Life cycle environmental and economic assessment of Tetra Pak recycling technologies

Tetra Pak, a typical low-value waste, is one of the great challenges faced by municipal solid waste management but is rarely investigated. Therefore, this study takes Shanghai, China as a case to evaluate the life cycle environmental impacts and costs of Tetra Pak recycling technologies. The indicator of social cost that integrates life cycle environmental impact and economic cost is innovatively proposed. We found the three recycling technologies all exhibit better environmental performance than incineration. Chemical Separation (technology 2) has the largest environmental mitigation impacts, with climate change and resource consumption mitigation being 2.5 times and 3.8 times that of incineration, respectively. From an economic perspective, plastic-wood technology is the optimal, with a net economic benefit of 2900 RMB/ton Tetra Pak. While from social cost perspective, technology 2 is the best, achieving 6731 RMB/ton benefit. We suggest promoting Tetra Pak recycling technology 2, establishing recycling system, and strengthening end-of-pipe companies.