1. CO 2
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Plastics - a climate change protector
Michel Loubry
Copenhagen, 11 Dec 2009

2. Climate change is a global challenge
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Global climate protection is the answer
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3. The industry is meeting the challenge
“The impact of plastics on life cycle energy consumption
and GHG emissions in Europe.”
Denkstatt A.G., Vienna, 2009
commissioned by PlasticsEurope
• Part 1: Rough quantification of effects on energy and GHGs, if plastics
were theoretically substituted with other materials
(an update of the comprehensive 2005-GUA/denkstatt-study
"The contribution of plastic products to resource efficiency“)
• Part 2: Additional evidence of the beneficial
aspects of plastics for energy efficiency
& climate protection
• Critical Reviews by:
• Adisa Azapagic (University of Manchester, UK)
• Roland Hischier (EMPA Sankt Gallen, CH)
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4. Information on the impact of plastics on energy
consumption and CO2 emissions
Production Use End of life
Raw Products Packaging Housing Transportation Recycle / Energy
materials conversion
Energy
CO2
Energy
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Energy
CO2
• Improved production efficiency • Improved product design with plastics
• Production emissions reduction
plastics CO
• Lighter, more efficient products with
• Preserved food by plastic packaging
• Reduced land-fill
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• Energy reclamation
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• Recycling operations
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5. Energy savings in main application sectors
Comparison of plastic products with alternative materials
…split into life-cycle phases
Energy savings (+) and additional energy demand (–)
plastic packaging saves 27 million tons of oil
- the equivalent of taking 25 million cars off the road
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6. Energy consumption of plastic
products and their potential substitutes
Comparison of
plastic products
with alternative
materials
split into life-cycle
phases
+ : Energy consumption
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- : Energy credits (prevented food losses / saved primary production /
saved production of electricity & heat) 2
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7. Effect of Substitution of Plastics on
Mass, Energy Consumption and GHG Emissions
Total mass Energy consumption GHG emissions
for same funct. units in total life-cycle in total life-cycle
7.230 Mill
46,4 Mill. t incl. not substitutable plastic products
144 Mill t/a GJ/a 360 Mill t/a
+46%
+50%
4.940 Mill
GJ/a 2,300 million GJ/yr
240 Mill t/a
Alternative materials
= 50 million tonnes of crude oil
Alternative materials
Alternative materials
x 3,7 = 194 very large crude oil tankers
All plasticproducts
All plasticproducts
= 120 million tonnes CO2
(incl. not subst. plastics)
(incl. not subst. plastics)
= Total CO2 emissions of Belgium
= 38% of EU15 Kyoto target
39 Mill t/a
Subst.
Plastics CO 2
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8. Example: Benefits of insulation
• As a result of all the plastics building insulation installed in one year
(2004):
• Lifetime energy savings of 9,500 million GJ
• GHG savings of 290 million tonnes CO2
• Relevance of production: <1%
• Relevance of recovery: <0,1%
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9. Example: Plastics packaging
When more is less
On average only 1 to 3% of the weight of a packaged product in
plastics comes from the packaging:
• A plastic film of 2g packages 200g of cheese
• A plastic Bottle of 35g packages 1.5 liter of drinks
Inclusive the logistic packaging, it grows up to 3.56% on
average
GLASS JARS
36% IS
PACKAGING
PLASTIC
POUCHES
3.56%
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IS PACKAGING
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Without plastics, retailers’ fleets would make 50% more journeys

10. The intelligent choice for innovative retailing
Improving quality – Increasing shelf life
• Vacuum packs;
modified atmosphere
packaging; breathable
packs; confectionery
flow packed bars
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11. Enablers of renewable energy production
• Wind turbine (2.5 MW)
• Production demand: manufacture of plastic
rotor blade
• Use benefit due to “renewable electricity”:
33% of GHG savings allocated to rotor
• Use benefit 140 x higher than production
needs
• Photovoltaic unit (1 kWp)
• Production demand: production of plastic
film
• Use benefit due to “renewable electricity”:
25% of GHG savings allocated to plastic
film
• Use benefit 340 x higher than production
needs CO
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12. Relevance of plastic products
in total consumer „carbon footprint“
The average consumer Communication
Other 1%
carbon footprint for the government 3% Space heating
EU27+2 is approx. 14 14%
Education 4%
tonnes CO2-equivalents per
capita. Recreation & Aviation 6%
leisure 18%
Commuting 7%
170 kg per capita result from Hygiene &
plastics consumption. Food & catering
health 12%
13%
This equals 1,3% of the total
consumer carbon footprint. Clothing & Household 13% Plastic
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footwear 9% products:
1,3 % CO 2
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13. Plastics: Greenhouse gas balance over the
product life cycle
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End of life
Production +
Applications Recycling +
Energy energy
generation Use phase
recovery
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14. Carbon balance for total market of plastic
products – 2007, outlook 2020
Av. changes
2007 2020
"Carbon balance" until 2020
of EU27+2 plastics market Mt CO2-equ. Mt CO2-equ. Mt CO2-equ.
SAVE UP TO 15
Production 160 180 TONNES
OVER LIFETIME
production increase (2% p.a.) 47
increased material SAVE UP TO 9 TONNES
efficiency -21
OVER LIFETIME
20% PE from renewable resources? 1 TONNE
-6
1 TONNE IN PRODUCTION
IN Effects of
PRODUCTION recycling/recovery/disposal -1 -6 to +18 -5 to +19
Exemplary use effects:
substitution of less efficient materials -43 to -81 -56 to -104 -18
fuel savings -17 -34 2020 -17
2007
insulation -540 to -1.100 -1.200 to -1.800 -700
prevented food losses -100 to -200 -150 to -300 -75
wind power rotors & solar panels -60 -250 to -500 -310
Total carbon balance
Ratio (Use+Recovery) vs. Production
-600 to -1.300
-5 to -9
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-1.500 to -2.500
-9 to -15 2
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15. Main conclusions 1
• Plastics products enable significant savings of energy and the
reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The production & use
phases are the most important.
• In existing applications plastics are very energy efficient materials
enabling resource efficient solutions
• Substitution of plastic products by other materials would in most cases
increase energy consumption & GHG emissions.
• Plastics often facilitate reduced material consumption.
• Plastics used for thermal insulation, for food packaging and in the
production of renewable energies result in very significant benefits
during the “use” phase
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16. Main conclusions 2
• A “carbon balance” of the total plastics market in Europe (EU27+2;
2007) shows that the estimated use phase benefits were roughly 5 –
9x higher than the emissions from production & recovery of all plastics
SAVE UP TO 9 TONNES
OVER LIFETIME
1 TONNE
IN PRODUCTION
2007
SAVE UP TO 15
TONNES
OVER LIFETIME
• The increasing use-benefits and associated
emission reductions from plastic applications
up to 2020 are much greater than the additional 1 TONNE
emissions arising from the growth of plastics IN PRODUCTION
production. By 2020 the estimated use-benefits
could be 9-15x higher than the combined
emissions from production and waste
management. CO 2
2020
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17. Is plastic using up our oil and gas?
• Plastics production accounts for just 4% of oil
and gas use
• Other non-energy use consumes a further 4%
• The chemical and petrochemical industries
consume around 5%
• Heating, electricity and energy production
consumes a further 42%
• Transport consumes 45% of our oil & gas
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18. A tiny amount used saves a lot!
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20. Methodology
The study:
• Covers the majority of applications through key class examples
• is limited to the investigation of energy demand and GHG emissions,
as they are of prime importance for EU policies.
• does seek to not quantify other environmental impacts.
• covers whole life cycle, but is not a full LCA according to ISO 14044.
• is not a comparison of plastics and alternatives in single applications
in detail, but rather gives a good estimation for the effects of the total
market for plastic products.
• Gives indications and trends for application sectors rather than details
for single products.
• should help put things into perspective, i.e. identifying important and
negligible influences in the energy and GHG balance across the total
life-cycle.
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21. Denkstatt versus ICCA Study
• ICCA study: “Innovations for Greenhouse Gas Reductions - a life
cycle quatification of carbon abatement solutions enabled by the
chemical industry” published June 2009
• Compares the use of chemical products versus the next best alternative,
(like our Denkstatt study).
• Methodology comparable: plastics 32 based case studies, chemicals on
>100
• All the case studies for plastics in the previous Denkstatt study (GUA
2005) were input for ICCA study
• ICCA: complete chemical industry, around the globe, while Denkstat
includes only the plastics and EU27+2
• ICCA has included an abatement scenario, Denkstatt hasn’t
• ICCA top 3: Insulation, lighting, packaging
• Denkstatt top 3: packaging, building, transportation
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• Carbon ratio:
• Chem ind: 2007: 2.1 – 2.6; CO
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2030 BAU: 2.7 – 3.1; 2030 abatement: 4.2 – 4.7
• Plastics: 2007: 5 - 9, 2020 9 - 14
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22. Benefits of recycling & recovery for
energy and GHG emissions
Energy [MJ/kg plastic waste] GHG emissions
40 3
MSWI with average
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energy efficiency
20 Energy/GHG- effects of
Energy recovery Feedstock
1 recycling, recovery and
with high energy Material recycling recycling (e.g. disposal processes for LDPE.
efficiency (plastic to pl.) blast furnace)
0 0
2)
Landfilling 2)
-1
-20 1)
Net benefit of recovery
-2
-40 -3
-4
-60 1)
-5
Values above include energy consumption / GHG emissions of recovery
minus credits due to substituted primary processes / resources / fuels
-80 -6
• Impacts of collection, sorting and recycling processes as well as credits due
to substituted primary production and substituted primary fuels are already
included up in the figures above
• Plastic waste is a valuable secondary resource
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23. Calculation procedure
Alternative product Plastic product
(different materials) (different polymers)
mass Functional mass
Unit
mass ratio
market
energy weight – energy share
Saved Energy = [ x
kg alt. product ratio
] x
(plastic
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kg plastic product
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prod.)
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database for production, use and waste 2

24. Market data
Plastics Europe Market Research Group (PEMRG) :
• collects data for the estimated market demand of total plastics within
the EU27+2 every year
• data are provided “incl. others” (52.5 Mt for 2007) and “excl. others”
(46.4 Mt for 2007)
• “others” represent “non-plastics applications”, which are polymers &
thermosets used for fibres, coatings, adhesives, sealants, etc.
• this study is based on plastic products excluding others, as these are
not recognised as "plastic products", neither in the public, in politics, or
in waste analyses, etc.
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25. EU targets
• The EU is committed to cut Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions 20%
below 1990 levels by 2020
• Around half of the emissions reduction is expected to come from
increased energy efficiency
• The plastics industry will therefore be making an important
contribution
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26. The future for plastics
• The use of plastics as a material has contributed, and will continue to
contribute, to energy savings in society
• Energy efficiency is a key driver in achieving sustainability goals and
is important in all the life-cycle phases of plastics
• GHG emissions are often lower than those associated with products
from other materials
• Plastics are an essential component of new innovative technologies
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27. Benefits of continuing innovation (2)
• A digital camera (SD) versus a film camera cartridge:
• Energy decreased by a factor 26-107X
• GHG emissions reduced by a factor 29-107X
(Plastics an essential material for both)
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28. Benefits of continuing innovation (1)
• MP-3 players versus CD player (incl. CD’s)’s:
Energy decreased by a factor 60-94X
Emissions decreased by a factor 69-106X
(Plastics an essential material for both)
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29. Diversion of plastics waste from landfill
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