📖 ABSTRACT/OVERVIEW
The polyethylene terephthalate beverage bottle sector is among the fastest-growing contributors to plastic waste in Lagos State, South West Nigeria, where informal recycling infrastructure fails to intercept a majority of post-consumer bottles. This study conducts a streamlined life cycle assessment of virgin PET bottle production versus mechanically recycled PET content bottles, focusing on global warming potential, energy demand, water consumption, and land use impact categories from cradle to grave. System boundaries encompass raw material extraction, resin production, bottle manufacturing, product use, collection, sorting, mechanical recycling, and residual waste landfill. Inventory data were compiled from primary process data at a Lagos-based PET bottle manufacturer, supplemented by Ecoinvent 3.9 database values adjusted for Nigerian electricity grid carbon intensity. The functional unit was defined as one tonne of PET bottles produced and managed. Virgin PET production generated 3.84 kg CO2 equivalent per kilogram of bottle, compared to 1.12 kg CO2 equivalent per kilogram for recycled PET production, a 70.8% reduction. Energy demand was 69% lower for recycled PET. However, collection efficiency in Lagos informal recycling was estimated at 34%, resulting in system-level global warming potential savings of only 24% relative to 100% virgin production. The study identifies collection infrastructure investment as the highest-leverage intervention for improving the PET sector's environmental profile in Lagos State. Keywords: life cycle assessment, PET recycling, recycled PET, Lagos State, global warming potential
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