Where the CO2 in plastic comes from
But what does the CO2 price have to do with plastics production? Quite a lot, because greenhouse gases are produced during the entire life cycle of a ton of plastic, as energy is required for every step: during the production of the primary plastic and its precursors, during the processing of the plastic into products and during disposal. A study published by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich in February 2022 in the paper “nature sustainability” shows that the carbon footprint of plastics was 2 GtCO2e in 2015, which corresponds to 4.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. At 1.7 GtCO2e, the combustion of fossil fuels to generate energy for global plastics production accounted for the lion’s share. The carbon contained in plastics is equivalent to 890 MtCO2e- the amount that would be produced if all plastics from 2015 were incinerated.
In other words, twice as much carbon is required as fuel for plastic production than is contained in the plastic itself. The reason for the high amount of CO2e generated during plastics production is easy to explain. Between 1995 and 2015, plastics production increasingly shifted to coal-based economies such as China, Indonesia and South Africa. These generate a large part of their energy from coal. These countries then export the plastics produced there — primarily to the EU and the USA. The study also found that the majority of greenhouse gas emissions from plastics — around 96% — are generated during the production of plastics. Burning the material and the energy required for recycling, on the other hand, only account for 4%.
Ways to reduce CO2 and lower costs
There are only two ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from plastics: firstly, by recycling plastics. The only CO2 emissions are the energy input from fossil fuels required to melt and compound the material. The second way is to use renewable energies. This is because they do not generate any greenhouse gas emissions. The ideal solution is obvious: recycling combined with renewable energies. By way of comparison, the production of one tonne of the recyclate PA6.6 ENTRON eco A generates 0.285 kgCO2e if grey electricity — i.e. electricity of unknown origin — is used. In contrast, one tonne of PA6.6 produces an average of 7000 kgCO2e when new. If electricity from renewable energy sources is used, CO2e emissions from the production of ENTRON eco A are close to zero.
The calculation for the end customer is simple: if one ton of CO2e costs 30 euros in 2022, then the CO2-pricing for PA6.6 virgin material will generate average additional costs of EUR 210 per tonne — and this will increase every year as CO2-price more expensive. With ENTRON eco A, on the other hand, it is only 8.55 euros/t, even with gray electricity. As ENNEATECH has been relying on renewable energy from wind and hydropower and using process heat since 2022, this saves a further 1.7% of the demand for fossil fuels. This reduces the CO2-The carbon footprint of the products is also directly reduced by this factor.
In Italy, it is already the case that the state grants a tax reduction in line with the lower amount of CO2e granted by ENTRON eco A. The lower the greenhouse gas emissions compared to new goods, the higher the refund. A plastics tax is also to be expected in Germany. The basis for this is the EU Taxonomy Regulation, which is a central component of the EU’s Green Deal. DIN Spec 91446 can be seen as a step in the direction of a plastics tax. It regulates the information on the quantity of CO2e of recycled goods compared to virgin material and thus creates the basis for future taxation of plastic.