications 136

4.2 Sustainable Plastics Packaging 137

4.3 Sustainable Plastics in Building and Construction Plastics 146

4.4 Automotive Plastics and Sustainability 151

4.5 Specialized Applications and Plastics Sustainability 158

4.6 Conclusions about Sustainable Plastics Applications 162

5. Design Guidelines for Sustainability 169

5.1 Green Design Principles 172

5.2 The Wildcard: Consumer Preferences in Green Design 183

6. Sustainable Considerations in Material Selection 187

6.1 A Broad Example of Material Selection: Plastics vs. Metals and Glass 191

6.2 Material Selection for Common High-Volume Plastics Applications 193

6.3 Bio-based Plastic Selection 202

6.4 The Selection Process: A Visual Approach 214

References 219

7. Processing: Increasing Efficiency in the Use of Energy and Materials 221

7.1 Optimizing Resin Recycling 223

7.2 Optimizing Resin Recycling 223

8. Conclusion: A World with (out) Sustainable Plastics 241

8.1 Trends Affecting Future Global Plastics Use 244

8.2 Future Progress Partnerships, Standards, Industry Practices, and Public Education 256

References