A case study of the open-loop recycling of mixed plastic waste for use in a sports-field drainage system

The management of plastic wastes is important owing to the high levels of embodied fossil fuel energy they contain. Although the environmental benefits of closed-loop recycling of plastics have been established through a number of life cycle studies, the benefits of open-loop recycling of plastics have not been examined for many substituted materials. This paper compares two equivalent sports-field drainage systems, one based on conventional sand and aggregate drainage materials, the other incorporating a novel drainage material produced from mixed plastics waste. The scope is confined to an analysis of primary energy consumption and global warming potential. It was found that the novel drainage system had lower global warming potential and primary energy consumption than the conventional system. These results were robust to sensitivity analyses of electricity mix and transportation distance to installation.