Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment for catalytic fast pyrolysis of mixed plastic waste

we conducted a techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) of a conceptual catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP) facility that converts 240 metric tons/day of mixed plastic waste. The modeled base case predicts the minimum selling price (MSP) of a benzene, toluene, and xylenes (BTX) mixture at $1.07 per kg when co-products are sold at their average market prices. We predict that the aromatic product stream can be cost-competitive with virgin BTX mixtures ($0.68/kg) if the mixed waste plastics are available for less than $0.10/kg or if crude oil prices exceed $60/barrel. Moreover, we estimate that CFP-based conversion of waste plastics can reduce the total supply chain energy use by 24% but with a 2.4-fold increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per kilogram of BTX, relative to incumbent manufacturing process.