Life cycle cost analysis of distributed versus centralized plastic sorting and recycling

Miniaturizing plastic recycling through distributed systems has been viewed as a way to manage waste closer to the source while minimizing logistics requirements. The environmental performance of distributed manufacturing and waste management systems has been evaluated, but few studies have measured the financial performance. This study combines life cycle costing and hybrid simulation modeling to compare the net present value of small-scale distributed versus large-scale centralized systems of sorting and recycling plastic bottles and takeaway containers disposed in Singapore over 7 years. The results showed that distributed systems face a net financial loss at existing prices of SGD80–120/tonne recycled pellets. This is because of the high operation costs, particularly the labor costs due to the reliance on manual sorting. Despite being closer to the waste sources, distributed scenarios have higher fuel costs due to the poorer fuel efficiency of commercial vans compared to the larger trucks in the centralized scenarios. To improve the financial performance of distributed small-scale plastic recycling systems, it is generally recommended that small-scale sorting facilities reduce the reliance on manual labor; the smaller trucks should have higher fuel economies than conventional large waste hauling trucks; the number of small-scale facilities set up should match the amount of waste to be converted; and the price of the recycled pellets should be high enough to recover the high operating costs of recycling. The findings of this study provide motivation for future research in evaluating the financial performance of distributed recycling of other waste streams. This article met the requirements for a gold-gold data badge JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges