Plastics Contribution to Climate Protection

28 April 2010Michel Loubry

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Climate change is a global challenge

Global climate protection is the answer

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The industry is meeting the challenge

“Plastics Contribution to Climate Protection”Denkstatt A.G., Vienna, 2010

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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Information on the impact of plastics on energy consumption and CO2 emissions

Production Use End of lifeE

nerg

y

CO

2

CO

2 CO

2

Ene

rgy

Ene

rgy

Raw materials

Products Packaging Housing Transportation

• Improved production efficiency

• Production emissions reduction

• Improved product design with plastics

• Lighter, more efficient products with plastics

• Preserved food by plastic packaging

• Reduced land-fill

• Recycling operations

• Energy reclamation

Recycle / Energy conversion

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Energy consumption of plastic products and their potential substitutes

+ : Energy consumption- : Energy credits (prevented food losses / saved primary production /

saved production of electricity & heat)

Comparison of plastic products with alternative materials

split into life-cycle phases

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39 Mill t/a

144 Mill t/aA

ltern

ativ

e m

ater

ialsx 3,7

Total massfor same funct. units

4.940 MillGJ/a

7.230 MillGJ/a

+46%

Alte

rnat

ive

mat

eria

ls(in

cl. n

otsu

bst.

plas

tics)

Energy consumptionin total life-cycle

All

plas

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Subst.Plastics46

,4 M

ill. t

incl

. not

subs

titut

able

plas

ticpr

oduc

ts

240 Mill t/a

360 Mill t/a

+50%

GHG emissionsin total life-cycle

Alte

rnat

ive

mat

eria

ls(in

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plas

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All

plas

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Effect of Substitution of Plastics onMass, Energy Consumption and GHG Emissions

2,300 million GJ/yr= 50 million tonnes of crude oil= 120 million tonnes CO2= Total CO2 emissions of Belgium= 38% of EU15 Kyoto target

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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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Example: lightweighting in transport

• Innovative products make it possible to cut CO2 emissions and energy consumption: • On average only 12-15% of modern cars

are now made from plastics• The resulting weight savings reduce fuel

consumption by 750 liters for the 150, 000 km life of the average car

• Oil consumption for European car owners is reduced by 12 Mtonnes a year and CO2 emissions are reduced by 30 Mtonnes.

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Example: Transport Aircraft

• The Airbus 380 has 22% carbon fibre plastic composites giving a 15% fuel saving

• The % will grow up to 50% for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner

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Example: Plastics packagingWhen more is less

Without plastics, retailers’ fleets would make 50% more journeys

JARS

36% IS PACKAGING

PLASTIC POUCHES

3.56%IS PACKAGING

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 drinksInclusive the logistic packaging, it grows up to 3.56% on average

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Improving quality – Increasing shelf life

• Vacuum packs; modified atmosphere packaging; breathable packs; confectionery flow packed bars

The intelligent choice for innovative retailing

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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

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Household 13%

Hygiene & health 12%

Communication 1%Other

government 3%

Food & catering 13%

Commuting 7%

Aviation 6%

Space heating 14%

Clothing & footwear 9%

Education 4%

Recreation & leisure 18%

Plastic products:1,3 %

Relevance of plastic productsin total consumer „carbon footprint“

The average consumer carbon footprint for the EU27+2 is approx. 14 tonnes CO2-equivalents per capita.

170 kg per capita result from plastics consumption. This equals 1,3% of the total consumer carbon footprint.

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Plastics: Greenhouse gas balance over the product life cycle

Production +Energy

generationApplicationsUse phase

End of lifeRecycling +

energyrecovery

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Carbon balance for total market of plastic products – 2007, outlook 2020

"Carbon balance" 2007 2020 Av. changes

until 2020

of EU27+2 plastics market Mt CO2-equ. Mt CO2-equ. Mt CO2-equ.

Production 160 180

production increase (2% p.a.) 47

increased material efficiency -21

20% PE from renewable resources? -6

Effects of 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 -17

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 -600 to -1.300 -1.500 to -2.500

Ratio (Use+Recovery) vs. Production -5 to -9 -9 to -15

SAVE UP TO 9 TONNESOVER LIFETIME

1 TONNE IN PRODUCTION

2007

1 TONNE IN PRODUCTION

2020

SAVE UP TO 15 TONNES

OVER LIFETIME

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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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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 TONNESOVER LIFETIME

1 TONNE IN PRODUCTION

2007

1 TONNE IN PRODUCTION

2020

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 emissions arising from the growth of plastics production. By 2020 the estimated use-benefits could be 9-15x higher than the combined emissions from production and waste management.

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Is plastic using up our oil and gas?

• Plastics production accounts for just 4% of oiland gas use

• Other non-energy use consumes a further 4% • The chemical and petrochemical industries consume around 5%

• Heating, electricity and energy productionconsumes a further 42%

• Transport consumes 45% of our oil & gas

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A tiny amount used saves a lot!