Recycle or Dispose Off? Lifecycle Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Paint Recycling Process

People are sometimes confronted with the need to decide whether a product should be recycled or disposed off. The purpose of this project was to assess whether it is more environmentally sustainable to recycle paint than to dispose it off in a landfill or not. Lifecycle assessment method was used to analyze potential environmental costs and benefits associated with paint recycling. Data used for the analyses were collected from a recycled paint manufacturing company, literature, and a database. The lifecycle impact analyses of the paint recycling process were based on monthly production of a recycled latex paint brand. Results of the analyses revealed that the process have a monthly 122760.8kg CO2-eq global warming potential (GWP), 1481.6 max kg O2-eq eutrophication potential (EP), and 106.8kg C2H4-eq photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP). The LCA results showed an environmental benefit of eliminating 31,237.29kg CO2-eq GWP, 0.02kg CFC-11eq Ozone depletion potential (ODP), 5943.58kg C2H4 eq POCP and 197.83 max kg O2 eq EP by recycling latex paint rather than disposing it off in the landfill and producing equal amount of latex paint to replace it . Results also revealed that recycling of paint containers and plastics reduces the GWP by 25.34%, ODP by 29.79%, POCP by 15.39%, and EP by 12.47%. Paint recycling is therefore not only economically wise but it is also ecologically sustainable.