Systems Engineering Approaches for Sustainable Plastic Management

Assistant Professor

Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering

University at Buffalo

The current high plastic waste generation and low recycling rates represent a challenging problem. One of the main obstacles hindering plastic recycling is that several common plastic materials (e.g., multicomponent plastics) cannot be treated via mechanical recycling. Such materials are widely used in packaging applications (e.g., food and healthcare) due to their unique properties; however, these plastics often leave use the same year they are produced. Recently, novel technologies have emerged as promising alternatives to upcycle complex plastic waste. It is essential to evaluate the benefits and impacts of these systems to ensure that they enable economic and social development within environmental limits. Furthermore, exploring their integration into the current plastic supply chain and waste management infrastructure is needed to facilitate their deployment. In this talk, I will present how systems engineering tools can help identify sustainable plastic management strategies by integrating molecular simulations, process modeling, life cycle assessment, techno-economic analysis, and supply chain optimization. I will also discuss how our findings help guide process, product, and supply chain designs that are more sustainable. These insights can help create new infrastructures (or improve current infrastructures) and policies to increase recycling rates and enable more circular economies. Finally, I will highlight open challenges and opportunities for future work.

Aurora del Carmen Munguía-López leads the Sustainable Systems Engineering Laboratory at UB CBE. Her research group aims to develop computational tools that provide insights into the design of sustainable products and technologies. The methodological work of the laboratory focuses on four broad topics: (1) multi-scale process design, (2) technology pathway analysis, (3) sustainable supply chains, and (4) environmental and social justice. The Sustainable Systems Engineering Laboratory is interested in applying these methodologies to address problems in plastics recycling, waste management, clean energy technologies, food, pharmaceuticals, and textiles manufacturing. Before joining UB CBE, she was a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During her postdoctoral training, she worked under the supervision of Prof. Victor M. Zavala, developing holistic computational frameworks to evaluate the economic and environmental impacts of plastics recycling as part of the Chemical Upcycling of Waste Plastics (CUWP) Center funded by the Department of Energy.