Sustainable Biopolymer Production: A Holistic Multiscale Approach to Substituting Fossil Plastics

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide This work proposes a holistic multiscale approach to promoting the development of the bioplastic market as an alternative to the environmental management of fossil-based plastics. A two-step modeling methodology is proposed. First, individual biorefineries are optimized and scaled-up to develop surrogate models quantifying process yields for different biomass feedstocks. Second, a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problem is formulated to optimize the design and operation of the biopolymer production network, addressing waste management, plant configuration, and logistics under economic, social, and environmental criteria. This optimization framework has been applied to the replacement of conventional plastics based on PE, PP, PS, PET, and PUR in the peninsular territory of Spain. It was possible to identify the optimal location of waste collection points, their transport, and spatial distribution, as well as the size of biorefineries needed to replace 100% of the conventional plastics studied. To achieve this level of replacement, an investment of $13196 M is required with a distribution of unit cost of biopolymers between $0.75/kg and $4.14/kg. However, environmental benefits are promoted, such as a net capture of 9510 kt of CO 2 per year by replacing the current conventional plastic system together with the creation of more than 63k total jobs.