聚乳酸（PLA）成为低碳材料的生命周期评估

The Life Cycle Assessment for Polylactic Acid (PLA) to Make It a Low-Carbon Material.

作者信息

Rezvani Ghomi Erfan, Khosravi Fatemeh, Saedi Ardahaei Ali, Dai Yunqian, Neisiany Rasoul Esmaeely, Foroughi Firoozeh, Wu Min, Das Oisik, Ramakrishna Seeram

机构信息

Center for Nanotechnology and Sustainability, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117581, Singapore.

Department of Polymer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Golestan University, P.O. Box 491888369, Gorgan 1575949138, Iran.

出版信息

Polymers (Basel). 2021 Jun 2;13(11):1854. doi: 10.3390/polym13111854.

The massive plastic production worldwide leads to a global concern for the pollution made by the plastic wastes and the environmental issues associated with them. One of the best solutions is replacing the fossil-based plastics with bioplastics. Bioplastics such as polylactic acid (PLA) are biodegradable materials with less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. PLA is a biopolymer produced from natural resources with good mechanical and chemical properties, therefore, it is used widely in packaging, agriculture, and biomedical industries. PLA products mostly end up in landfills or composting. In this review paper, the existing life cycle assessments (LCA) for PLA were comprehensively reviewed and classified. According to the LCAs, the energy and materials used in the whole life cycle of PLA were reported. Finally, the GHG emissions of PLA in each stage of its life cycle, including feedstock acquisition and conversion, manufacturing of PLA products, the PLA applications, and the end of life (EoL) options, were described. The most energy-intensive stage in the life cycle of PLA is its conversion. By optimizing the conversion process of PLA, it is possible to make it a low-carbon material with less dependence on energy sources.

全球大规模的塑料生产引发了人们对塑料废物造成的污染以及与之相关的环境问题的全球关注。最佳解决方案之一是用生物塑料取代化石基塑料。聚乳酸（PLA）等生物塑料是温室气体（GHG）排放量较低的可生物降解材料。PLA是一种由自然资源生产的生物聚合物，具有良好的机械和化学性能，因此，它被广泛应用于包装、农业和生物医学行业。PLA产品大多最终进入垃圾填埋场或进行堆肥处理。在这篇综述论文中，对现有的PLA生命周期评估（LCA）进行了全面的综述和分类。根据生命周期评估，报告了PLA整个生命周期中使用的能源和材料。最后，描述了PLA在其生命周期各阶段的温室气体排放情况，包括原料获取与转化、PLA产品制造、PLA应用以及生命周期结束（EoL）选项。PLA生命周期中能源密集度最高的阶段是其转化过程。通过优化PLA的转化过程，有可能使其成为一种对能源依赖较小的低碳材料。