HOW TO DEAL WITH THE END-OF-LIFE OF BIO-BASED PLASTICS IN A LCA: CURRENT CHALLENGES AND PROPOSALS

Bio-based plastics are gaining market share and forecasts shows that the demand of these materials will rise up to 178% in Europe by 2015. In case of biodegradable bio-based plastics there is an increasing concern about the different end-of-life options, since there are still not specific routes and these materials may affect other end-of-life schemes. Furthermore, discussions on the end-of-life regulations of bio-based plastics in the EU are becoming a matter of interest. Moreover the end-of-life LCA data about most of the bio-based plastics is based on estimations and even unavailable, being a challenge for LCA practitioners. This study explores the current end-of-life routes on a life cycle perspective and provides proposals to ensure a proper modeling for bio-based plastics.