Enviromental and economic assessment of road safety product made with virgin and recycled HDPE : a comparative study

The development of value-added products made from post-consumer plastic recyclates has become an important goal in the quest for a sustainable society. To attain such goal, tools with higher accuracy and wider scope are increasingly necessary. The present work describes the application of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)/Life Cycle Costing (LCC) integrated model, with inclusion of externalities (environmental and social costs), to Anti-Glare Lamellae (AGL) made with High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). It compares an AGL currently manufactured from virgin HDPE (current AGL) with an alternative one made with recycled HDPE (optional AGL). The results obtained show that neither the current nor the optional AGL depict the best environmental performance in all impact categories. Nevertheless, there is a clear overall environmental and economic advantage in replacing virgin HDPE with recycled HDPE. The present work also makes evident that the LCA/LCC integrated model allows the identification of economic and environmental win–win and trade-off situations related to the full life cycle of products. As such, its results can be used as valuable guidelines in product development.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)Carla L. Simões wishes to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for a personal research grant (SFRH/BD/60852/2009). The authors acknowledge the financial support of FCT to the Institute for Polymers and Composites (IPC) through Strategic Project-LA 25-2011–2012 (PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2011). The present work was partially financed by the EU LIFE-Environment Programme project Ecovia (LIFE 05 ENV/P/000366). The authors also acknowledge the support and information provided in various phases of the study by the following firms and institutions: PIEP – Innovation in Polymer Engineering; Brisa – Auto-estradas de Portugal S.A.; Tratolixo – Tratamento de Resíduos Sólidos EIM; Ambiente S.A.; Cirera & Silva Lda.; BCI – Brisa Conservação de Infraestruturas S.A.; Lipor II and Plastics Information Europe