The European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy (COM(2018 28 final) proposes a vision where innovative materials and alternative feedstocks to fossil resources are developed and used for plastics production, where evidence clearly shows that they are more sustainable compared to traditional non-renewable alternatives. Alternative feedstocks to oil and gas include plastic waste, biomass and other bio-based resources, as well as CO2 from gaseous effluents. The Strategy also urges the identification of those applications where the use of plastics with biodegradable properties (regardless of the feedstock used for production) may provide clear environmental benefits, and the criteria for such applications. It hence calls for work aimed at investigating and better understanding the lifecycle impacts of using alternative feedstocks for plastics production, as well as to develop Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies seeking to identify any common condition under which the use of biodegradable or compostable plastics would be beneficial for the environment. In this context, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) has been requested by DG GROW1 to elaborate an appropriate LCA-based method to consistently evaluate the potential environmental impacts of plastic products from different feedstocks, while taking into account possible differences in biodegradability properties of the resulting materials. Relevant life cycle-based methods and approaches set out in the existing EU legislation (e.g. the Product Environmental Footprint method) were to be properly taken into account in the development of the method, as well as relevant international and European standards. Following this request, the JRC has developed a structured and comprehensive methodological framework, referred to as the "Plastics LCA method", which is described in this document. The Plastics LCA method provides detailed methodological and modelling rules to conduct LCA studies of plastic products based on a common and harmonised framework, with the ultimate aim of enabling as much as possible reproducible, consistent, robust and verifiable studies at the EU level. While the focus is especially on plastic products relying on different feedstocks (i.e. fossil resources, plastic waste, biomass and CO2), the method also applies to products with different biodegradability properties (e.g. compostable plastics), regardless of the feedstock used for production. The Plastics LCA method builds upon and conforms to the general structure, logic, and methodological/modelling rules of the latest proposal for updating the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method. Complementary or more specific rules have also been included, to cover specific methodological aspects relevant to plastic products (e.g. on the modelling of specific feedstock sources or relevant End of Life options), while keeping full compliance with the overarching rules and principles of the PEF method. Ensuring full consistency between the Plastics LCA and the PEF methods has been an overarching aim. However, in case potential conflicts are detected in this document, the rules specified in the PEF method shall prevail. The development of the method has also taken into account the outcome of an initial systematic review of selected existing LCA studies in the field of plastics, which has highlighted a large variability in applied modelling choices and approaches for a number of relevant methodological aspects, and hence the importance of the need to define common and harmonised rules to ensure increased consistency and reproducibility. The learnings obtained from a number of screening case studies based on a first draft of the method and readily available data and information has also been taken into account as an essential preliminary input. Interested stakeholders have been involved at different stages of the method development process, by means of written technical consultations and one dedicated workshop, following a participatory approach. Inputs received from stakeholders have been carefully evaluated and taken into account, as far as appropriate, to produce an advanced and a final draft of the method, from which the final version reported in this document has been derived. The practical applicability of an advanced draft of the method has been tested and illustrated in ten demonstrative LCA case studies on selected plastic articles, serving the main purpose of supporting the development of the method itself and evaluating its viability and reliability. The description and results of the case studies are reported in a separate supporting document.
