Techno-Economic, Life-Cycle, and Socioeconomic Impact Analysis of Enzymatic Recycling of Poly(ethylene Terephthalate)

Avantika Singh; Nicholas A. Rorrer; Scott R. Nicholson; Erika Erickson; Jason S. DesVeaux; Andre F.T. Avelino; Patrick Lamers; Arpit Bhatt; Yimin Zhang; Greg Avery; Ling Tao; Andrew R. Pickford; Alberta C. Carpenter; John E. McGeehan; Gregg T. Beckham

doi:10.1016/j.joule.2021.06.015

Techno-Economic, Life-Cycle, and Socioeconomic Impact Analysis of Enzymatic Recycling of Poly(ethylene Terephthalate)

Avantika Singh, Nicholas A. Rorrer, Scott R. Nicholson, Erika Erickson, Jason S. DesVeaux, Andre F.T. Avelino, Patrick Lamers, Arpit Bhatt, Yimin Zhang, Greg Avery, Ling Tao, Andrew R. Pickford, Alberta C. Carpenter, John E. McGeehan, Gregg T. Beckham

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

192 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Esterases have emerged as important biocatalysts for enzyme-based polyester recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG). Here, we present process modeling, techno-economic, life-cycle, and socioeconomic impact analyses for an enzymatic PET depolymerization-based recycling process, which we compare with virgin TPA manufacturing. We predict that enzymatically recycled TPA (rTPA) can be cost-competitive and highlight key areas to achieve this. In addition to favorable long-term socioeconomic benefits, rTPA can reduce total supply chain energy use by 69%–83% and greenhouse gas emissions by 17%–43% per kg of TPA. An economy-wide assessment for the US estimates that the TPA recycling process can reduce environmental impacts by up to 95% while generating up to 45% more socioeconomic benefits, also relative to virgin TPA production. Sensitivity analyses highlight impactful research opportunities to pursue toward realizing biological PET recycling and upcycling.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	2479-2503
Number of pages	25
Journal	Joule
Volume	5
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.06.015 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.06.015
State	Published - 15 Sep 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s)

NREL Publication Number

NREL/JA-2A00-79571

Keywords

cutinase
environmentally extended input-output analysis
enzymatic PET depolymerization
esterase
life cycle assessment
PETase
plastics recycling
socioeconomic impacts of recycling
supply chain modeling
techno-economic analysis

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/79571.pdf

Cite this

Singh, A., Rorrer, N. A., Nicholson, S. R., Erickson, E., DesVeaux, J. S., Avelino, A. F. T., Lamers, P., Bhatt, A., Zhang, Y., Avery, G., Tao, L., Pickford, A. R., Carpenter, A. C., McGeehan, J. E., & Beckham, G. T. (2021). Techno-Economic, Life-Cycle, and Socioeconomic Impact Analysis of Enzymatic Recycling of Poly(ethylene Terephthalate). Joule, 5(9), 2479-2503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.06.015, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.06.015

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title = "Techno-Economic, Life-Cycle, and Socioeconomic Impact Analysis of Enzymatic Recycling of Poly(ethylene Terephthalate)",

abstract = "Esterases have emerged as important biocatalysts for enzyme-based polyester recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG). Here, we present process modeling, techno-economic, life-cycle, and socioeconomic impact analyses for an enzymatic PET depolymerization-based recycling process, which we compare with virgin TPA manufacturing. We predict that enzymatically recycled TPA (rTPA) can be cost-competitive and highlight key areas to achieve this. In addition to favorable long-term socioeconomic benefits, rTPA can reduce total supply chain energy use by 69%–83% and greenhouse gas emissions by 17%–43% per kg of TPA. An economy-wide assessment for the US estimates that the TPA recycling process can reduce environmental impacts by up to 95% while generating up to 45% more socioeconomic benefits, also relative to virgin TPA production. Sensitivity analyses highlight impactful research opportunities to pursue toward realizing biological PET recycling and upcycling.",

keywords = "cutinase, environmentally extended input-output analysis, enzymatic PET depolymerization, esterase, life cycle assessment, PETase, plastics recycling, socioeconomic impacts of recycling, supply chain modeling, techno-economic analysis",

author = "Avantika Singh and Rorrer, {Nicholas A.} and Nicholson, {Scott R.} and Erika Erickson and DesVeaux, {Jason S.} and Avelino, {Andre F.T.} and Patrick Lamers and Arpit Bhatt and Yimin Zhang and Greg Avery and Ling Tao and Pickford, {Andrew R.} and Carpenter, {Alberta C.} and McGeehan, {John E.} and Beckham, {Gregg T.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Author(s)",

year = "2021",

month = sep,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.joule.2021.06.015",

language = "American English",

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Singh, A, Rorrer, NA, Nicholson, SR, Erickson, E , DesVeaux, JS , Avelino, AFT , Lamers, P , Bhatt, A , Zhang, Y , Avery, G , Tao, L, Pickford, AR, Carpenter, AC , McGeehan, JE & Beckham, GT 2021, 'Techno-Economic, Life-Cycle, and Socioeconomic Impact Analysis of Enzymatic Recycling of Poly(ethylene Terephthalate)', Joule, vol. 5, no. 9, pp. 2479-2503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.06.015, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.06.015

TY - JOUR

T1 - Techno-Economic, Life-Cycle, and Socioeconomic Impact Analysis of Enzymatic Recycling of Poly(ethylene Terephthalate)

AU - Singh, Avantika

AU - Rorrer, Nicholas A.

AU - Nicholson, Scott R.

AU - Erickson, Erika

AU - DesVeaux, Jason S.

AU - Avelino, Andre F.T.

AU - Lamers, Patrick

AU - Bhatt, Arpit

AU - Zhang, Yimin

AU - Avery, Greg

AU - Tao, Ling

AU - Pickford, Andrew R.

AU - Carpenter, Alberta C.

AU - McGeehan, John E.

AU - Beckham, Gregg T.

PY - 2021/9/15

Y1 - 2021/9/15

N2 - Esterases have emerged as important biocatalysts for enzyme-based polyester recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG). Here, we present process modeling, techno-economic, life-cycle, and socioeconomic impact analyses for an enzymatic PET depolymerization-based recycling process, which we compare with virgin TPA manufacturing. We predict that enzymatically recycled TPA (rTPA) can be cost-competitive and highlight key areas to achieve this. In addition to favorable long-term socioeconomic benefits, rTPA can reduce total supply chain energy use by 69%–83% and greenhouse gas emissions by 17%–43% per kg of TPA. An economy-wide assessment for the US estimates that the TPA recycling process can reduce environmental impacts by up to 95% while generating up to 45% more socioeconomic benefits, also relative to virgin TPA production. Sensitivity analyses highlight impactful research opportunities to pursue toward realizing biological PET recycling and upcycling.

AB - Esterases have emerged as important biocatalysts for enzyme-based polyester recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG). Here, we present process modeling, techno-economic, life-cycle, and socioeconomic impact analyses for an enzymatic PET depolymerization-based recycling process, which we compare with virgin TPA manufacturing. We predict that enzymatically recycled TPA (rTPA) can be cost-competitive and highlight key areas to achieve this. In addition to favorable long-term socioeconomic benefits, rTPA can reduce total supply chain energy use by 69%–83% and greenhouse gas emissions by 17%–43% per kg of TPA. An economy-wide assessment for the US estimates that the TPA recycling process can reduce environmental impacts by up to 95% while generating up to 45% more socioeconomic benefits, also relative to virgin TPA production. Sensitivity analyses highlight impactful research opportunities to pursue toward realizing biological PET recycling and upcycling.

KW - cutinase

KW - environmentally extended input-output analysis

KW - enzymatic PET depolymerization

KW - esterase

KW - life cycle assessment

KW - PETase

KW - plastics recycling

KW - socioeconomic impacts of recycling

KW - supply chain modeling

KW - techno-economic analysis

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114697435&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.joule.2021.06.015

DO - 10.1016/j.joule.2021.06.015

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85114697435

SN - 2542-4351

VL - 5

SP - 2479

EP - 2503

JO - Joule

JF - Joule

IS - 9

ER -

Techno-Economic, Life-Cycle, and Socioeconomic Impact Analysis of Enzymatic Recycling of Poly(ethylene Terephthalate)

Abstract

Bibliographical note

NREL Publication Number

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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