Application of life cycle assessment as a tool for evaluating the sustainability of contaminated sites remediation: A systematic and bibliographic analysis

Visentin, Caroline; Trentin, Adan William da Silva; Braun, Adéli Beatriz; Thomé, Antônio

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.034

Cited by 63 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been proposed as an important tool to assess the sustainability of nature-based solutions (O'Connor et al, 2019;Visentin et al, 2019), and has provided valuable insights about positive and adverse impacts of land remediation. LCA studies clearly attested that the sustainable management of contaminated sites can provide positive environmental and socioeconomic outputs (Vigil et al, 2015;O'Connor et al, 2019), bringing meaningful benefits for a country's development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phytomanagement of Metal(loid)-Contaminated Soils: Options, Efficiency and Value

Moreira

Pereira

Mench

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The growing loss of soil functionality due to contamination by metal(loid)s, alone or in combination with organic pollutants, is a global environmental issue that entails major risks to ecosystems and human health. Consequently, the management and restructuring of large metal(loid)-polluted areas through sustainable nature-based solutions is currently a priority in research programs and legislation worldwide. Over the last few years, phytomanagement has emerged as a promising phytotechnology, focused on the use of plants and associated microorganisms, together with ad hoc site management practices, for an economically viable and ecologically sustainable recovery of contaminated sites. It promotes simultaneously the recovery of soil ecological functions and the decrease of pollutant linkages, while providing economic revenues, e.g. by producing non-food crops for biomass-processing technologies (biofuel and bioenergy sector, ecomaterials, biosourced-chemistry, etc.), thus contributing to the international demand for sustainable and renewable sources of energy and raw materials for the bioeconomy. Potential environmental benefits also include the provision of valuable ecosystem services such as water drainage management, soil erosion deterrence, C sequestration, regulation of nutrient cycles, xenobiotic biodegradation, and metal(loid) stabilization. Phytomanagement relies on the proper selection of (i) plants and (ii) microbial inoculants with the capacity to behave as powerful plant allies, e.g., PGPB: plant growth-promoting bacteria and AMF: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. This review gives an up-to-date overview of the main annual, perennial, and woody crops, as well as the most adequate cropping systems, presently used to phytomanage metal(loid)-contaminated soils, and the relevant products and ecosystems services provided by the various phytomanagement options. Suitable bioaugmentation practices with PGPB and AMF are also discussed. Furthermore, we identify the potential interest of phytomanagement for stakeholders and end-users and highlight future opportunities boosted by an effective engagement between environmental protection and economic development. We conclude by presenting the legal and regulatory framework of soil remediation and by discussing prospects for phytotechnologies applications in the future.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phytomanagement of Metal(loid)-Contaminated Soils: Options, Efficiency and Value

Moreira

Pereira

Mench

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…If the efficiency of both methods can be compared in terms of sediment remediation, the anaerobic bioremediation and SMFCs cannot be directly compared in terms of process energy demand. Life cycle assessment (LCA) by using MJ of primary energy and evaluating the secondary energy needed for certain processes can be a useful tool to assess the energy costs of remediation processes and carry out a comparison among them, even in terms of environmental impacts (Visentin et al 2019;Ulgiati et al 2011;Puccini et al 2013). As SMFCs is a new technology at the edge of an in-field application, no studies are already available, while LCA has been applied to other BESs, with some encouraging results (Corbella et al 2017;Garbi et al 2017;Zhang et al 2019;Pandit et al 2020).…”

Section: Systems Efficiency: Energy Balancementioning

confidence: 99%

SMFC as a tool for the removal of hydrocarbons and metals in the marine environment: a concise research update

Gambino

Chandrasekhar

Nastro

2021

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Marine pollution is becoming more and more serious, especially in coastal areas. Because of the sequestration and consequent accumulation of pollutants in sediments (mainly organic compounds and heavy metals), marine environment restoration cannot exempt from effective remediation of sediments themselves. It has been well proven that, after entering into the seawater, these pollutants are biotransformed into their metabolites, which may be more toxic than their parent molecules. Based on their bioavailability and toxic nature, these compounds may accumulate into the living cells of marine organisms. Pollutants bioaccumulation and biomagnification along the marine food chain lead to seafood contamination and human health hazards. Nowadays, different technologies are available for sediment remediation, such as physicochemical, biological, and bioelectrochemical processes. This paper gives an overview of the most recent techniques for marine sediment remediation while presenting sediment-based microbial fuel cells (SMFCs). We discuss the issues, the progress, and future perspectives of SMFC application to the removal of hydrocarbons and metals in the marine environment with concurrent energy production. We give an insight into the possible mechanisms leading to sediment remediation, SMFC energy balance, and future exploitation.

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“…Though there is good evidence that qualitative assessments can be a robust basis for decision-making (Gill et al, 2016;Smith & Kerrison, 2013), many clients, consultants, and researchers prefer at least a semiquantitative or sometimes a quantitative approach. On this basis, SuRF-UK suggests a tiered approach to sustainability assessment (CL:AIRE, 2010), with the entry-level being qualitative assessment (Tier 1), and progression to semiquantitative Quantitative methods based on footprint or LCA methodologies have been used to compare remediation options (e.g., Cappuyns & Kessen, 2013;Hou et al, 2014Hou et al, , 2015ITRC, 2011;Kessel et al, 2008;Visentin et al, 2019), in particular in the case of GR (US EPA, 2008).…”

Section: Measuring and Comparingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Quantitative methods based on footprint or LCA methodologies have been used to compare remediation options (e.g., Cappuyns & Kessen, 2013; Hou et al, 2014, 2015; ITRC, 2011; Kessel et al, 2008; Visentin et al, 2019), in particular in the case of GR (US EPA, 2008). However, though these assessments are useful in their own terms, the authors' opinion is that they rarely represent a holistic coverage of sustainability considerations (Table 1).…”

Section: Use and Critique Of Surf‐uk Guidancementioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability assessment framework and indicators developed by SuRF‐UK for land remediation option appraisal

Bardos

Thomas

Smith

et al. 2020

Remediation Journal

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The scale of land-contamination problems, and of the responses to them, makes achieving sustainability in contaminated land remediation an important objective. The Sustainable Remediation Forum in the UK (SuRF-UK) was established in 2007 to support more sustainable remediation practices in the UK. The prevailing international consensus is that risk assessment is the most rational approach for determining remediation needs and urgency. Sustainability in this context is related to the effective delivery of whatever risk management is necessary to protect human health or the wider environment. SuRF-UK suggests that decisions made at the project planning stage, and also in the choice of remediation approach used to reach particular objectives decided upon, are both opportunities for sustainability gain. In 2011, SuRF-UK issued a set of wide-ranging indicators to support sustainability assessments made during project planning and remediation option appraisal. This advice was reviewed over 2018-2020 and new guidance on process and indicators has been released. Within this guidance, SuRF-UK has provided a checklist of possible sustainability indicators/criteria that can be used to benchmark the scope of sustainability assessment for remediation projects. These indicators are divided into 15 overarching ("headline") categories, divided in a balanced way across the three elements of sustainability: environmental (emissions to air, soil and ground conditions, groundwater and surface water, ecology, and natural resources and waste); social (human health and safety, ethics and equity, neighborhoods and locality, communities and community involvement, and uncertainty and evidence); and economic (direct economic costs and benefits, indirect economic costs and benefits, employment and employment capital, induced economic costs and benefits, and project lifespan and flexibility). The majority of this study explains these categories and their various considerations in more depth and provides the supporting rationale that led to their inclusion in the revised SuRF-UK guidance.

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Application of life cycle assessment as a tool for evaluating the sustainability of contaminated sites remediation: A systematic and bibliographic analysis

Cited by 63 publications

References 55 publications

Phytomanagement of Metal(loid)-Contaminated Soils: Options, Efficiency and Value

Phytomanagement of Metal(loid)-Contaminated Soils: Options, Efficiency and Value

SMFC as a tool for the removal of hydrocarbons and metals in the marine environment: a concise research update

Sustainability assessment framework and indicators developed by SuRF‐UK for land remediation option appraisal

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