  The transition to a low-carbon economy is one of the ambitions of the
European Union for 2030. Biobased industries play an essential role in this
transition. However, there has been an on-going discussion about the actual
benefit of using biomass to produce biobased products, specifically the use of
agricultural materials (e.g., corn and sugarcane). This paper presents the
environmental impact assessment of 30% and 100% biobased PET (polyethylene
terephthalate) production using EU biomass supply chains (e.g., sugar beet,
wheat, and Miscanthus). An integral assessment between the life cycle
assessment methodology and the global sensitivity assessment is presented as an
early-stage support tool to propose and select supply chains that improve the
environmental performance of biobased PET production. From the results,
Miscanthus is the best option for the production of biobased PET: promoting EU
local supply chains, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (process and
land-use change), and generating lower impacts in midpoint categories related
to resource depletion, ecosystem quality, and human health. This tool can help
improving the environmental performance of processes that could boost the shift
to a low-carbon economy.
