Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of alternative feedstocks for plastics production

The European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy (COM(2018 28 final) proposes a vision where innovative materials and alternative feedstocks to fossil resources are developed and used for plastics production, where evidence clearly shows that they are more sustainable compared to traditional non-renewable alternatives. Alternative feedstocks to oil and gas include plastic waste, biomass and other bio-based resources, as well as CO2 from gaseous effluents. The Strategy also urges the identification of those applications where the use of plastics with biodegradable properties (regardless of the feedstock used for production) may provide clear environmental benefits, and the criteria for such applications. It hence calls for work aimed at investigating and better understanding the lifecycle impacts of using alternative feedstocks for plastics production, as well as to develop Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies seeking to identify any common condition under which the use of biodegradable or compostable plastics would be beneficial for the environment. In this context, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) has been requested by DG GROW1 to elaborate an appropriate LCA-based method to consistently evaluate the potential environmental impacts of plastic products from different feedstocks, while taking into account possible differences in biodegradability properties of the resulting materials. Relevant life cycle-based methods and approaches set out in the existing EU legislation (e.g. the Product Environmental Footprint method) were to be properly taken into account in the development of the method, as well as relevant international and European standards. Following this request, the JRC has developed a structured and comprehensive methodological framework, referred to as the "Plastics LCA method", which is described in this document. The Plastics LCA method provides detailed methodological and modelling rules to conduct LCA studies of plastic products based on a common and harmonised framework, with the ultimate aim of enabling as much as possible reproducible, consistent, robust and verifiable studies at the EU level. While the focus is especially on plastic products relying on different feedstocks (i.e. fossil resources, plastic waste, biomass and CO2), the method also applies to products with different biodegradability properties (e.g. compostable plastics), regardless of the feedstock used for production. The Plastics LCA method builds upon and conforms t