Life cycle assessment applied to waste management in Italy: A mini-review of characteristics and methodological perspectives for local assessment

2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110179
Author(s):  
Daniela Camana ◽  
Sara Toniolo ◽  
Alessandro Manzardo ◽  
Mirco Piron ◽  
Antonio Scipioni
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Minimum Requirements

Life cycle assessment (LCA) and related tools are commonly used to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of waste treatment scenarios. This manuscript presents a mini-review of studies published over the last 10 years in Italy and aims to investigate how life cycle thinking tools are applied to assess the environmental sustainability of local-level waste policies. Results reveal that different waste flows, technologies and policies have been investigated independently and in varying detail. Review suggests that boundary selection significantly affects LCA results; integration of different waste systems is therefore crucial to avoid spatial or temporal shifts of environmental impacts. Moreover, the description of methodological characteristics, limitations and transversal aspects of Italian waste management studies allows various stakeholders to assess the reliability of past and future research for waste policy planning and rebound effects prevention. This review also highlights the need to define minimum requirements of transparency and ease of reporting of the studies to private and public stakeholders. Finally, the paper investigates whether using both the organisational LCA and the life cycle sustainability approach for the overall waste management process may be useful to develop a standard method to address multi-functionalities and multiple sites.

scholarly journals Environmental impacts of a hydrometallurgical process for electronic waste treatment: A life cycle assessment case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 1204-1216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Maria Iannicelli-Zubiani ◽  
Martina Irene Giani ◽  
Francesca Recanati ◽  
Giovanni Dotelli ◽  
Stefano Puricelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Electronic Waste ◽  
Hydrometallurgical Process

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Valuation of Biochar Production: Two Case Studies in Belgium

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 2166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Rajabi Hamedani ◽  
Tom Kuppens ◽  
Robert Malina ◽  
Enrico Bocci ◽  
Andrea Colantoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Pig Manure ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Life Cycle Perspective ◽  
The Impact

It is unclear whether the production of biochar is economically feasible. As a consequence, firms do not often invest in biochar production plants. However, biochar production and application might be desirable from a societal perspective as it might entail net environmental benefits. Hence, the aim of this work has been to assess and monetize the environmental impacts of biochar production systems so that the environmental aspects can be integrated with the economic and social ones later on to quantify the total return for society. Therefore, a life cycle analysis (LCA) has been performed for two potential biochar production systems in Belgium based on two different feedstocks: (i) willow and (ii) pig manure. First, the environmental impacts of the two biochar production systems are assessed from a life cycle perspective, assuming one ton of biochar as the functional unit. Therefore, LCA using SimaPro software has been performed both on the midpoint and endpoint level. Biochar production from willow achieves better results compared to biochar from pig manure for all environmental impact categories considered. In a second step, monetary valuation has been applied to the LCA results in order to weigh environmental benefits against environmental costs using the Ecotax, Ecovalue, and Stepwise approach. Consequently, sensitivity analysis investigates the impact of variation in NPK savings and byproducts of the biochar production process on monetized life cycle assessment results. As a result, it is suggested that biochar production from willow is preferred to biochar production from pig manure from an environmental point of view. In future research, those monetized environmental impacts will be integrated within existing techno-economic models that calculate the financial viability from an investor’s point of view, so that the total return for society can be quantified and the preferred biochar production system from a societal point of view can be identified.

The Application of the Life-Cycle Assessment in the Building Sector: An Italian Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-108
Author(s):  
Maurizio Cellura ◽  
Francesco Guarino ◽  
Sonia Longo
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment Methodology ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

The building sector is one of the most relevant in terms of generation of wealth and occupation, but it is also responsible for significant consumption of natural resources and the generation of environmental impacts, mainly greenhouse gas emissions. In order to improve the eco profile of buildings during their life-cycle, the reduction of the use of resources and the minimization of environmental impacts have become, in the last years, some of the main objectives to achieve in the design of sustainable buildings. The application of the life-cycle thinking approach, looking at the whole life cycle of buildings, is of paramount importance for a real decarbonization and reduction of the environmental impacts of the building sector. This paper presents an application of the life-cycle assessment methodology for assessing the energy and environmental life-cycle impacts of a single-family house located in the Mediterranean area in order to identify the building components and life-cycle steps that are responsible of the higher burdens. The assessment showed that the largest impacts are located in the use stage; energy for heating is significant but not dominant, while the contribution of electricity utilized for households and other equipment resulted very relevant. High environmental impacts are also due to manufacture and transport of building materials and components.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment on Different Synthetic Routes of ZIF-8 Nanomaterials

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (16) ◽  
pp. 4998
Author(s):  
Vasileios Ntouros ◽  
Ioannis Kousis ◽  
Dimitra Papadaki ◽  
Anna Laura Pisello ◽  
Margarita Niki Assimakopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Electricity Consumption ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Synthetic Routes ◽  
The Impact

In the last twenty years, research activity around the environmental applications of metal–organic frameworks has bloomed due to their CO2 capture ability, tunable properties, porosity, and well-defined crystalline structure. Thus, hundreds of MOFs have been developed. However, the impact of their production on the environment has not been investigated as thoroughly as their potential applications. In this work, the environmental performance of various synthetic routes of MOF nanoparticles, in particular ZIF-8, is assessed through a life cycle assessment. For this purpose, five representative synthesis routes were considered, and synthesis data were obtained based on available literature. The synthesis included different solvents (de-ionized water, methanol, dimethylformamide) as well as different synthetic steps (i.e., hours of drying, stirring, precursor). The findings revealed that the main environmental weak points identified during production were: (a) the use of dimethylformamide (DMF) and methanol (MeOH) as substances impacting environmental sustainability, which accounted for more than 85% of the overall environmental impacts in those synthetic routes where they were utilized as solvents and as cleaning agents at the same time; (b) the electricity consumption, especially due to the Greek energy mix which is fossil-fuel dependent, and accounted for up to 13% of the overall environmental impacts in some synthetic routes. Nonetheless, for the optimization of the impacts provided by the energy use, suggestions are made based on the use of alternative, cleaner renewable energy sources, which (for the case of wind energy) will decrease the impacts by up to 2%.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Pengelolaan Sampah di TPA Gunung Panggung Kabupaten Tuban, Jawa Timur

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-161
Author(s):  
Rahmah Arfiyah Ula ◽  
Agus Prasetya ◽  
Iman Haryanto
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Global Warming Potential ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Acidification Potential ◽  
Alternative Scenarios

ABSTRACT The primary municipal waste treatment in Tuban Regency, East Java, was landfilling, besides the small amount of the waste was turned to compost. Landfilling causes global warming, which leads to climate change due to CH4 emission. This environmental impact could be worst by the population growth that increases the amount of waste. This study aimed to evaluate the environmental impact on waste management in the Gunung Panggung landfill in Tuban Regency and its alternative scenarios using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Four scenarios were used in this study. They are one existing scenario and three alternative scenarios comprising landfilling, composting, and anaerobic digestion. The scope of this study includes waste transportation to waste treatment which is landfilling, composting, and anaerobic digestion (AD). The functional unit of this analysis is per ton per year of treated waste. Environmental impacts selected are global warming potential, acidification potential, and eutrophication potential. The existing waste management in Gunung Panggung landfill showed the higher global warming potential because of the emission of CO2 and cost for human health, which is 6.379.506,17 CO2 eq/year and 5,92 DALY, respectively. Scenario 3 (landfilling, composting, and AD; waste sortation 70%) showed a lower environmental impact than others, but improvements were still needed. Covering compost pile or controlling compost turning frequency was proposed for scenario 3 amendment. Keywords: environmental impact, landfill, life cycle assessment, waste management   ABSTRAK Landfill merupakan pengelolaan sampah utama di tempat pemrosesan akhir (TPA) Gunung Panggung Kabupaten Tuban. Selain landfill, pengomposan diterapkan untuk mengolah sebagian kecil sampahnya. Landfill menghasilkan gas metana yang menyebabkan pemanasan global dan memicu perubahan iklim. Pertambahan penduduk memperbanyak sampah yang perlu diolah di TPA dan dapat memperparah dampak lingkungan yang ditimbulkan. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah menilai dampak lingkungan dari pengelolaan sampah eksisting di TPA Gunung Panggung Kabupaten Tuban Jawa Timur beserta skenario alternatifnya menggunakan Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Terdapat satu skenario eksisting dan tiga skenario alternatif pengelolaan sampah yaitu landfilling, pengomposan, dan fermentasi anaerob (anaerobic digestion). Ruang lingkup studi meliputi pengangkutan sampah, pengelolaan sampah dengan cara pengomposan, Anaerobic Digestion (AD), dan landfill. Satuan fungsional yang digunakan yakni ton sampah yang diolah per tahun. Dampak lingkungan yang dipelajari di antaranya: pemanasan global, asidifikasi, dan eutrofikasi. Dampak lingkungan skenario eksisting menunjukkan nilai tertinggi terutama pada pemanasan global (6.379.506,17 CO2eq/tahun) dan kerugian pada kesehatan manusia (5,92 DALY). Skenario alternatif 3, yang meliputi pengelolaan secara landfill, pengomposan, dan AD menunjukkan dampak lingkungan yang kecil, namun memerlukan perbaikan. Perbaikan untuk skenario 3 yaitu dengan menambahkan penutup pada tumpukan kompos atau mengontrol frekuensi pembalikan kompos untuk mengurangi emisi NH3. Kata kunci: dampak lingkungan, life cycle assessment, pengelolaan sampah, tempat pemrosesan akhir

scholarly journals Emission of toxic components as a factor of the best practice options for waste management: Application of LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)

2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hristina Stevanovic-Carapina ◽  
Jasna Stepanov ◽  
Dunja Savic ◽  
Andjelka Mihajlov
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Municipal Solid Waste ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Landfill Gas ◽  
Leachate Collection ◽  
Integrated Waste Management ◽  
Environmental Burdens

Health and safety have been the major concerns in waste management. Waste must be managed in a way that minimizes risk to human health. Environmental concerns over the management and disposal of waste can be divided into two major areas: conservation of resources and pollution of the environment. Integrated Waste Management (IWM) systems combine waste streams, waste collection, treatment and disposal methods, with the objective of achieving environmental benefits, economic optimization and societal acceptability. Integrated waste management using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) attempts to offer the most benign options for waste management. LCA is a compilation and evaluation of the inputs, the outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle. It can be successfully applied to municipal solid waste management systems to identify the overall environmental burdens and to assess the potential environmental impacts. This paper deals with the LCA of the two waste management options for final disposal of municipal waste, landfilling (landfill without landfill gas collection or leachate collection) and sanitary landfilling (landfill with landfill gas collection and recovery and leachate collection and treatments) analyzed for town Sombor, Serbia. The research is conducted with the use of the Software Package IWM-2. The indicators which are used in the assessment are air and water emissions of toxic compounds. The results indicated that waste disposal practice has a significant effect on the emission of the toxic components and environmental burdens. Sanitary landfilling of municipal solid waste significantly reduces toxic emission and negative influence on the environment.

Life Сycle Аssessment of Management and Disposal of Oil-containing Wastes from Refineries

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 38-43
Author(s):  
E.V. Kalinina ◽  
L.V. Rudakova
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Waste Treatment ◽  
Human Toxicity ◽  
Cobalt Chromium ◽  
Treatment And Disposal ◽  
Cancer Diseases

The results of the life cycle assessment (LCA) of oil waste (OW) management and disposal of refineries are presented, which include environmental impacts beyond the implementation of the techniques themselves, but also the production of the necessary material (reagents, materials) and energy (electricity, fuel, steam). LCA demonstrated that the most significant impacts of oil-containing waste treatment and disposal methods are in the categories Ecotoxicity (for freshwater)" and "Human toxicity" (cancer and non-cancer diseases)" resulting from the burning of fossil fuels and the emission of heavy metals (zinc, copper, vanadium, cobalt, chromium, nickel and lead).

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