Evaluación de la Viabilidad Ambiental de Mezclas Poliméricas Constituidas por Residuos Plásticos y Agroindustriales a Través de Vigilancia Tecnológica

Abstract

Circular economy is a model that seeks to reduce resource consumption, waste generation, and pollution. Integrating this concept into the industry represents a sustainable option for achieving balanced societal development. Therefore, it is necessary to direct efforts towards markets that generate the highest negative impacts throughout their lifecycle, such as plastic production. In this context, innovative alternatives developed under the concept of circular economy are becoming increasingly attractive. Thus, this document aims to assess whether the polymer blends of expanded polystyrene and polypropylene represent an environmentally viable option. This analysis is conducted through the Circular Footprint Formula (CFF), as a new approach to addressing energy recovery/recycling processes, which is the result of the European Commission's Environmental Footprint Guide research. This article investigates the CFF for analyzing the environmental footprint of polymer blends consisting of plastic and industrial waste. The analysis of environmental impacts was carried out using the "EF database 3.1" for the application of the mathematical model. The results show that the CFF model considers the circular economy perspective in inputs, as the resulting quantification values are lower than those of conventional Polypropylene production, according to the consulted literature. This is chosen for comparison as it constitutes 90% of the composition of the case study. This demonstrates that the use of the circular footprint formula represents a valid methodology for evaluating the environmental viability of new products made from materials from previous cycles, as it confirms that the reintroduction of materials into the production cycle reduces the negative impact on the industry.