Life Cycle Assessment Sheds New Insights Toward Effective Sustainable Management of Biodegradable Resin Blends Used in Packaging: A Case Study on PBAT

Bioplastics are gaining attention as eco-friendly alternatives to conventional plastics, with Polybutylene Adipate Terephthalate (PBAT) emerging as a promising biodegradable substitute for polyethylene (PE) in food packaging. Commercial PBAT is often blended with other plastics or bio-based fillers to improve mechanical properties and reduce costs, though these additives can influence its environmental footprint. This study assessed the environmental impacts of producing and disposing of fossil-based PBAT blends containing bio-based fillers through a gate-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) and a screening-level gate-to-grave end-of-life analysis using the ReCiPe 2016 method and IPCC’s 100-year Global Warming Potential (GWP) in SimaPro. Producing 1 kg of PBAT blend generated 921 mPt in total environmental impact, with Human Health and Resource categories contributing similarly, and a GWP of 8.66 kg CO₂-eq, mainly from mixing and drying. End-of-life analysis revealed that composting PBAT offered clear advantages over landfilling PE, yielding –53.9 mPt impact and 10.7 kg CO₂-eq savings, ef-fectively offsetting production emissions. In contrast, landfilling PE caused 288.8 mPt impact and 2.2 kg CO₂-eq emissions. Sensitivity analysis showed that reducing electricity use by 30% could lower impacts by up to 10%, underscoring the importance of energy efficiency and renewable energy adoption for sustainable PBAT development.