Value of Producing Bioplastics
Attributes
Medium: Animals, Plants and/or Others
Country: Thailand
Analytical Framework(s): Economic Analysis
Unit(s): Net Benefit
Study Date: 2010
Publication Date: 2014
Major Result(s)
| Resource/Environmental Good | THB, per kg of PLA (2010) |
THB, per kg of PLA (2014)1 |
USD, per kg of PLA (2014)2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| cost of PLA production starting from cassava starch to PLA resin3 | 89.47 | 99.45 | 3.02 |
| cost of PLA production starting from cassava root | 85.98 | 95.58 | 2.90 |
| net benefits of PLA production from cassava root | 102.48 | 113.91 | 3.46 |
About the Inflation Adjustment: Prices in Thailand (THB) changed by 11.16% from 2010 to 2014 (aggregated from annual CPI data), so the study values were multiplied by 1.11 to express them in 2014 prices. The study values could be expressed in any desired year (for example, to 2025) by following the same inflation calculation and being sensitive to directional (forward/backward) aggregations using your own CPI/inflation data.
Study Note: The study found that high-density polyethylene (HDPE) production has a better environmental performance, in terms of energy efficiency and environmental pollution, than bioplastic polylactic acid (PLA) production. The authors then mentioned that even though the environmental impact of PLA found in this study is higher than that of HDPE, the embedded carbon in HDPE is not released until the final state of its life cycle (waste treatment). They then recommended that further study is required to investigate the entire life cycle of both materials in order to evaluate their respective total environmental impact.
Study Details
Summary: This study analyzed the net social benefits of switching from petroleum-based plastic to bioplastic using cost-benefit analysis. Focusing on the PLA production from cassava in Thailand, the study found PLA production to be socially beneficial over HDP production (a common petroleum-based plastic) but comes with a higher environmental cost, letting the study identify large opportunities for improvements in the PLA production process.
Site Characteristics: This research focuses on the Thai plastic products industry, which utilizes plastic resin as its raw material. Through the processing of plastic resin, this industry produces many consumer products such as packaging, automotive parts, appliances, and textiles. Thailand's plastic product facilities are mainly medium- and small-sized. There are almost 4,300 plastic product factories in the country, which make approximately 3.91 million tonnes of plastic products per year. The most important products are films, foil/tape, synthetic fibers, and woven bags. The most important markets for these products are Japan, USA, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other Asian countries.
Comments: The authors noted that the net present values (NPVs) were calculated for three potential future circumstances: 1) if there are changes in benefits due to PLA price developments; 2) if there are changes in costs due to technological development; and 3) a combination of 1 and 2. They found that only 1 gave a negative NPV while the rest gave positive NPVs. They also conducted a sensitivity analysis conducted based on the variation of real discount rates using the following values: 1.29 % (status quo), 3.29%, and 5.29% and found that all results were insensitive to the increase of real discount rates.