Waste LCA and the future

Bisinella, V.; Schmidt, S.; Varling, A.S.; Laner, D.; Christensen, T.H.

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2023.11.021

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 161 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…associated with the selected waste-to-nutrition pathway over their life cycle, projected at industrial scale. A gate-to-grave system modeling approach was implemented, as usually the case when assessing waste management systems (Bisinella et al, 2024). "Gate" refers to the last operation shared in common between all the recovery systems being compared, for a given residual stream.…”

Section: General Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waste reintroduced in the kitchen: life cycles inventories of representative waste-to-nutrition pathways

Javourez,

Tituta-Barna,

Hamelin

2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Transforming residual streams into novel ingredients such as insects, microorganisms, or protein extracts, is increasingly promoted to mitigate global environmental impacts. Yet, to unambiguously quantify the potential environmental benefits and implications of scaling these conversion pathways, a comparative assessment framework is missing. To this end, we propose a common life cycle inventory (LCI) modeling strategy to forecast the performances of 16 representative “waste-to-nutrition” pathways according to 18 input streams characteristics and 293 technological parameters. Analyzed over eleven contrasted case studies, proposed LCI models not only allow to compute the untapped potential of waste-to-nutrition pathways, but also unravel trade-offs between production yields, energy requirements, and input streams composition. We show that scaling novel waste-based proteins production pathways could totally offset French protein feed imports, provided substantial adaptation of energy systems and mobilization of biomass resources. Based on in-depth literature review and data collection, proposed LCI modelling approach is expandable to the broader set of waste recovery technologies, and can support the design of sustainable circular bioeconomy strategies.

show abstract

Section: General Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waste reintroduced in the kitchen: life cycles inventories of representative waste-to-nutrition pathways

Javourez,

Tituta-Barna,

Hamelin

2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Finding sustainable solutions for circular resource management necessitates systematic analytical methods, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), whose application in waste management still requires further research, Christensen et al [5] reviewed the results of 350 journal articles, acknowledging the necessity for further application of LCA models in integrated waste management, as well as in policy and strategic development in waste management. A recent study by Bisinella, Schmidt [6] provides practical recommendations for LCA modeling of future waste management systems, emphasizing that climate change impact has the highest priority in the decades to come, due to its political focus. Although LCA is often used for waste management assessments, its coverage of various waste streams or waste prevention measures remains relatively rare.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Potential Climate Impacts and Benefits of Waste Prevention and Management: A Case Study of Sweden

Miliute-Plepiene,

Sundqvist

2024

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study employs a life cycle perspective to analyze the carbon footprints of various waste streams, evaluating 52 cases across 26 types of household waste in Sweden, with a focus on waste prevention and management. It demonstrates that while recycling can reduce carbon emissions, prevention could significantly enhance these benefits, with savings ranging from −36.5 to −0.01 kg-CO2-eq per kg of waste. Notably, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), textiles, tires, residual household, and plastic waste are the top five fractions most amenable to prevention on a per mass basis. Further analysis, considering waste volumes, shows that targeted recycling of materials like WEEE, metals, and paper could account for over 80% of potential carbon savings. However, the majority of potential climate impact is attributed to the energy recovery of unsorted (mixed) waste, contributing to more than 90% of total impacts. Redirecting all mixed waste to recycling could triple carbon savings, but focusing on prevention could potentially increase benefits twenty-sevenfold, particularly for waste like WEEE, food, and textiles. This research provides a valuable tool for identifying key areas in waste management to optimize climate benefits and enhance public awareness. However, it advises using local data for precise planning due to inherent uncertainties.

show abstract

“…Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a suitable tool to aid relevant technology development for those technologies at an early stage [11]. Investigating nutrient recovery from wastewater or sewage sludge using LCA is common practice affirmed by several literature studies and reviews [12][13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural Urban Nutrient Partnership (RUN): Life Cycle Assessment of Multi Nutrient Recovery from Kitchen Waste and Blackwater

Stichnothe,

Joseph,

Preyl

et al. 2024

Recycling

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Newly developed and innovative RUN technology aims to recover nutrients from urban wastewater (blackwater) and biowaste (kitchen waste). The development of RUN technology has been supported by the life cycle assessment (LCA) in order to identify hotspots and trade-offs. While the performance of the process at a laboratory scale did not show any environmental benefits from P recovery, the LCA results have helped to improve the environmental performance at the following scale-up step. The recovery of P on a technical scale was environmentally beneficial, especially in terms of the global warming potential (GWP). However, there were still some trade-offs, e.g., freshwater and marine eutrophication were slightly higher compared to conventional P fertilizer production. Given that P is considered a critical raw material and that climate change is probably the most pressing environmental issue, RUN technology has the potential to deliver on both domains.

show abstract

Waste LCA and the future

Cited by 11 publications

References 161 publications

Waste reintroduced in the kitchen: life cycles inventories of representative waste-to-nutrition pathways

Waste reintroduced in the kitchen: life cycles inventories of representative waste-to-nutrition pathways

Assessing the Potential Climate Impacts and Benefits of Waste Prevention and Management: A Case Study of Sweden

Rural Urban Nutrient Partnership (RUN): Life Cycle Assessment of Multi Nutrient Recovery from Kitchen Waste and Blackwater

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About