Comparing environmental impacts of natural inert and recycled construction and demolition waste processing using LCA

Abstract

Trinitrotoluene (TNT), a commonly used explosive for military and industrial applications, can cause serious environmental pollution. 28-day laboratory pot experiment was carried out applying bioaugmentation using laboratory selected bacterial strains as inoculum, biostimulation with molasses and cabbage leaf extract, and phytoremediation using rye and blue fenugreek to study the effect of these treatments on TNT removal and changes in soil microbial community responsible for contaminant degradation. Chemical analyses revealed significant decreases in TNT concentrations, including reduction of some of the TNT to its amino derivates during the 28-day tests. The combination of bioaugmentation-biostimulation approach coupled with rye cultivation had the most profound effect on TNT degradation. Although plants enhanced the total microbial community abundance, blue fenugreek cultivation did not significantly affect the TNT degradation rate. The results from molecular analyses suggested the survival and elevation of the introduced bacterial strains throughout the experiment. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Nõ lvak, H.; Truu, J.; Limane, B.; Truu, M.; Cepurnieks, G.; Bartkevičs, V.; Juhanson, J.; Muter, O. 2013. Microbial community changes in TNT spiked soil bioremediation trial using biostimulation, phytoremediation and bioaugmentation, Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management 21(3): 153Á162. http://dx. abstract.Construction and demolition wastes (C&DW) are usually recognized as not dangerous, but their accumulation can generate serious environmental problems. In spite of C&DW high potential to be reused/recycled, the practical procedures need to be assessed in terms of environmental consequences. The objective of this study is to quantify the environmental impacts of C&DW recycling/reuse, specifically in the production of aggregate 0/30 mm, comparative to those generated during the natural inert processing, in terms of global impacts addressing the whole process and for each technological phase. The analysis was carried out using Life Cycle Assessment methodology, assisted by SimaPro software, and based on primary data collected directly from the Italian Emilia Romagna region. Three methods were used for impact quantification: Eco-Indicator 99, EDIP/UMIP and Cumulative Energy Demand. The analysis revealed that the environmental impacts generated by C&DW recycling/reuse accounting for about 40% of the impacts induced by natural inert processing. reference to this paper should be made as follows: Simion, I. M.; Fortuna, M. E.; Bonoli, A.; Gavrilescu, M. 2013. Comparing environmental impacts of natural inert and recycled construction and demolition waste processing using LCA, Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management 21(4): 273-287. http://dx.

Sustainable management of excavated soil and rock in urban areas – A literature review

“…However, available data on the generation of C&D waste is generally uncertain. This is mainly due to illegal dumping activities and lack of proper measurements of C&D waste facilities (Simion et al, 2013). Further, uncertainties are even larger due to the fact that the definition of C&D waste varies.…”

“…The work was developed in the EU project SARMa with the objective to achieve a common approach to sustainable management of aggregate resources (Blengini and Garbarino, 2011). Simion et al (2013) studied the climate effects of producing natural aggregates compared to recycling C&D waste. Climate impact from natural aggregate production was about 103 kg per ton, compared to about 16 kg per ton for recycled C&D waste.…”

“…Further, uncertainties are even larger due to the fact that the definition of C&D waste varies. Simion et al (2013) and Coronado et al (2011) defines C&D waste to be concrete, asphalt, wood, metal, drywall, paper and plastics while Hao et al (2007) includes all surplus materials from construction. Further, Blengini and Garbarino (2010) include and Hiete et al (2011) exclude excavated soil and rock from the C&D waste definition.…”

“…Construction material use refers to the use of non-metallic minerals. g Data gathered from Comparing environmental impacts of natural inert and recycled construction and demolition waste processing using LCA (Simion et al, 2013).…”

“…In rapid growing cities, the construction sector has shown to be one of the major sources to CO 2 emissions (Weber et al, 2007). In order to reduce climate impact from construction, there is a need to improve resource efficiency and increase the reuse of construction materials (Blengini and Garbarino, 2010;Eras et al, 2013;Gangolells et al, 2014;Huang and Hsu, 2003;McEvoy et al, 2004;Miliutenko, 2012;Simion et al, 2013;Toller et al, 2011).…”