Elaboración de una calculadora ambiental de emisiones y uso de materias primas en la producción de materiales reciclables.

Abstract

The present study is focused on the elaboration of an environmental calculator on potentially recyclable materials, which will serve as a tool to mitigate climate change. The first stage is the compilation of information on the Ecuadorian industries of recyclable materials, the second stage is the elaboration of the life cycle analysis of the materials according to the origin of their raw material and the third stage is the association of the calculator with recovery data from the ReciVeci ReciApp. In the first stage, general information was compiled on the production processes of Ecuadorian industries dedicated to the manufacture of potentially recyclable materials, which are plastic, glass, paper/cardboard, aluminum and multilayer packaging. The industries that manufactured these materials with virgin raw materials and those that manufactured them with recycled raw materials were investigated, thus providing information that was more relevant to the local context. In the second stage, a life cycle analysis was carried out for each material. To do this, the production of each one was divided according to the origin of its raw material. The first, production with virgin raw material and the second, production with recycled raw material. Finally, in the third stage, the data provided by the ReciApp mobile application was linked to the results of the environmental calculator. To do this, the deliveries made in the application were transformed into kilograms of material. In this way, the positive impact of the recovery of materials by grassroots recyclers through this technological tool, ReciApp, was obtained