Loïc from Politecnico di Milano participated in the 10th Annual Conference of the Italian LCA Network in Reggio Calabria, Italy held Sept 22 – 24, 2021.
He presented an overview of the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) methods to the bioproduction processes of a family of biodegradable plastics called polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). More and more studies show the growing environmental and economic interest in producing these biopolymers in biorefineries using renewable feedstocks, a mixed culture and a well-developed extraction process. While many LCA studies have focused on the environmental and economic impact of PHA production, an effort should be made to analyse the social impact of this production and consumption. This is especially true in the context of Industry 4.0/5.0, where two of the pillars are environmental performance and a human-centred approach for the researcher, producer and consumer.
Many thanks to the organisation of the conference, to the host university Università degli Studi di Reggio Calabria ‘Mediterranea’ and to Loïc’s co-author, Professor Giovanni Dotelli.
