scholarly journals Environmental impact of high-value gold scrap recycling

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 1930-1941
Author(s):  
Benjamin Fritz ◽  
Carin Aichele ◽  
Mario Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Process Data ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand ◽  
Metal Recycling ◽  
Scrap Recycling

Abstract Purpose The gold routes satisfying the global gold supply are mining (74%), recycling of high-value gold (23%), and electronic scraps (3%). Besides its applications in the investment, jewelry, and industrial sector, gold also has a bad image. The gold production in industrial as well as artisanal and small-scale mines creates negative impacts such as resource depletion, extensive chemical use, toxic emissions, high energy consumption, and social concerns that are of great importance. On the other hand, almost all gold is recycled and has historically always been. In common life cycle assessment (LCA) databases, there is no data on recycling of high-value gold available. This article attempts to answer the question what the ecological benefits of this recycling are. Method In this study, we were able to collect process data on the most commonly used high-value gold scrap recycling process, the aqua regia method, from several state-of-the-art German refineries. With this data, life cycle inventories were created and a life cycle model was produced to finally generate life cycle impacts of high-value gold scrap recycling. Results This study contains the corresponding inventories and thus enables other interested parties to use these processes for their own LCA studies. The results show that high-value gold scrap recycling has a considerably lower environmental impact than electronic gold scrap recycling and mining. For example, high-value gold scrap recycling in Germany results in a cumulative energy demand (CED) of 820 MJ and a global warming potential (GWP) of 53 kg-CO2-Eq. per kg gold. In comparison, common datasets indicate CED and GWP levels of nearly 8 GJ and 1 t-CO2-Eq. per kg gold, respectively, for electronic scrap recycling and levels of 240 GJ and 16 t-CO2-Eq. per kg gold, respectively, for mining. Conclusion The results show that buying gold from precious metal recycling facilities with high technological standards and a reliable origin of the recycling material is about 300 times better than primary production.

scholarly journals Environmental Performance of Residential Buildings: A Life Cycle Assessment Study in Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3542
Author(s):  
Hatem Alhazmi ◽  
Abdulilah K. Alduwais ◽  
Thamer Tabbakh ◽  
Saad Aljamlani ◽  
Bandar Alkahlan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Saudi Arabian ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand

The building and construction sector has a huge impact on the environment because of the enormous amounts of natural resources and energy consumed during the life cycle of construction projects. In this study, we evaluated the potential environmental impact of the construction of a villa, from cradle to grave, in the Saudi Arabian context. Centrum voor Milieukunde Leiden (CML) for Centre of Environmental Science of Leiden University-IA baseline v3.03 methods were used to obtain the environmental profile for the impact categories, and Cumulative Energy Demand v1.09 was used to measure the embodied energy of the villa life cycle. The analyzed midpoint impact categories include global warming (GWP100a), ozone layer depletion (ODP), acidification (AP), eutrophication (EP), photochemical oxidation (POCP), and indicator cumulative energy demand (CED). The operation use phase of the villa was found to have the highest global warming potential and acidification with 2.61 × 106 kg CO2-eq and 1.75 × 104 kg SO2-eq, respectively. Sensitivity analysis was performed on the Saudi Arabian plans to increase the share of renewable sources and reduce the amount of electricity generated from hydrocarbons, which currently represents 46% of the total installed power, by 2032. The results showed that compared with the current electricity environmental impact, the CO2 emission from electricity will decrease by 53%, which represents a significant reduction in environmental impact. The findings will help with the life cycle assessment of structures during future planning and for energy conservation.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Analysis of Strengthening Existing RC Structures with R-PE-UHPFRC

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 6923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Hajiesmaeili ◽  
Francesco Pittau ◽  
Emmanuel Denarié ◽  
Guillaume Habert
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Fiber Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand ◽  
Rc Structures ◽  
Structural Applications

(PE)-UHPFRC, a novel strain hardening ultra high-performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) with low clinker content, using Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW-PE) fibers, was developed for structural applications of rehabilitation. A comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out to study the environmental impact of interventions on an existing bridge using PE-UHPFRC compared with conventional UHPFRC and post-tensioned reinforced concrete methods in three categories of global warming potential (GWP), cumulative energy demand (CED), and ecological scarcity (UBP). The results showed 55% and 29% decreases in the environmental impact of the PE-UHPFRC compared with reinforced concrete and conventional UHPFRC methods, respectively, which highlighted the effectiveness of this material for the rehabilitation/strengthening of structures from the viewpoint of environmental impact.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of Bioplastics and Food Waste Disposal Methods

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6894
Author(s):  
Shakira R. Hobbs ◽  
Tyler M. Harris ◽  
William J. Barr ◽  
Amy E. Landis
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Anaerobic Digester ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand

The environmental impacts of five waste management scenarios for polylactic acid (PLA)-based bioplastics and food waste were quantified using life cycle assessment. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated the potential for a pretreatment process to accelerate the degradation of bioplastics and were modeled in two of the five scenarios assessed. The five scenarios analyzed in this study were: (1a) Anaerobic digestion (1b) Anaerobic digestion with pretreatment; (2a) Compost; (2a) Compost with pretreatment; (3) Landfill. Results suggested that food waste and pretreated bioplastics disposed of with an anaerobic digester offers life cycle and environmental net total benefits (environmental advantages/offsets) in several areas: ecotoxicity (−81.38 CTUe), eutrophication (0 kg N eq), cumulative energy demand (−1.79 MJ), global warming potential (0.19 kg CO2), and human health non-carcinogenic (−2.52 CTuh). Normalized results across all impact categories show that anaerobically digesting food waste and bioplastics offer the most offsets for ecotoxicity, eutrophication, cumulative energy demand and non-carcinogenic. Implications from this study can lead to nutrient and energy recovery from an anaerobic digester that can diversify the types of fertilizers and decrease landfill waste while decreasing dependency on non-renewable technologies. Thus, using anaerobic digestion to manage bioplastics and food waste should be further explored as a viable and sustainable solution for waste management.

scholarly journals Application of Life-cycle Assessment for the Study of Carbon and Water Footprints of the 16.5 MWe Wind Farm in Villonaco, Loja – Ecuador

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Tama Franco
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand

Wind technology is considered to be among the most promising types of renewable energy sources, and due to high oil prices and growing concerns about climate change and energy security, it has been the subject of extensive considerations in recent years, including questions related to the relative sustainability of electricity production when the manufacturing, assembly, transportation and dismantling processes of these facilities are taken into account. The present article evaluates the environmental impacts, carbon emissions and water consumption, derived from the production of electric energy of the Villonaco wind farm, located in Loja-Ecuador, during its entire life cycle, using the Life Cycle Analysis method. Finally, it is concluded that wind energy has greater environmental advantages, since it has lower values of carbon and water footprints than other energy sources. Additionally, with the techniques Cumulative Energy Demand and Energy Return on Investment, sustainability in the production of electricity from wind power in Ecuador is demonstrated; and, that due to issues of vulnerability to climate change, the diversification of its energy mix is essential considering the inclusion of non-conventional renewable sources such as solar or wind, this being the only way to reduce both the carbon footprint and the water supply power.

scholarly journals Review on Life Cycle Assessment of Solar Photovoltaic Panels

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Muteri ◽  
Maurizio Cellura ◽  
Domenico Curto ◽  
Vincenzo Franzitta ◽  
Sonia Longo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand ◽  
Environmental Indices ◽  
Silicon Based

The photovoltaic (PV) sector has undergone both major expansion and evolution over the last decades, and currently, the technologies already marketed or still in the laboratory/research phase are numerous and very different. Likewise, in order to assess the energy and environmental impacts of these devices, life cycle assessment (LCA) studies related to these systems are always increasing. The objective of this paper is to summarize and update the current literature of LCA applied to different types of grid-connected PV, as well as to critically analyze the results related to energy and environmental impacts generated during the life cycle of PV technologies, from 1st generation (traditional silicon based) up to the third generation (innovative non-silicon based). Most of the results regarded energy indices like energy payback time, cumulative energy demand, and primary energy demand, while environmental indices were variable based on different scopes and impact assessment methods. Moreover, the review work allowed to highlight and compare key parameters (PV type and system, geographical location, efficiency), methodological insights (functional unit, system boundaries, etc.), and energy/environmental hotspots of 39 LCA studies relating to different PV systems, in order to underline the importance of these aspects, and to provide information and a basis of comparison for future analyses.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of Reusable Plastic Crates (RPCs)

Resources ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Tua ◽  
Laura Biganzoli ◽  
Mario Grosso ◽  
Lucia Rigamonti
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand ◽  
Environmental Effectiveness ◽  
Single Use ◽  
Italian Context

The European packaging market is forecast to grow 1.9% annually in the next years, with an increasing use of returnable packages. In this context, it is important to assess the real environmental effectiveness of the packaging re-use practice in terms of environmental impacts. This life cycle assessment aims to evaluate the environmental performances of reusable plastic crates (RPCs), which are used for the distribution of 36% of fruit and vegetables in Italy. RPCs can be re-used several times after a reconditioning process, i.e., inspection, washing, and sanitization with hot water and chemicals. The analysis was performed considering 12 impact categories, as well as the cumulative energy demand indicator and a tailor-made water consumption indicator. The results show that when the RPCs are used for less than 20 deliveries, the impacts of the life cycle are dominated by the manufacturing stage. By increasing the number of deliveries, the contribution of the reconditioning process increases, reaching 30–70% of the overall impacts for 125 uses. A minimum of three deliveries of the RPCs is required in order to perform better than an alternative system where crates of the same capacity (but 60% lighter) are single-use. The same modeling approach can be used to evaluate the environmental sustainability of other types of returnable packages, in order to have a complete overview for the Italian context and other European countries.

Assessing the environmental impact of the dairy processing industry in the Republic of Ireland

2018 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 396-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Finnegan ◽  
Jamie Goggins ◽  
Xinmin Zhan
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Dairy Products ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Impact Categories ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Republic Of Ireland ◽  
Eutrophication Potential ◽  
Environmental Impact Categories ◽  
The Republic

This Research Communication describes the methodology used and the subsequent results obtained for an assessment of the environmental impact associated with the manufacture of dairy products in the Republic of Ireland. As the Irish dairy industry changes and grows, it is necessary to have a benchmark of the environmental performance of the sector if it is to remain sustainable in the future. In order to estimate the environmental impact, life cycle assessment has been implemented, which has been structured in accordance with the International Organisation for Standardisation guidelines. In this study, the environmental impact categories assessed are terrestrial acidification potential, cumulative energy demand, freshwater eutrophication potential, global warming potential, marine eutrophication potential and water depletion. The main Irish dairy products have been compared across these environmental impact categories in order to derive meaningful results. It is identified that packaging materials, particularly for infant formula, and energy usage, across each of the life cycle stages, should be targeted as these are the most significant contributors to the overall environmental impact.

scholarly journals Environmental and cost benefits of co-digesting food waste at wastewater treatment facilities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Morelli ◽  
Sarah Cashman ◽  
Xin (Cissy) Ma ◽  
Jason Turgeon ◽  
Sam Arden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Water Reuse ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Requirement ◽  
Baseline Scenario ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand

Abstract The wastewater industry is undergoing a paradigm shift from focusing solely on treatment to incorporating concepts aimed at mitigating environmental impacts such as energy and nutrient recovery and water reuse. This study uses life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis to investigate the effect of expanding anaerobic digestion (AD) capacity and adding combined heat and power on environmental and cost indicators at a mid-sized wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) in Massachusetts, USA. Since 2014, Massachusetts has banned the disposal of organic waste from commercial organizations producing more than one ton of material per week. The WWTF's additional digester capacity allows the co-digestion of municipal solids with a food-based engineered bioslurry due to this ban. Study data were compiled for several AD feedstock quantity and performance scenarios, and compared to a baseline scenario representative of historic plant operations prior to co-digestion. Reductions in environmental impact are demonstrated for six of eight environmental impacts, including global climate change potential and cumulative energy demand. Eutrophication potential increases by 10 percent and 24 percent across assessed scenarios. Water use remains relatively constant across scenarios. Facility energy production increases dramatically with co-digestion, satisfying 100 percent of the WWTF's thermal energy requirement and producing surplus electricity assuming full AD capacity utilization.

scholarly journals Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Rapeseed and Rapeseed Oil Produced in Northern Europe: A Latvian Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anda Fridrihsone ◽  
Francesco Romagnoli ◽  
Ugis Cabulis
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Rapeseed Oil ◽  
Mineral Fertilizers ◽  
Agricultural Practice ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Use Of Resources

There is a major international effort to improve the availability of data for life cycle assessment (LCA), as these assessments have become one of the main pillars driving European policy with respect to the sustainable use of resources. However, there is still a lack of data even for Europe. This study presents a cradle-to-farm gate assessment, or LCA, of winter and spring rapeseed produced in the northern European country of Latvia. The LCA model is based on an in-depth and up-to-date agricultural practice used in the region and covers the time span of 2008–2016. An LCA of rapeseed oil produced by cold pressing was carried out. The environmental impact assessment was calculated with the ReCiPe impact assessment method version 1.03, a hierarchical (H) perspective, along with the cumulative energy demand method v1.11. Cultivation of winter rapeseed has a lower environmental impact than cultivation of spring rapeseed due to higher agricultural inputs and higher yield. The greatest impact is on human health. Mineral fertilizers (production and application) and agricultural machinery are responsible for the greatest environmental impact. The results for the mill stage of rapeseed oil demonstrated that the choice of the allocation method has a significant impact on the environmental performance results.

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