Goga, THarding, KRusso, ValentinaVon Blottnitz, H2023-02-262023-02-262023-01Goga, T., Harding, K., Russo, V. & Von Blottnitz, H. 2023. A lifecycle-based evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions from the plastics industry in South Africa. <i>South African Journal of Science, 119(1-2).</i> http://hdl.handle.net/10204/126140038-23531996-7489DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2023/13842http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12614Increased production rates of plastic and limited disposal methods have fed concerns regarding environmental degradation. Whilst most of the focus is on plastic litter and marine pollution, greenhouse gas emissions of plastic over its value chains are also of interest and non-trivial at the global scale. To quantify the global warming potential of the local plastics industry, a lifecycle-based carbon footprint is presented encompassing activities such as resource extraction, polymer production and conversion, recycling, and disposal stages. The South African plastics sector is estimated to have emitted 15.8 Mt CO2eq in 2015, with the granulate production stage bearing the highest environmental load. The consumption of fossil fuel based electricity and the burning of plastic waste also contribute notably to the overall emissions. Additionally, the recycling process in 2015 saved approximately 1.4 Mt of greenhouse gas emissions.FulltextenPlastics industryGreenhouse gasCarbon footprintLifecycle-based carbon footprintArticleGoga, T., Harding, K., Russo, V., & Von Blottnitz, H. (2023). A lifecycle-based evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions from the plastics industry in South Africa. <i>South African Journal of Science, 119(1-2)</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12614Goga, T, K Harding, Valentina Russo, and H Von Blottnitz "A lifecycle-based evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions from the plastics industry in South Africa." <i>South African Journal of Science, 119(1-2)</i> (2023) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12614Goga T, Harding K, Russo V, Von Blottnitz H. A lifecycle-based evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions from the plastics industry in South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 119(1-2). 2023; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12614.TY - Article AU - Goga, T AU - Harding, K AU - Russo, Valentina AU - Von Blottnitz, H AB - Increased production rates of plastic and limited disposal methods have fed concerns regarding environmental degradation. Whilst most of the focus is on plastic litter and marine pollution, greenhouse gas emissions of plastic over its value chains are also of interest and non-trivial at the global scale. To quantify the global warming potential of the local plastics industry, a lifecycle-based carbon footprint is presented encompassing activities such as resource extraction, polymer production and conversion, recycling, and disposal stages. The South African plastics sector is estimated to have emitted 15.8 Mt CO2eq in 2015, with the granulate production stage bearing the highest environmental load. The consumption of fossil fuel based electricity and the burning of plastic waste also contribute notably to the overall emissions. Additionally, the recycling process in 2015 saved approximately 1.4 Mt of greenhouse gas emissions. DA - 2023-01 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR J1 - South African Journal of Science, 119(1-2) KW - Plastics industry KW - Greenhouse gas KW - Carbon footprint KW - Lifecycle-based carbon footprint LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2023 SM - 0038-2353 SM - 1996-7489 T1 - A lifecycle-based evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions from the plastics industry in South Africa TI - A lifecycle-based evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions from the plastics industry in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/12614 ER -26496