Comparative life cycle and sensitivity analysis of zinc tailings as a sustainable structural fill

Objectives. The objective of this Technical Brief is to assess the current use of life cycle assessment (LCA) frameworks in healthcare research and practice, understand the components of those frameworks, review LCA studies that have been conducted, and assess gaps in research and practice to guide future directions. Review methods. A scoping review combined with Key Informant interviews provided the input for the report. We searched a combination of biomedical (PubMed®); environmental (Agricultural & Environmental Science Collection, Environmental Science Database, Environment Index); and technical research (Web of Science, Scopus) databases for this interdisciplinary research topic. Gray literature sources included the research registries ClinicalTrials.gov, National Institutes of Health (NIH) RePORTER, Environmental Protection Agency Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO), European Research Council projects, and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) for ongoing research. Citation screening involved two independent reviewers who screened full text, supported by machine learning. Data were abstracted in a pilot-tested database. Key Informants included experts in LCA frameworks, healthcare operations, developers of tools for healthcare organizations/providers, researchers, organizational policy, and industry. Findings. Searches identified 5,430 citations, of which 836 were obtained as full text; 178 publications met eligibility criteria. We identified nine LCA frameworks, the majority of which were adapted rather than developed for healthcare, using existing frameworks for LCA on residential construction, financial reporting, health technology assessment, and handprint analysis. The frameworks were published in the last 5 years and were not found to be applied in any other study. In total, we identified 164 LCAs published in the scientific literature, primarily originating in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Additional literature originated from Canada and Asian, European, and Latin American countries. Approximately a third of the studies were published by U.S.-based researchers. The studies explored a wide range of topics, from medical devices, products, and surgeries, to emissions from healthcare systems. The majority of studies addressed the full life cycle, from cradle to grave. Key Informants emphasized the importance of LCA to support reduction of healthcare emissions and waste, but noted time and resource limitations for conducting LCAs in clinical practice. The registered studies on frameworks and future research is sparse; we identified eight relevant projects. Conclusion. LCA frameworks were mainly adapted for healthcare and there is a need to develop a healthcare-specific LCA framework. Future research may need to focus on less resource intensive LCA methods to address the multitude of timely decisions that need to be made in routine healthcare operations. Future work should focus on developing scalable solutions that can be rapidly adopted and implemented in disparate healthcare settings. To address gaps, research should include development of a healthcare-specific life cycle inventory database, a healthcare-specific LCA methodology, and study reporting guidelines to ensure robustness of the LCA studies. It is critical for healthcare to understand the sector’s role in climate change, to assess the impacts from healthcare delivery, and to address healthcare industry waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

Organic waste-derived biochar has been proven to have a significant potential for soil improvement, with recent results from this group showing evidence for improved water holding capacity, carbon stability and exchangeable cations. However, to contextualise these benefits it is important to consider environmental impacts during each stage of life cycle for the product.In this study, a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed, comparing a common use for garden organics (composting) to two alternative scenarios. One involved converting over-sized compost screenings (otherwise considered waste) to biochar as a supplementary product from the process, and the other involved converting garden organics directly to biochar as an alternative product.LCA was conducted using ReCiPe2016 impact assessment method in OpenLCA software. Data for assessment were collected from the participating industries and Ecoinvent database. Sensitivity analysis considering different transport distances was carried out and finally an optimum transport distance with the lowest environmental impacts was recommended. Additionally, physico-chemical characterisation and carbon stability assessment were conducted to provide a comprehensive idea about the overall benefits of organic waste-derived biochar for soil and climate.Our results revealed that global warming was increased from 675 kgCO2eq during composting of garden waste to 1017 kgCO2eq where over-sized screenings of compost is converted to biochar as a value-added product. Direct conversion of organic waste to biochar showed reduced global warming impact of 428 kgCO2eq compared to the previous two scenarios. Among 16 environmental impact indicators studied, the magnitude of 10 impact indicators increased with transport distance, while the remaining six indicators were not influenced by transport distance.Soil application of biochar from organic waste has multiple co-benefits, that can be short and/or long term. Nevertheless, this study emphasises that research focused on agricultural application of biochar needs to be coupled with LCA or other holistic assessments for a comprehensive evaluation of net environmental impacts and benefits that consider the processes involved in sourcing of feedstock, biochar production, transport, and application.

This study explores the integration of Circular Economy (CE) principles within the framework of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a foundational methodology in industrial ecology aimed at enhancing product sustainability. With CE offering a roadmap towards ecological sustainability within economic systems, the research examines the extent to which conventional LCA studies align with CE principles across diverse industries classified by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC). Analyzing 282 LCA studies, the investigation identifies a limited incorporation of CE concepts. Most studies inadequately address CE in their goal and scope, lack CE-specific data in inventories, predominantly focus on basic recycling strategies, overlook CE-specific indicators, neglect CE considerations in sensitivity analyses, and omit CE-related recommendations in conclusions. These findings underscore the necessity for a more robust integration of CE principles within LCA methodologies, emphasizing CE measures as pivotal drivers for enhancing product environmental performance across industries.

This study aimed to design the life cycle assessment (LCA) framework on two methods of the nutmeg syrup production process. The difference between those two ways based on how to eliminate tannin in nutmeg flesh, namely: using a salt solvent and albumin. There are three environmental impacts considered in the framework: gas emissions, noise levels, and human energy consumptions. Nutmeg syrup processing has a long process that each step consists of several activities which require resources, including humans, raw materials, water, energy, machine, and tools. The environmental impact needs to be measured for the sustainability of the industry. The stages carried out in this study, including field observations, data collections, establishing LCA framework based on ISO 14044 involving defining goal and scope, identifying inventory analysis, assessing environmental impacts, recommendations for reducing environmental impacts. This LCA framework can be used as the basic to carry out LCA on nutmeg syrup production. A decision-maker can use that LCA result to choose the best production process to reduce environmental impact so they can produce an environmentally sustainable industry.

Purpose : This study investigates the environmental impacts associated with green bean production by comparing three distinct scenarios. Two scenarios involve composts created from olive mill wastewater (OMW) in combination with by-products from the sugar industry, specifically sugar beet pulp (SBP) and sugarcane bagasse (SB) resulting in the composts SBPO and SBO. The final scenario utilises mineral fertiliser (MF). Methods : The environmental impacts of green bean production under the specified treatments are assessed using the life cycle assessment (LCA) framework. The functional unit is defined as 1 kg of green beans. The analysis focuses on the environmental credits obtained by valorizing by-products from the sugar and olive sectors. This valorization has the potential to significantly reduce dependence on mineral fertilizers and enhance carbon sequestration in the soil, benefiting both industries. Environmental impacts are assessed using OpenLCA software. Results : The results show that SBPO compost outperforms both SBO and MF, having the lowest environmental impact in 11 out of the 16 categories assessed in green bean production. In olive oil production, the SBPO compost leads to the most significant reduction in emissions, providing a substantial environmental benefit for this industry. In the sugar industry, the SBO compost is recognized as the most effective alternative, significantly lowering the overall environmental impact of sugar production from sugarcane. Conclusion : SBPO compost reduces environmental impacts in green bean production and benefits both the olive oil and sugar industries, offering a sustainable alternative to mineral fertilisers.\

Hourly energy simulation and a life cycle assessment framework were used to evaluate the relative environmental impacts and energy efficiencies of the construction and operation of alternative technologies for providing space and domestic water heating, cooling, and electrical power for equipment and lights in buildings. Life cycle comparisons are presented for current practice (average U.S. power generation mix, electric chillers, and gas-fired boilers), high efficiency natural gas combined cycle power generation, and three building-integrated combined heat and power (CHP) technologies. The analysis demonstrates (a) a framework that supports decision-making regarding system selection and operational strategies to limit environmental impact; (b) the importance of a life cycle assessment framework, illustrated by the analysis of primary energy consumption, global warming potential, tropospheric ozone potential; and acidification potential; and (c) the importance of building load characteristics for the analysis of CHP scenarios.

This study evaluates the environmental impacts associated with the conversion of garden organic waste into value-added products, namely compost or biochar, employing various processes. Three distinct scenarios are considered: composting garden organic waste followed by screening of oversized materials (CBP), pyrolysis of oversized screenings of compost into biochar AP(I), and in-situ conversion of garden organics into biochar AP(II). A comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted using OpenLCA software and life cycle impact assessment was conducted using Recipe 2016 midpoint methodology. The environmental ramifications of each scenario were assessed, optimising transport distances in AP(II) to achieve a functional unit of one tonne of biochar produced within a cradle-to-gate system boundary. For the first time, this study offers a holistic exploration of the benefits of soil biochar application, extending its scope to climate change mitigation, incorporating the optimisation of transport distance and its influence when scaling up the technology. The results revealed that global warming was increased from 125 kgCO2 eq during composting of garden waste to 232 kgCO2 eq where oversized screenings of compost is converted to biochar at an off-site facility. However, direct conversion of the oversized organic waste to biochar, without composting, showed reduced global warming impact of 56 kgCO2 eq, and is thus the most favourable scenario to limit climate impacts of this fraction of organic garden waste. However, among 18 environmental impact indicators studied, eight indicators were either not influenced or did not significantly increase by transport distance to an off-site pyrolysis facility, while the magnitude of 10 impact indicators increased with transport distance. The insights and methodologies presented in this study hold global relevance, based on an actual case study in regional Australia, offering valuable recommendations for sustainable waste management practices and establishing biochar as a carbon-neutral or carbon-negative solution. The findings contribute to existing waste management knowledge and provide guidance for accessible carbon dioxide removal and soil carbon sequestration technologies.

The growth of solar photovoltaic (PV) waste in the coming years requires implementation of effective management options. Australia, with one of the highest rates of rooftop solar PV, is still developing policy options to manage these panels when they reach their end-of-life. This study evaluates the environmental impacts of three options for mono and multi crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar panel waste modules. The impact of transport distance from transfer stations to the recycling centre is also assessed. The life cycle assessment revealed that, -1 E+06 kgCO2eq and -2 E+06 kgCO2eq are associated with the mandatory product stewardship scenarios under global warming potential for mono and multi c-Si solar modules, respectively. However, the non-existence of a product stewardship will produce a global warming impact of 1 E+05 kgCO2eq for both modules. The global warming effects revealed that, collecting and recycling most of the multi c-Si panels were not effective (−365.00 kg CO2-eq, −698.40 kg CO2-eq, −1032.00 kg CO2-eq) compared to keeping them away from the landfills and fully recycling (-2 E+06 kg CO2-eq) them. It was also highlighted that, the highest environmental impact regarding the transport distances was the scenario of one recycling centre serving over 107 transfer stations with a global warming potential of 1 E+06 kgCO2eq. This research model serves as the first conceptual and methodological framework for life cycle assessment (LCA) in policy and transport related analysis. Since transport is incredibly significant in PV recycling processes, it is recommended that, to further reduce these impacts, other forms of low-impact modes of transportation should be explored.

The global construction sector consumes 40 billion tonnes of raw materials and is responsible for considerable CO2 emissions. With growing awareness of its environmental impact, the construction sector is looking to transition from a linear economy “take-make-waste” scenario towards more circular economy principles. Lightweight exterior infill walls are built between floors of primary structural frames to provide building façades. The design of these components is usually based on the current linear economic model. While lightweight exterior infill walls are becoming increasingly common in building construction in the UK, no studies have investigated the potential environmental benefits of designing them with circularity in mind. This means there's a lack of research on both the carbon footprint of these walls and the potential environmental benefits of reusing them. Thus, this article assesses the significance of the carbon emissions from lightweight exterior infill walls and examines whether there is any carbon reduction when lightweight exterior infill walls are demounted from the building frames and reused. This paper first examines the construction process of lightweight exterior infill walls and explores the opportunity to demount and reuse them. Then, the environmental impacts of the lightweight exterior infill walls are analysed using a lifecycle assessment framework. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses are also conducted. The results demonstrate that (i) the embodied carbon of the lightweight exterior infill walls over their lifecycle represents approximately 22% of the embodied carbon of the entire building, and (ii) the disassembly and reuse of infill walls can reduce a building's embodied carbon over its typical lifetime by about 6% compared to the linear scenario where the walls were not reused.

Cogeneration systems offer an opportunity to satisfy a building’s electrical and thermal loads, which could result in an overall energy efficiency improvement and lower environmental impact. Hourly energy simulation and a life-cycle assessment framework are used to evaluate the relative environmental impacts and energy efficiencies of the construction and operation of alternative technologies for providing space and domestic water heating, cooling, and electrical power for equipment and lights in buildings. Life-cycle comparisons are presented for current practice (average U.S. power generation mix, electric chillers, and gas-fired boilers), high-efficiency natural gas combined-cycle power generation, and three building-integrated combined heat and power (CHP) technologies. The analysis demonstrates (1) a framework that supports decision making regarding system selection and operational strategies to limit environmental impact; (2) the importance of a life-cycle assessment framework, illustrated by the analysis of global warming potentials and tropospheric ozone potential; and (3) the importance of building load characteristics for the analysis of CHP scenarios.

The transition towards sustainability in product engineering has become paramount due to the increasing environmental challenges posed by traditional linear models of production and consumption. Circular economy (CE) principles, which emphasize reducing, reusing, and recycling resources, offer a promising approach to sustainable product engineering. This paper explores the integration of CE principles in product design, focusing on the reduction of waste, the extension of product life cycles, and the use of renewable resources. The study investigates how these principles contribute to environmental conservation, economic efficiency, and social well-being, with a focus on the engineering discipline. The results of a case study on sustainable product design, supported by statistical analysis and simulation research, demonstrate the significant role CE can play in the development of sustainable products. The growing challenges posed by environmental degradation, resource depletion, and increasing waste highlight the need for a more sustainable approach in product engineering. Circular economy (CE) principles, which focus on minimizing waste and maximizing the reuse of resources, offer a transformative model for sustainable product development. By integrating CE principles, product engineers can not only extend the lifespan of products but also optimize resource usage, reduce waste, and minimize environmental impact. This paper examines the role of CE principles in sustainable product engineering by focusing on key concepts such as designing for durability, disassembly, and material recovery. A detailed case study illustrates the successful implementation of CE in product design, showcasing its potential to drive innovation and sustainability. The paper also presents statistical analysis and simulation research to demonstrate the environmental and economic benefits of circular design practices. The results suggest that products designed with CE principles offer substantial reductions in waste, energy consumption, and carbon emissions. This study underscores the significance of adopting CE principles to achieve a more sustainable and circular future for product engineering.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the predominant approach for evaluating the environmental impacts of asphalt pavement. A comprehensive LCA framework for assessing the environmental impacts of asphalt pavements in Saudi Arabia was defined. This model framework presents a clear approach for estimating the emissions generated from mix production in the cradle-to-gate state. Energy consumption and transport distance (i.e., the distance between raw material production facilities and asphalt plants) are two of the main factors that need to be considered in estimations of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of asphalt pavements. Several environmental impact categories, including stratospheric ozone depletion, photochemical ozone formation, acidification, eutrophication, climate change, and particulate matter formation, were identified.

Despite the global shift towards sustainability, the adoption of Circular Economy (CE) principles within the Nepalese fashion industry remains understudied. This research aims to fill this gap by exploring the potential benefits and influence of implementing CE practices in this sector on society, environment, and the economy. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to CE among individuals in the fashion industry in Lalitpur, Nepal, and to assess the impact of CE practices on various dimensions. This study employs a quantitative research design utilizing a survey approach grounded in CE principles. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire distributed to individuals associated with the fashion industry in Lalitpur, resulting in a sample size of 220 respondents. The findings indicate a moderate level of knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding CE principles among individuals in the fashion industry. Furthermore, there is a positive and significant impact of CE practices on societal, environmental, and economic aspects. This research represents the first instance of such a study in Nepal's fashion sector. The findings are valuable for environmental policymakers, fashion entrepreneurs, educational institutions, and future researchers seeking to enhance sustainability within the industry. Keywords: circular economy, sustainable development, economic impact, environmental impact, social impact

Galvanized sheet is the most widely used coated steel plate globally in the industry of construction, automobile, electronics manufacturing, etc. Large amounts of resources and energy are used in galvanized sheet production, which likewise generates vast amounts of pollutant emissions. In the face of the rapid growth of the production and demand of galvanized sheet in China, it is very important to find out the key factors of the environment impact in the production of galvanized sheet. An evaluation of the environmental impact of galvanized sheet production in China was conducted by using the framework of life cycle assessment to improve resource saving and environmental protection in the galvanized sheet industry, and update the life cycle inventory database of galvanized sheet production. The environmental impact assessment was carried out based on the life cycle assessment framework by the use of ReCiPe 2016 method which was applicable on a global scale to evaluate the environmental impact of galvanized sheet production. Methods of uncertainty analysis and sensitivity analysis were adopted to provide credible support. The midpoint categories of global warming and fossil resource scarcity, as well as the endpoint categories of human health contributed most to environmental burden, which were mainly caused by carbon dioxide emissions and coal consumption. Environmental impact was dominated by the key process of continuous casting billet production, followed by electrolytic zinc production and electricity generation. Additional CO2-reducing measures should be implemented in galvanized sheet production to slow the effect of global warming. Moreover, biomass char reducing agents, rather than coal-based reducing agents, should be utilized in steelmaking to reduce fossil resource consumption. Furthermore, renewable energy, rather than coal-based electricity, should be used in galvanized sheet production to reduce carbon emissions and fossil resource consumption. Increasing the recycling rate of scrap steel and zinc waste can save resources and reduce environmental burden. The results of this study can provide guidance in the reduction of resource consumption and environmental burden of galvanized sheet production to the maximum extent.

Life cycle assessment of building demolition waste based on building information modeling