(2026) International Journal of Hydrogen Energy_Carbon negative pyrolysis of PLA waste for clean hydrogen production: Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment

Lee S.; Choi M.; Qi M.; Baek J.; Choi D.; Kwon E.E.; Ga S.; Lee J.; Cho H.

(Elsevier Ltd) International Journal of Hydrogen Energy ISSN: 3603199 Vol.215 Issue. Article No.153816 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2026.153816

Global demand for polylactic acid (PLA) is rising, yet current PLA waste (PLAW) management imposes environmental burdens and recovers limited value. This study proposes a hydrogen production pathway integrating CO₂-assisted PLAW pyrolysis with natural gas steam methane reforming (SMR). Pyrolysis-derived syngas is fed to the water–gas shift reactor, increasing H₂ production by 60.1%. The optimized SMR + PLAW_opt configuration utilizes PSA off-gas, pyrolysis oil combustion, and flue-gas waste heat, thereby reducing total energy consumption by 19.3% compared with conventional SMR. CO₂ emissions from the process are captured and stored via CCS. Techno-economic and life-cycle analyses show that SMR + PLAW_opt reduces the levelized cost of hydrogen by 49.6% to 3.51 USD/kg H₂ and lowers global warming potential by 44.5% to 4.98 kg CO₂/kg H₂, enabling net-negative CO₂ emissions. By valorizing PLAW into syngas and coupling the system with CCS, resource recovery is enhanced and deep decarbonization goals for hydrogen supply are supported. © 2026

This work was supported by the Industrial Technology Innovation Program (grant numbers RS-2024-00507471 and RS-2025-02314943) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE, Republic of Korea): RS-2024-00507471, “Development and Demonstration of an Operations Optimization Platform for AI-Driven Autonomous Manufacturing in Refinery and Petrochemical Processes”; and RS-2025- 02314943, “Development of Safety Assessment and Standards for a 40,000 m³ Liquefied Hydrogen Onshore Terminal with Cargo Handling System”.