Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, cilt.28, sa.6, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Rigid polyurethane (PU) foam is used in refrigerator manufacturing and generates a post-industrial waste stream with limited end‑of‑life options. This study evaluates the environmental performance of chemical recycling via glycolysis as an alternative to landfilling, one of the conventional disposal methods for PU foam waste. Recycled polyol and rigid PU foam data obtained within this study were directly used in the life‑cycle model, allowing the assessment to reflect actual material performance rather than assumed substitution behavior. A cradle‑to‑gate life cycle assessment was conducted using SimaPro 10.3.0.3 and the Ecoinvent 3 database, applying the ReCiPe 2016 method at midpoint and endpoint levels. Recycling demonstrated lower impacts in 14 of the 18 midpoint categories. The most notable difference was observed in land use (6.98% reduction), followed by moderate reductions of around 2% in ionizing radiation, fossil resource scarcity and water consumption. Landfilling showed slightly lower impacts in freshwater eutrophication, freshwater and marine ecotoxicity and human non‑carcinogenic toxicity, though the differences remained below 0.5%. Hotspot analysis revealed MDI production as the dominant contributor in nearly all categories. To evaluate robustness, sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis (n = 1000) were performed; both confirmed that the comparative advantage of recycling persists under reasonable parameter variability. Overall, the results indicate that glycolysis‑based chemical recycling may provide environmental advantages over landfilling for PU foam waste generated in refrigerator manufacturing, within the defined system boundaries. These findings indicate a potential contribution by supporting circular economy approaches in refrigerator manufacturing.