A framework for good practices to assess abiotic mineral resource depletion in Life Cycle Assessment

Abstract

Abiotic mineral resource assessment is a long lasting area of interest in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with major progress in the field of industry and research during the last ten years. The complex nature of abiotic mineral resource assessment has brought out a multitude of indicators based on different principles and foundations, making it sometimes difficult to choose and interpret LCA results. This paper aims at proposing a good practices framework (GPF) to guide LCA practitioners in choosing and interpreting LCA results dealing with the use of abiotic mineral resources. The GPF was built within workshop discussions of the EcoSD network. During these workshops, three crucial points have been identified by the participants to have a strong impact on LCA results: the choice of the characterization method, how these methods are implemented in LCA software and the great uncertainties and variability in LCA results associated with abiotic mineral resource assessment. Based on these results, the framework was centered upon a four-step decision tree. Each step follows LCA ISO standards but focuses on abiotic mineral resources. This framework was then applied on two LCA case studies that are sensitive to abiotic mineral resources: the use of indium in mobile phone and phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge.