Life Cycle Assessment of Eight Ru-based catalytic hydrogenolysis configurations for the upcycling of waste polyolefins
Abstract
In recent years, plastics demand has exceeded 400 million tons annually worldwide. Due to their mechanical and chemical resistance and low cost, polyolefins, including polyethylene (PE), represent beyond 50% of global plastic production, contributing to the generation and accumulation of plastic waste. Traditional waste management technologies, including landfilling and incineration, result into greenhouse gases emissions and potential loss of valuable carbon sources, whereas mechanical recycling strategies generally imply materials degradation and loss of mechanical properties. Hence, chemical recycling technologies are emerging as low-impact strategies to valorize plastic waste. Assessing the potential impacts of chemical recycling alternatives is crucial to support developers in ensuring environmental competitiveness at higher scales. To this end, we propose a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of eight potential alternatives for ruthenium-based catalytic hydrogenolysis of PE into valuable lubricants and fuels. Assessed configurations adopt different driving forces to power the reaction: thermal energy, mechanical energy and thermally assisted mechanochemical configurations. Results outline how the highest energy consuming configurations entail the highest burdens, whereas thermally-assisted mechanochemical processes result into the lowest impacts. Overall, the assessment shows that energy-efficient thermos-mechanochemical technologies entail the lowest environmental profile, providing valuable information for developers towards selecting and optimizing the most competitive configurations.
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BibTeX
@misc{trimboli2026life,
title = {{Life Cycle Assessment of Eight Ru-based catalytic hydrogenolysis configurations for the upcycling of waste polyolefins}},
author = {Antonio Cosimo Pio Trimboli and Francesco Brenda and Francesco Arfelli and Riccardo Pellegrini and Elena Groppo and Lars Borchardt and Francesco Mauriello and Daniele Cespi},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15009374/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009374/v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Life Cycle Assessment of Eight Ru-based catalytic hydrogenolysis configurations for the upcycling of waste polyolefins
AU - Antonio Cosimo Pio Trimboli
AU - Francesco Brenda
AU - Francesco Arfelli
AU - Riccardo Pellegrini
AU - Elena Groppo
AU - Lars Borchardt
AU - Francesco Mauriello
AU - Daniele Cespi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15009374/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009374/v1
AB - In recent years, plastics demand has exceeded 400 million tons annually worldwide. Due to their mechanical and chemical resistance and low cost, polyolefins, including polyethylene (PE), represent beyond 50% of global plastic production, contributing to the generation and accumulation of plastic waste. Traditional waste management technologies, including landfilling and incineration, result into greenhouse gases emissions and potential loss of valuable carbon sources, whereas mechanical recycling strategies generally imply materials degradation and loss of mechanical properties. Hence, chemical recycling technologies are emerging as low-impact strategies to valorize plastic waste. Assessing the potential impacts of chemical recycling alternatives is crucial to support developers in ensuring environmental competitiveness at higher scales. To this end, we propose a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of eight potential alternatives for ruthenium-based catalytic hydrogenolysis of PE into valuable lubricants and fuels. Assessed configurations adopt different driving forces to power the reaction: thermal energy, mechanical energy and thermally assisted mechanochemical configurations. Results outline how the highest energy consuming configurations entail the highest burdens, whereas thermally-assisted mechanochemical processes result into the lowest impacts. Overall, the assessment shows that energy-efficient thermos-mechanochemical technologies entail the lowest environmental profile, providing valuable information for developers towards selecting and optimizing the most competitive configurations.
ER -