Emerging investigator series: calculating size- and coating-dependent effect factors for silver nanoparticles to inform characterization factor development for usage in life cycle assessment

The demolition of buildings, apart from being energy intensive and disruptive, inevitably produces construction and demolition waste (C&Dw). Unfortunately, even today, the majority of this waste ends up underexploited and not considered as valuable resources to be re-circulated into a closed/open loop process under the umbrella of circular economy (CE). Considering the amount of virgin aggregates needed in civil engineering applications, C&Dw can act as sustainable catalyst towards the preservation of natural resources and the shift towards a CE. This study completes current research by presenting a life cycle inventory compilation and life cycle assessment case study of two buildings in France. The quantification of the end-of-life environmental impacts of the two buildings and subsequently the environmental impacts of recycled aggregates production from C&Dw was realized using the framework of life cycle assessment (LCA). The results indicate that the transport of waste, its treatment, and especially asbestos’ treatment are the most impactful phases. For example, in the case study of the first building, transport and treatment of waste reached 35% of the total impact for global warming. Careful, proactive, and strategic treatment, geolocation, and transport planning is recommended for the involved stakeholders and decision makers in order to ensure minimal sustainability implications during the implementation of CE approaches for C&Dw.

Download Full-text

End-of-Life Recycling Options of (Nano)Enhanced CFRP Composite Prototypes Waste—A Life Cycle Perspective

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym12092129 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 2129

Author(s):

Fotini Petrakli ◽

Anastasia Gkika ◽

Alexandra Bonou ◽

Panagiotis Karayannis ◽

Elias P. Koumoulos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Carbon Fibre ◽

End Of Life ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

New Product Development ◽

Environmental Benefits ◽

Product Development Process ◽

Impact Indicator ◽

Cfrp Composite

Life cycle assessment is a methodology to assess environmental impacts associated with a product or system/process by accounting resource requirements and emissions over its life cycle. The life cycle consists of four stages: material production, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life. This study highlights the need to conduct life cycle assessment (LCA) early in the new product development process, as a means to assess and evaluate the environmental impacts of (nano)enhanced carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) prototypes over their entire life cycle. These prototypes, namely SleekFast sailing boat and handbrake lever, were manufactured by functionalized carbon fibre fabric and modified epoxy resin with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The environmental impacts of both have been assessed via LCA with a functional unit of ‘1 product piece’. Climate change has been selected as the key impact indicator for hotspot identification (kg CO2 eq). Significant focus has been given to the end-of-life phase by assessing different recycling scenarios. In addition, the respective life cycle inventories (LCIs) are provided, enabling the identification of resource hot spots and quantifying the environmental benefits of end-of-life options.

Download Full-text

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Meat Trays Made of Various Packaging Materials

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11195324 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (19) ◽

pp. 5324 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Daniel Maga ◽

Markus Hiebel ◽

Venkat Aryan

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

End Of Life ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Polyethylene Terephthalate ◽

Environmental Assessment ◽

Life Stage ◽

Resource Depletion ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol

In light of the debate on the circular economy, the EU strategy for plastics, and several national regulations, such as the German Packaging Act, polymeric foam materials as well as hybrid packaging (multilayered plastic) are now in focus. To understand the environmental impacts of various tray solutions for meat packaging, a comparative environmental assessment was conducted. As an environmental assessment method, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied following the ISO standards 14040/44. The nine packaging solutions investigated were: PS-based trays (extruded polystyrene and extruded polystyrene with five-layered structure containing ethylene vinyl alcohol), PET-based trays (recycled polyethylene terephthalate, with and without polyethylene layer, and amorphous polyethylene terephthalate), polypropylene (PP) and polylactic acid (PLA). The scope of the LCA study included the production of the tray and the end-of-life stage. The production of meat, the filling of the tray with meat and the tray sealing were not taken into account. The results show that the PS-based trays, especially the mono material solutions made of extruded polystyrene (XPS), show the lowest environmental impact across all 12 impact categories except for resource depletion. Multilayer products exhibit higher environmental impacts. The LCA also shows that the end-of-life stage has an important influence on the environmental performance of trays. However, the production of the trays dominates the overall results. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis illustrates that, even if higher recycling rates were realised in the future, XPS based solutions would still outperform the rest from an environmental perspective.

Download Full-text

Research highlights: applications of life-cycle assessment as a tool for characterizing environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials

Environmental Science Nano ◽

10.1039/c7en90005h ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 276-281 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Miranda J. Gallagher ◽

Caley Allen ◽

Joseph T. Buchman ◽

Tian A. Qiu ◽

Peter L. Clement ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Research And Development ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Engineered Nanomaterials ◽

Engineered Nanomaterial

This highlight outlines recent methodologies that integrate engineered nanomaterial research and development with life-cycle assessment.

Download Full-text

Comparative Study on Life-Cycle Assessment and Carbon Footprint of Hybrid, Concrete and Timber Apartment Buildings in Finland

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph19020774 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 774

Author(s):

Roni Rinne ◽

Hüseyin Emre Ilgın ◽

Markku Karjalainen

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

End Of Life ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Building Materials ◽

Construction Materials ◽

Software Tool ◽

Long Run ◽

Building Life Cycle

To date, in the literature, there has been no study on the comparison of hybrid (timber and concrete) buildings with counterparts made of timber and concrete as the most common construction materials, in terms of the life cycle assessment (LCA) and the carbon footprint. This paper examines the environmental impacts of a five-story hybrid apartment building compared to timber and reinforced concrete counterparts in whole-building life-cycle assessment using the software tool, One Click LCA, for the estimation of environmental impacts from building materials of assemblies, construction, and building end-of-life treatment of 50 years in Finland. Following EN 15978, stages of product and construction (A1–A5), use (B1–B6), end-of-life (C1–C4), and beyond the building life cycle (D) were assessed. The main findings highlighted are as following: (1) for A1–A3, the timber apartment had the smallest carbon footprint (28% less than the hybrid apartment); (2) in A4, the timber apartment had a much smaller carbon footprint (55% less than the hybrid apartment), and the hybrid apartment had a smaller carbon footprint (19%) than the concrete apartment; (3) for B1–B5, the carbon footprint of the timber apartment was larger (>20%); (4) in C1–C4, the carbon footprint of the concrete apartment had the lowest emissions (35,061 kg CO2-e), and the timber apartment had the highest (44,627 kg CO2-e), but in D, timber became the most advantageous material; (5) the share of life-cycle emissions from building services was very significant. Considering the environmental performance of hybrid construction as well as its other advantages over timber, wood-based hybrid solutions can lead to more rational use of wood, encouraging the development of more efficient buildings. In the long run, this will result in a higher proportion of wood in buildings, which will be beneficial for living conditions, the environment, and the society in general.

Download Full-text

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of End-of-Life Silicon Solar Photovoltaic Modules

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app8081396 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (8) ◽

pp. 1396 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Marina Lunardi ◽

J. Alvarez-Gaitan ◽

J. Bilbao ◽

Richard Corkish

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

End Of Life ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Crystalline Silicon ◽

Toxic Substances ◽

Process Data ◽

Real Process ◽

Pv Modules ◽

Almost All

The cumulative global photovoltaic (PV) waste reached 250,000 metric tonnes by the end of 2016 and is expected to increase considerably in the future. Hence, adequate end-of-life (EoL) management for PV modules must be developed. Today, most of the EoL modules go to landfill, mainly because recycling processes for PV modules are not yet economically feasible and regulation in most countries is not yet well established. Nevertheless, several methods for recycling PV modules are under development. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology that quantifies the environmental impacts of a process or a product. An attributional LCA was undertaken to compare landfill, incineration, reuse and recycling (mechanical, thermal and chemical routes) of EoL crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar modules, based on a combination of real process data and assumptions. The results show that recovery of materials from solar modules results in lower environmental impacts compared to other EoL scenarios, considering our assumptions. The impacts could be even lower with the adoption of more complex processes that can reclaim more materials. Although recycling processes can achieve good recycling rates and recover almost all materials from solar modules, attention must be paid to the use of toxic substances during the chemical routes of recycling and to the distance to recycling centres due to the impacts of transportation.

Download Full-text

Life Cycle Assessment of Two Alternative End-of-life Scenarios for Leather Safety Shoes

10.24264/icams-2018.xi.6 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Alexandra LUCA ◽

David SANCHEZ DOMENE ◽

Francisca ARAN AIS

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

End Of Life

Download Full-text

Life cycle assessment of plastic waste end-of-life for India and Indonesia

Resources Conservation and Recycling ◽

10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105774 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 174 ◽

pp. 105774

Author(s):

Edward Ren Kai Neo ◽

Gibson Chin Yuan Soo ◽

Daren Zong Loong Tan ◽

Karina Cady ◽

Kai Ting Tong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

End Of Life ◽

Plastic Waste

Download Full-text

Environmental Consequences of Closing the Textile Loop—Life Cycle Assessment of a Circular Polyester Jacket

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11072964 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 2964

Author(s):

Gregor Braun ◽

Claudia Som ◽

Mélanie Schmutz ◽

Roland Hischier

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Textile Industry ◽

System Analysis ◽

Action Plan ◽

The European Union ◽

Environmental Consequences ◽

Energy And Material Flows

The textile industry is recognized as being one of the most polluting industries. Thus, the European Union aims to transform the textile industry with its “European Green Deal” and “Circular Economy Action Plan”. Awareness regarding the environmental impact of textiles is increasing and initiatives are appearing to make more sustainable products with a strong wish to move towards a circular economy. One of these initiatives is wear2wearTM, a collaboration consisting of multiple companies aiming to close the loop for polyester textiles. However, designing a circular product system does not lead automatically to lower environmental impacts. Therefore, a Life Cycle Assessment study has been conducted in order to compare the environmental impacts of a circular with a linear workwear jacket. The results show that a thoughtful “circular economy system” design approach can result in significantly lower environmental impacts than linear product systems. The study illustrates at the same time the necessity for Life Cycle Assessment practitioners to go beyond a simple comparison of one product to another when it comes to circular economy. Such products require a wider system analysis approach that takes into account multiple loops, having interconnected energy and material flows through reuse, remanufacture, and various recycling practices.

Download Full-text

Life Cycle Assessment of Households in Santiago, Chile: Environmental Hotspots and Policy Analysis

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13052525 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 2525

Author(s):

Camila López-Eccher ◽

Elizabeth Garrido-Ramírez ◽

Iván Franchi-Arzola ◽

Edmundo Muñoz

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Food Consumption ◽

Household Income ◽

Resource Scarcity ◽

Life Cycles ◽

The Impact ◽

Freshwater Eutrophication

The aim of this study is to assess the environmental impacts of household life cycles in Santiago, Chile, by household income level. The assessment considered scenarios associated with environmental policies. The life cycle assessment was cradle-to-grave, and the functional unit considered all the materials and energy required to meet an inhabitant’s needs for one year (1 inh/year). Using SimaPro 9.1 software, the Recipe Midpoint (H) methodology was used. The impact categories selected were global warming, fine particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, freshwater ecotoxicity, mineral resource scarcity, and fossil resource scarcity. The inventory was carried out through the application of 300 household surveys and secondary information. The main environmental sources of households were determined to be food consumption, transport, and electricity. Food consumption is the main source, responsible for 33% of the environmental impacts on global warming, 69% on terrestrial acidification, and 29% on freshwater eutrophication. The second most crucial environmental hotspot is private transport, whose contribution to environmental impact increases as household income rises, while public transport impact increases in the opposite direction. In this sense, both positive and negative environmental effects can be generated by policies. Therefore, life-cycle environmental impacts, the synergy between policies, and households’ socio-economic characteristics must be considered in public policy planning and consumer decisions.

Download Full-text