Feasibility & TEA/LCA - Team Roles
Five key team roles for the feasibility and Techno-Economic Analysis/Life Cycle Assessment (TEA/LCA) phase of a depolymerisation plant — covering financial modelling, environmental analysis, mass balance, market pricing, and standards alignment.
Role | Responsibility | Est. Count |
Financial Modeler | Building the DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) and TEA models. | 1 |
Environmental Scientist | Conducting the LCA and evaluating biodiversity impacts. | 1 |
Process Engineer | Providing mass and energy balance data for the models. | 1 |
Market Research Analyst | Sourcing real-time pricing for waste plastic and final monomers. | 1 |
Sustainability Lead | Aligning the LCA results with global standards (ISO 14040/44). | 1 |
Beyond definitions
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How to read this table
- Each row is one team role; Responsibility describes the specific deliverable for the feasibility/TEA/LCA phase; Est. Count is the typical headcount.
- The Financial Modeller and Process Engineer must work closely together — the model is only as good as the mass and energy balance data feeding it.
- ISO 14040/44 alignment (the Sustainability Lead's role) is required for LCA results to be accepted by international offtake partners and ESG auditors.
About this table
The feasibility and Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) / Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) phase is the decision gate between project concept and financial commitment. Its outputs — a bankable financial model, an ISO-compliant LCA, and a validated mass and energy balance — determine whether the project proceeds to permitting and procurement or is restructured. Five roles are needed to produce these outputs credibly.
The Financial Modeller builds the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model and TEA — the integrated financial model that converts mass and energy balance data into revenue projections, cost structures, NPV, and IRR figures. This is the document that debt lenders, equity investors, and government subsidy schemes use to assess project viability. It must be built on real input data (not assumptions), stress-tested across feedstock price scenarios, and structured to meet the bank's Project Appraisal format. The Environmental Scientist conducts the Life Cycle Assessment to quantify the carbon footprint reduction and environmental benefits of the process — increasingly required by offtake partners (especially international polymer buyers who require carbon traceability) and by government sustainability reporting frameworks.
The Process Engineer is the data supplier for both the financial model and the LCA — providing mass and energy balance data that ground both analyses in real process physics rather than assumptions. The Market Research Analyst provides real-time pricing data for both waste plastic feedstock and final monomer outputs — the two most price-volatile inputs to the TEA. Without accurate, current market prices for both sides of the ledger, the financial model's conclusions are unreliable. The Sustainability Lead ensures that the LCA follows ISO 14040/44 methodology — the international standard that makes the LCA credible for use with European offtake partners, EPR compliance claims, and green financing applications.
Key insights
- The financial model (DCF/TEA) is the most important output of this phase — it must be built on real mass balance data and real market prices, not industry averages or assumptions.
- An ISO 14040/44-compliant LCA is increasingly a commercial requirement for Indian depolymerisation projects with European offtake ambitions — not an optional ESG exercise.
- Market pricing research for waste plastic feedstock is critical and frequently underweighted — feedstock price volatility has derailed multiple depolymerisation project business cases that looked viable at launch-year prices.
- The Process Engineer's role in this phase is purely as a data supplier to the modelling team — this is not the phase for process design changes, which should be settled at conceptualisation.
Methodology & sources
Team roles and deliverables described reflect standard practice for chemical plant feasibility studies in India as of 2024. DCF model depth and LCA scope requirements vary with project scale and financing source — infrastructure financing (NIIF, SIDBI) may have specific financial model formats. ISO 14040/44 LCA standards are international and well-documented; NABET-accredited environmental consultants can assist with the LCA methodology.
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