Environmental, Economic, and Social Life Cycle Assessment in the Polymer Composites Sector

Abstract

This paper considers the three main approaches of the Life Cycle Assessment method (environmental, economic, and social) or the so-called Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) to obtain an integrated sustainability view in the field of polymer composites wastes. As case of application for this paper the wind power industry was considered, specifically the first-generation wind turbines (WT) end of their service life, as it was estimated by year 2034 a production of 200,000t/a of WT blades wastes. The most common materials to produce WT blades are glass-fiber reinforced polymer composites (GFRP) and the most common methods for the disposal of these materials is still landfill and incineration. Eco-design of future WT-blades made with innovative matrices (a liquid thermoplastic by Arkema and a recyclable epoxy resin from R * Concept) are considered in the present study as a possible environmental, economic, and social sustainable alternative. Due the complexity of the topic the execution of a comparative analysis of the full composite systems requires a very detailed data collection that is out of the scope of this paper. In the present study a simplified comparative analysis was conducted on the production and end of life of 1 kg of the 3 different polymer matrices (the fossilbased epoxy resin currently used and the 2 above mentioned sustainable alternative). This paper aims to contribute to the circular economy strategy by presenting a study on waste management strategy of innovative polymer composites used in WT-blades in a LCSA perspective. The main environmental, economic, and social risks and opportunities linked to the changes in the end-of-life management from landfill and incineration to recycling were identified and presented.