The circular value of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioplastic production from sludge at a large-scale wastewater treatment plant

Q1 Environmental Science

Bioresource Technology Reports Pub Date : 2025-09-01 DOI:10.1016/j.biteb.2025.102272

Cormac Ó Maoldúin , Alexander Compeer , Jappe de Best , Laurence W. Gill , Muhammad Ali , John Gallagher

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Abstract

This paper presents the circular performance of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioplastic production to operate in parallel with an anaerobic digestion system for a municipal wastewater treatment plant sludge in Ireland. The circularity assessment quantified that 98.1 % of process inflows were derived from circular sources, 83.0 % of system outflows were recirculated to the biological cycle, and 44.2 % of energy requirements was derived from circular sources. A complementary Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) presented a net benefit for ecosystem quality (EQ), human health (HH) and natural resources (NR) as endpoint indicators. Currently, anaerobic digestion has a greater benefit across all impact categories than PHA production; however, a greener 2030 electricity grid mix leads to PHA production providing greater EQ and HH benefits. An optimised system between PHA production and anaerobic digestion in 2030 was estimated at a 3:1 ratio, outlining the future scope to realise this potential through full-scale demonstration of a coupled system.

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大型污水处理厂污泥生产聚羟基烷酸酯（PHA）生物塑料的循环价值

本文介绍了聚羟基烷酸酯（PHA）生物塑料生产与爱尔兰城市污水处理厂污泥厌氧消化系统并行运行的循环性能。循环度评估量化了98.1%的工艺流入来自循环源，83.0%的系统流出被再循环到生物循环中，44.2%的能量需求来自循环源。互补生命周期评价（LCA）以生态系统质量（EQ）、人类健康（HH）和自然资源（NR）为终点指标，呈现净效益。目前，厌氧消化在所有影响类别中都比PHA生产具有更大的益处；然而，2030年更绿色的电网结构将导致PHA生产提供更大的均衡性和HH效益。到2030年，PHA生产和厌氧消化之间的优化系统估计为3:1的比例，概述了未来通过耦合系统的全面演示实现这一潜力的范围。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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