Background
Many companies have made sustainability pledges like having net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and eliminating plastic waste. However, few tools are available to guide industry transition toward this future while remaining profitable. The complex multi-material structures of plastics and multilayer materials pose significant challenges for recycling and circular economy integration, often resulting in environmental waste and regulatory pressure. To address this, there is a growing need for advanced tools and software’s that can guide the design and analysis of more sustainable, circular alternatives.
Invention Description
Researchers at Arizona State University have developed an innovative web-based software that revolutionizes the way industries manage the lifecycle of multilayer plastic films through comprehensive analysis. By integrating life cycle assessment, circularity assessment, and techno-economic analysis, this new design evaluates and optimizes various end-of-life scenarios for these films, guiding industries towards more sustainable and cost-effective decisions. Built on a user-friendly interface with ReactJS and JavaScript, and supported by a robust backend in NodeJS and Python, the software makes complex analyses accessible to non-technical users.
Potential Applications:
- Recycling & Waste Management
- Materials & Polymers Industry
- Packaging Industry
Benefits and Advantages:
- User-friendly – built with ReactJS and JavaScript for ease of use
- Sustainable – supports multiple end-of-life scenarios including landfilling, mechanical, and chemical recycling
- Efficient – integrates life cycle, circularity, and techno-economic assessments into one platform