Proper strategy for managing disposable meal boxes is crucial to achieve low-carbon waste systems. A life cycle assessment is conducted on the systems with incineration, landfilling and recycling, to compare the environmental impacts of managing waste polypropylene (PP) meal boxes and the alternative, polylactic acid (PLA) ones. Recycling PP meal boxes provides 1.81 tCO-eq savings per ton of recycled waste to the climate change impact, but incinerating the residues contributes 1.96 tCO-eq loads per ton of incinerated waste. In contrast, incinerating and landfilling one ton of waste PLA meal boxes contribute 0.45 tCO-eq savings and 1.88 tCO-eq loads, respectively. Using PLA meal boxes to replace PP ones is more suitable for the regions with high incineration ratio and low recycling ratio. With cleaner energy, recycling PP meal boxes becomes more valuable than energy recovery. This study calls for a conditional reconsideration of the strategical trade-off from long-term and environmental perspectives.

中文翻译：

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生命周期影响评估视角下一次性餐盒管理的策略选择：回收化石塑料还是推广生物塑料

管理一次性餐盒的正确策略对于实现低碳废物系统至关重要。对焚烧、填埋和回收系统进行生命周期评估，比较管理废弃聚丙烯 (PP) 餐盒和替代品聚乳酸 (PLA) 餐盒对环境的影响。回收 PP 餐盒每吨回收废物可减少 1.81 tCO-eq 的气候变化影响，但焚烧残留物可减少每吨焚烧废物 1.96 tCO-eq 的负荷。相比之下，焚烧和填埋一吨废弃 PLA 餐盒分别可节省 0.45 tCO-eq 和 1.88 tCO-eq 负荷。用PLA餐盒替代PP餐盒更适合焚烧率高、回收率低的地区。有了更清洁的能源，回收PP餐盒就变得比能源回收更有价值。这项研究呼吁从长期和环境角度有条件地重新考虑战略权衡。