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A step forward in quantifying the substitutability of secondary materials in waste management life cycle assessment studies.
Journal article

A step forward in quantifying the substitutability of secondary materials in waste management life cycle assessment studies.

  • Rigamonti L Politecnico di Milano, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy. Electronic address: lucia.rigamonti@polimi.it.
  • Taelman SE Ghent University, Green Chemistry and Technology, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
  • Huysveld S Ghent University, Green Chemistry and Technology, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
  • Sfez S Ghent University, Green Chemistry and Technology, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
  • Ragaert K Ghent University, Centre for Polymer and Material Technologies, Department of Materials, Textiles and Chemical Engineering, Technologiepark 130, 9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium.
  • Dewulf J Ghent University, Green Chemistry and Technology, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; ETH Zürich, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, Institute of Science, Technology and Policy, Hauptgebäude Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
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  • 2020-07-21
Published in:
  • Waste management (New York, N.Y.). - 2020
LCA
Recycling
Secondary resources
Substitutability coefficient
Substitution
Waste management
Environment
Incineration
Recycling
Refuse Disposal
Waste Management
English Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widespread tool used to guide decision-makers towards optimal strategic choices for sustainable growth. A key aspect of LCA studies of waste management systems where recycling activities are present is to account for resource recovery and the related substitution effects. Although multiple scientific papers assume a 1:1 substitution ratio between similar materials/products, this is often incorrect as the actual ratio is likely to vary. The focus of this paper is on the calculation of the substitutability coefficient for secondary materials based on technical characteristics. A state of the art literature review showed that many different calculation procedures were applied, which led to a wide variety of substitutability coefficients (sometimes provided under different terminology). In this perspective, the objective of this paper is to provide guidelines on the procedure to be followed to calculate the substitutability coefficient for secondary materials, based on technical characteristics. These guidelines are then applied to two waste management case studies, one dealing with bottom ashes from incineration and the other with plastic waste. In total, sixteen technical substitutability coefficients are given for ten secondary materials, based on state of the art and presented case studies. The paper thus represents a step forward in quantifying the substitutability of secondary materials in waste management LCA studies. The guidelines presented may allow other case studies to enrich the list of coefficients, useful for all LCA practitioners in a harmonized way allowing a more correct evaluation of the environmental impacts associated with recycling activities.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/99308
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