Chemical recycling, a potential solution for Sweden's plastic recycling industry in the transition to a circular economy?
(2022) EKHS35 20221Department of Economic History
- Abstract
- Although Sweden collects and sorts a large share of plastic waste, a significant part of the separately collected plastic packaging waste is being incinerated and only 8 % of the plastic waste is being recycled into new products. As plastic is the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions from waste incineration, a systematic shift is needed to decrease incineration. Currently, Chemical recycling (CR) is being developed to break down plastic waste to smaller molecules, which can be built up to new plastics and/ or chemicals depending on technology. However, there are no-full scale CR projects in Sweden but a few demonstration projects covering depolymerisation of PET bottles, gasification and pyrolysis in Stenungsund. This study uses the... (More)
- Although Sweden collects and sorts a large share of plastic waste, a significant part of the separately collected plastic packaging waste is being incinerated and only 8 % of the plastic waste is being recycled into new products. As plastic is the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions from waste incineration, a systematic shift is needed to decrease incineration. Currently, Chemical recycling (CR) is being developed to break down plastic waste to smaller molecules, which can be built up to new plastics and/ or chemicals depending on technology. However, there are no-full scale CR projects in Sweden but a few demonstration projects covering depolymerisation of PET bottles, gasification and pyrolysis in Stenungsund. This study uses the multilevel perspective (MLP) framework to understand and contextualize Sweden's plastic recycling industry and the chemical recycling sector ́s opportunities and obstacles. The results show that the current industry is facing multiple obstacles related to both economical, technical and regulatory aspects. Sweden's recycling industry is characterized by having an overcapacity of incineration, a malfunctioned market for recycled plastic, a resistance to change and a policy framework and infrastructure that does not facilitate the development of CR. How a transition to a circular economy of plastic will look like and which transition pathway Sweden will take will highly depend on whether the recycling industry can overcome the identified challenges within the current industry. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9087661
- author
- Lundmark, Olivia LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- EKHS35 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Plastic recycling, Chemical recycling, Circular economy, Transition, Multilevel framework
- language
- English
- id
- 9087661
- date added to LUP
- 2022-06-28 10:11:44
- date last changed
- 2022-06-28 10:11:44
@misc{9087661, abstract = {{Although Sweden collects and sorts a large share of plastic waste, a significant part of the separately collected plastic packaging waste is being incinerated and only 8 % of the plastic waste is being recycled into new products. As plastic is the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions from waste incineration, a systematic shift is needed to decrease incineration. Currently, Chemical recycling (CR) is being developed to break down plastic waste to smaller molecules, which can be built up to new plastics and/ or chemicals depending on technology. However, there are no-full scale CR projects in Sweden but a few demonstration projects covering depolymerisation of PET bottles, gasification and pyrolysis in Stenungsund. This study uses the multilevel perspective (MLP) framework to understand and contextualize Sweden's plastic recycling industry and the chemical recycling sector ́s opportunities and obstacles. The results show that the current industry is facing multiple obstacles related to both economical, technical and regulatory aspects. Sweden's recycling industry is characterized by having an overcapacity of incineration, a malfunctioned market for recycled plastic, a resistance to change and a policy framework and infrastructure that does not facilitate the development of CR. How a transition to a circular economy of plastic will look like and which transition pathway Sweden will take will highly depend on whether the recycling industry can overcome the identified challenges within the current industry.}}, author = {{Lundmark, Olivia}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{Chemical recycling, a potential solution for Sweden's plastic recycling industry in the transition to a circular economy?}}, year = {{2022}}, }