scholarly journals Plastic Waste Management: A Review of Existing Life Cycle Assessment Studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5340
Author(s):  
Hatem Alhazmi ◽  
Faris H. Almansour ◽  
Zaid Aldhafeeri
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Waste Recycling ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
System Boundaries ◽  
Screening Process ◽  
Management Framework ◽  
The Impact

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool that can help to quantify the impacts of different processes to facilitate comparison and decision making. There are many potential methods for managing plastic waste, but it can be difficult to determine which methods are preferable in terms of environmental impact. Suitable existing LCA studies are identified through a screening process and the methodologies used and their outputs are compared. When undertaking an LCA, the researchers must define their scope and select their parameters, according to their aims and context, which leads to a wide variation in the approach taken. In this study, six parameters have been considered to analyze research progress in these fields regarding LCA, i.e., goals and scope, functional units, impact assessment categories, system boundaries, geographical context, and uncertainty analysis. These studies include the similar type of different studies considering plastic waste recycling, each taking a different approach to defining the system boundaries, revealing how the decision to include or exclude factors such as transport can have a significant impact on the outcomes. Additionally, compared to these similar studies on mixed-plastic waste management, different available options are used to quantitatively compare the impact outcomes, revealing how the context and parameter selection can affect the results. This review aims to highlight the prospect of LCA during the development of a waste management framework as an efficient waste recycling tool and recommend a research gap for the development of an improved management framework in the future.

scholarly journals Comparative Study of a Life Cycle Assessment for Bio-Plastic Straws and Paper Straws: Malaysia’s Perspective

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1007
Author(s):  
Chun-Hung Moy ◽  
Lian-See Tan ◽  
Noor Fazliani Shoparwe ◽  
Azmi Mohd Shariff ◽  
Jully Tan
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Beverage Industry ◽  
Food And Beverage Industry ◽  
Food And Beverage ◽  
Acidification Potential ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Process Simulator ◽  
Insight Into

Plastics are used for various applications, including in the food and beverage industry, for the manufacturing of plastic utensils and straws. The higher utilization of plastic straws has indirectly resulted in the significant disposal of plastic waste, which has become a serious environmental issue. Alternatively, bio-plastic and paper straws have been introduced to reduce plastic waste. However, limited studies are available on the environmental assessment of drinking straws. Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies for bio-plastic and paper straws have not been comprehensively performed previously. Therefore, the impact of both bio-plastic and paper straws on the environment are quantified and compared in this study. Parameters, such as the global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP) and eutrophication potential (EP), were evaluated. The input–output data of the bio-plastic and paper straws processes from a gate-to-grave analysis were obtained from the literature and generated using the SuperPro Designer V9 process simulator. The results show that bio-plastic straws, which are also known as polylactic acid (PLA) straws, had reduced environmental impacts compared to paper straws. The outcomes of this work provide an insight into the application of bio-plastic and paper straws in effectively reducing the impact on the environment and in promoting sustainability, especially from the perspective of Malaysia.

Life cycle assessment of potential municipal solid waste management strategies for Mumbai, India

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhupendra K Sharma ◽  
Munish K Chandel
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Municipal Solid Waste ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Solid Waste Management ◽  
Municipal Solid Waste Management ◽  
Human Toxicity ◽  
The Impact

Dumping of municipal solid waste into uncontrolled dumpsites is the most common method of waste disposal in most cities of India. These dumpsites are posing a serious challenge to environmental quality and sustainable development. Mumbai, which generates over 9000 t of municipal solid waste daily, also disposes of most of its waste in open dumps. It is important to analyse the impact of municipal solid waste disposal today and what would be the impact under integrated waste management schemes. In this study, life cycle assessment methodology was used to determine the impact of municipal solid waste management under different scenarios. Six different scenarios were developed as alternatives to the current practice of open dumping and partially bioreactor landfilling. The scenarios include landfill with biogas collection, incineration and different combinations of recycling, landfill, composting, anaerobic digestion and incineration. Global warming, acidification, eutrophication and human toxicity were assessed as environmental impact categories. The sensitivity analysis shows that if the recycling rate is increased from 10% to 90%, the environmental impacts as compared with present scenario would reduce from 998.43 kg CO2 eq t−1 of municipal solid waste, 0.124 kg SO2 eq t−1, 0.46 kg PO4−3 eq t−1, 0.44 kg 1,4-DB eq t−1 to 892.34 kg CO2 eq t−1, 0.121 kg SO2 eq t−1, 0.36 kg PO4−3 eq t−1, 0.40 kg 1,4-DB eq t−1, respectively. An integrated municipal solid waste management approach with a mix of recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion and landfill had the lowest overall environmental impact. The technologies, such as incineration, would reduce the global warming emission because of the highest avoided emissions, however, human toxicity would increase.

scholarly journals Material flow analysis and life cycle assessment of solid waste management in urban green areas, Thailand

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Indika Thushari ◽  
Juckrit Vicheanteab ◽  
Dao Janjaroen
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Material Flow ◽  
Solid Waste Management ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Material Flow Analysis ◽  
Waste Recycling ◽  
Urban Green

Abstract This study presents solid waste management planning in an urban green area, Bangkok, Thailand based on the material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA). Global warming potential (GWP) of four scenarios for handling solid waste generated in Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park, 2018 was assessed concerning the different ratios of waste recycling, composting, incineration, and landfilling. The results show that alternative systems proposed will result in lower GWP than the existing waste management strategy. The MFA results reveal that the final weights of solid waste ending up in a landfill are 98.8, 101.9, 68.2, and 44.8 t yr− 1 for scenarios 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Increased rates of landfill diversion by increased recycling, composting, and incineration decreased the quantity of solid waste disposed to the landfill and improved the environmental profile of the park waste management system. The LCA results found landfilling to be the dominant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) burdens, while waste recycling was found to result in the reduction of GHG. The results highlight that the use of MFA and LCA as a combined tool to evaluate the environmental performance of solid waste management systems provides valuable information for policy and decision-makers.

scholarly journals Food Waste Management Framework to Support Sustainable Agriculture in Pagar Alam City Of South Sumatera

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dian Novriadhy ◽  
Oktaf Juairiyah
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Sustainable Agriculture ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
Management Framework

Mengembalikan sampah makanan (SM) sebagai kompos ke lahan pertanian dianggap sebagai salah satu opsi terbaik untuk memastikan keberlanjutan pertanian bagi kota-kota yang bergantung pada sektor pertanian sebagai tulang punggung dari modal pembangunan mereka seperti Kota Pagar Alam. Sementara pengomposan SM mudah dilakukan dalam skala kecil, membuat kompos dari SM di tingkat kota merupakan tugas yang memberatkan yang berarti perlu pengelolaan sampah yang tepat. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengembangkan kerangka kerja manajemen SM untuk Kota Pagar Alam berdasarkan metodologi Life Cycle Assessment. Variabel yang dimasukkan dalam kerangka adalah struktur usia rumah tangga, kebiasaan makan, pengeluaran makanan per kapita, penghasilan kepala rumah tangga, praktik belanja, perilaku pemisahan sampah dan sikap pada barang bekas. Temuan menunjukkan timbulan SM dipengaruhi oleh struktur usia rumah tangga serta pengeluaran makanan. Jumlah anggota rumah tangga di bawah usia lima tahun memiliki pengaruh lebih besar terhadap timbulan SM (Exp β = 5,04) daripada pengeluaran makanan per kapita (4,37) atau jumlah anggota rumah tangga yang berusia lima tahun atau lebih (2,16). Alasan mengapa rumah tangga tidak melakukan pemilahan sampah adalah terlalu malas, memiliki kesenjangan pengetahuan dan kurangnya fasilitas. Temuan menyarankan otoritas lokal untuk mengintegrasikan pengumpul sampah informal ke dalam sistem pengelolaan sampah dan menciptakan permintaan pasar kompos untuk mengatasi hambatan sosial yang ada. Studi ini menyimpulkan bahwa dimasukkannya struktur usia rumah tangga dan perubahan perilaku masyarakat dalam kerangka kerja manajemen SM sangat penting.

scholarly journals Environmental evaluation of distributed versus centralized plastic waste recycling: Integrating life cycle assessment and agent-based modeling

Procedia CIRP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 90 ◽  
pp. 689-694
Author(s):  
Piya Kerdlap ◽  
Aloisius Rabata Purnama ◽  
Jonathan Sze Choong Low ◽  
Daren Zong Loong Tan ◽  
Claire Y. Barlow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Waste Recycling ◽  
Agent Based Modeling ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Environmental Evaluation ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Plastic Waste Recycling

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

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

scholarly journals 2-Piece Cork Stoppers as Alternative for Valorization of Thin Cork Planks: Analysis by LCA Methodology

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 873
Author(s):  
Francisco Javier Flor-Montalvo ◽  
Agustín Sánchez-Toledo Ledesma ◽  
Eduardo Martínez Cámara ◽  
Emilio Jiménez-Macías ◽  
Jorge Luis García-Alcaraz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Lca Methodology ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Different Thickness ◽  
Cork Stoppers ◽  
Wine Bottle

Natural stoppers are a magnificent closure for the production of aging wines and unique wines, whose application is limited by the availability of raw materials and more specifically of cork sheets of different thickness and quality. The growing demand for quality wine bottle closures leads to the search for alternative stopper production. The two-piece stopper is an alternative since it uses non-usable plates in a conventional way for the production of quality caps. The present study has analyzed the impact of the manufacture of these two-piece stoppers using different methodologies and for different dimensions by developing an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), concluding that the process phases of the plate, its boiling, and its stabilization, are the phases with the greatest impact. Likewise, it is detected that the impacts in all phases are relatively similar (for one kg of net cork produced), although the volumetric difference between these stoppers represents a significant difference in impacts for each unit produced.

scholarly journals Case study of a water bioengineering construction site in Austria. Ecological aspects and application of an environmental life cycle assessment model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. von der Thannen ◽  
S. Hoerbinger ◽  
C. Muellebner ◽  
H. Biber ◽  
H. P. Rauch
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Soil And Water

AbstractRecently, applications of soil and water bioengineering constructions using living plants and supplementary materials have become increasingly popular. Besides technical effects, soil and water bioengineering has the advantage of additionally taking into consideration ecological values and the values of landscape aesthetics. When implementing soil and water bioengineering structures, suitable plants must be selected, and the structures must be given a dimension taking into account potential impact loads. A consideration of energy flows and the potential negative impact of construction in terms of energy and greenhouse gas balance has been neglected until now. The current study closes this gap of knowledge by introducing a method for detecting the possible negative effects of installing soil and water bioengineering measures. For this purpose, an environmental life cycle assessment model has been applied. The impact categories global warming potential and cumulative energy demand are used in this paper to describe the type of impacts which a bioengineering construction site causes. Additionally, the water bioengineering measure is contrasted with a conventional civil engineering structure. The results determine that the bioengineering alternative performs slightly better, in terms of energy demand and global warming potential, than the conventional measure. The most relevant factor is shown to be the impact of the running machines at the water bioengineering construction site. Finally, an integral ecological assessment model for applications of soil and water bioengineering structures should point out the potential negative effects caused during installation and, furthermore, integrate the assessment of potential positive effects due to the development of living plants in the use stage of the structures.

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