Depletion Of Fossil Resources Research Articles

Strong and Heat-Resistant SiC-Coated Carbonized Natural Loofah Sponge for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Renewable, processable, and efficient electromagnetic shielding materials have received great attention with the urgent requirement of alleviating the depletion of fossil resources and the harm of ...

Life cycle assessment of global warming potential, resource depletion and acidification potential of fossil, renewable and secondary feedstock for olefin production in Germany

Lower olefins are the second most resource and emission intensive products in the manufacturing sector in Germany. Replacing conventional fossil feedstock with renewable or secondary feedstock thus represents a viable possibility to significantly increase the sustainability of the German industry. The environmental impact associated with olefin production is generally determined by feedstock and energy supply as well as the production technology. In the present study, the environmental effects of the utilization of conventional and alternative feedstock are assessed in the form of a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment performed in GaBi LCA software. The assessment focused on global warming potential, fossil resource depletion and acidification potential of olefin production in Germany. Investigated raw materials included fossil resources in crude oil and shale gas, renewable resources in wood and maize-based biogas as well as secondary resources in municipal solid waste and flue gas-based carbon dioxide. Life cycle inventory data for olefin production are obtained by process simulation using Aspen Plus. Technologically, syngas-based olefin production is characterized by a lower product carbon recovery compared to direct cracker-based olefin production. By integrating upstream impacts, renewable-based production is observed to lead to negative effective greenhouse gas emissions and low resource demand, but showed significant acidification potential from agricultural feedstock production. Due to the avoidance of waste incineration, olefin production via waste gasification is associated with significant benefits in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, despite the substitution of waste-based electricity generation with other energy sources. The utilization of carbon dioxide from flue gas displayed the highest electricity demand by means of hydrogen generation. Therefore, a high level of renewable energy integration is required to be environmentally viable.

Management options to reduce the environmental impact of dairy goat milk production

Although numbers are still low compared to cattle rearing, intensive dairy goat farms have been widely spreading in the Italian livestock systems. Since goats are quite rustic, they can easily adapt to different management practices; however, improving the efficiency can make the difference, both in productivity and on the environmental impact attributed to goat milk production.In the present study, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach was used to quantify the potential environmental impact of goat milk production system in 17 farms in Lombardy (Northern Italy). Together with the environmental assessment, statistical analysis was carried out in order to determine whether it was possible to identify any relation among the variables that characterise this farming system.From an environmental point of view, it has been shown that the lower the individual milk production, the more it affects the environmental impact: specifically, the carbon footprint appears higher than the one emitted by cattle milk production. Climate Change resulted, on average, equal to 2.67 kg CO2 eq/kg Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) with a wide variability (min: 1.12 kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM; max: 5.05 kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM). Purchased feed was the main hotspot for several environmental impact categories (such as freshwater eutrophication, land use and mineral, fossil and renewable resources depletion). Enteric emissions and emissions from manure storage were hotspots for climate change, particulate matter and terrestrial acidification. The C sequestration during crop cultivation was not considered. As shown by the statistical analysis, the main driver which influenced the 6 main impact categories was, in fact, individual milk production. The environmental assessment was also performed considering a second Functional Unit (FU) (i.e. 1 ha of land) and the statistical analysis conducted on this FU showed the relevance of livestock intensity. In addition to this, the statistical analysis also showed how a restricted land availability can negatively affect the environmental outcome. This study represents one of the first studies on the environmental impact assessment of dairy goat milk production. Additionally, studying two FUs and using a statistical analysis approach helped to identify the main management options to which farmers should pay attention to improve goat milk production from an environmental point of view.

Environmental and Economic Sustainability of Biomass Heat in the UK

Heat from biomass is being promoted in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the full life cycle environmental and economic implications of biomass heat are currently unknown and are therefore explored herein. The results indicate that heat from solid biomass can reduce global warming potential as well as depletion of fossil resources and the ozone layer by >90% compared to fossil fuels. However, acidification, eutrophication, and human and eco‐toxicities are much higher than for heat from natural gas. Biomass heat is also 23% more expensive than heat from gas boilers. However, with the subsidies available in the UK, it is 52% cheaper. Using the waste wood and energy crops available in the UK, it can meet 5% of the national heat demand and save 7.3 Mt CO2 eq. year−1 or 1.5% of UK emissions. Increasing cultivation of energy crops can provide 20% of heat demand by 2030 and save 5.1% of national emissions. Therefore, the government should continue to incentivize biomass heat while tightening regulations to prevent an increase in other impacts. However, increasing biomass heat provision will be challenging due to a large number of installations needed (27 000–85 000) and lack of district heating networks in the UK.

Comparison of Graphical Tools for Targeting and Retrofit of Heat Exchanger Networks

Depleting fossil and water resources, increasing environmental concerns and energy prices provide the impetus to continually improve heat integration in existing process plants. Four new graphical tools with potential to guide Heat Exchanger Network (HEN) design and retrofit are reported in literatures since 2010. These tools include Stream Temperature vs Enthalpy Plot (STEP) and HEat Allocation and Targeting (HEAT) for simultaneously targeting and design of a HEN, Energy Transfer Diagram (ETD) to capture the flowrate of heat transferred from the heating utilities to the environment through each heat-exchanger and process units as a function of temperature, Heat Exchanger Load Diagram (HELD) to identify heat-exchanger configuration. All these graphical tools are concisely explained and applied to guide the design and retrofit of a HEN problem. Compared with the traditional Composite Curve (CC) and Grid Diagram (GD), the advantages and disadvantages of each tool are compared and summarized. Suggestions to make a choice are provided.

Environmental assessment of energy production from anaerobic digestion of pig manure at medium-scale using life cycle assessment

This study assessed the potential environmental effects of energy production from pig manure treatment by anaerobic digestion at medium-scale based on the Life Cycle Assessment of a farm in Puebla, Mexico. It also compared the results from common practices of biogas flaring and conventional management. The analysis was based on one ton of pig manure in 4 systems: two with energy production, one with biogas flaring, and the last one conventional management. The use of biogas for electricity production combined with composting techniques generated the lowest net impacts on climate change of 272 kg CO2eq and photochemical oxidation of 0.056 kg ethylene eq, while the biogas flaring registered impacts of 344 kg CO2eq and 0.095 kg ethylene eq. The systems with energy production had environmental benefits on fossil resources depletion by avoiding the consumption of −863 MJ and −1608 MJ, but systems that burned biogas required fossil fuel consumption of 246 MJ from the grid. The conventional management generated the greatest environmental impacts, with eutrophication being the most important negative effect due to the manure discharge into water bodies (5.97 kg PO4eq). Sensitivity analysis shown that energy production could generate greater impacts on global warming compared to the case in which manure was used directly in crop fields, if emissions from unintentional releases and a poor digestate management are not avoided. Results are relevant for developing countries in which processes are carried out in rural and semi-industrial areas with lack of technical knowledge and economic resources.

A comparative life cycle assessment of graphene and activated carbon in a supercapacitor application

Abstract Graphene shows substantial promise in improving the technical performance of a range of applications. For its development and before its potential mass adoption, it is critical to understand the associated cradle-to-grave life cycle environmental impacts. Previous studies on graphene environmental performance do not include end of life and the potential environmental credits generated by graphene reuse. This study undertakes a cradle-to-grave approach to evaluating graphene applications, considering a case study of supercapacitors manufactured with graphene and activated carbon active materials. The analysis includes active materials commercial-size production, supercapacitors production, supercapacitors use phase in an automotive application, and their end of life in which both devices are recycled. With current material performance and energy mixes, the graphene-based supercapacitor would increase impacts in all environmental categories analysed, ranging from 27% higher human toxicity to 213% greater ozone depletion and showing a 48% increase in GHG emissions. This unfavourable result arises due to the tested graphene material exhibiting inferior specific capacitance to the activated carbon comparator, as well as a more energy-intensive production process. Prospective analysis considers hypothetical performance where both active materials reach their theoretical specific capacitance, and the decarbonisation of electricity generation. The environmental impacts of both the activated carbon and graphene supercapacitors are reduced in these prospective scenarios, with the graphene based supercapacitor becoming the least impacting solution due to its lower active material requirements. The graphene-based device shows 36% lower GHG emission and overall shows lower impacts ranging from 14% less mineral, fossil and renewable resource depletion to 43% less photochemical ozone formation. These results support graphene as a valid candidate material for substituting activated carbon in supercapacitors provided graphene technical performance is improved, production optimised, and recycling developed.

Formaldehyde as a Promising C1 Source: The Instrumental Role of Biocatalysis for Stereocontrolled Reactions

In the context of the depletion of fossil resources, formaldehyde is an emerging C1 source exhibiting high and versatile reactivity, in comparison to the most studied C1 molecules (CO2, CO, HCOOH, ...

Environmental impacts of household consumption in Europe: Comparing process-based LCA and environmentally extended input-output analysis.

The environmental impacts generated by household consumption are generally calculated through footprints, allocating the supply-chain impacts to the final consumers. This study compares the result of the Consumer Footprint indicator, aimed at assessing the impacts of household consumption in Europe, calculated with the two standard approaches usually implemented for footprint calculations: (i) a bottom-up approach, based on process-Life cycle assessment of a set of products and services representing household consumption, and (ii) a top-down approach, based on environmentally extended input-output tables (EXIOBASE 3). Environmental impacts are calculated considering 14 environmental impact categories out of the 16 included in the EF2017 impact assessment method. Both footprints show similar total values regarding climate change, freshwater eutrophication and fossil resource use, but in the meantime very large differences (more than a factor 2) regarding particulate matter, photochemical ozone formation, land use and mineral resource use. The exclusion of services in the bottom-up approach can explain only to some extent these differences. However, the two approaches converge in identifying food as the main driver of impact in most of the impact categories considered (with a generally lower contribution in top-down compared to bottom-up). Housing and mobility are relevant as well for some impact categories (e.g. particulate matter and fossil resource depletion). Some substances are identified as hotspot by both approaches, e.g. the emission of NH3 to air (for acidification and terrestrial eutrophication), of NOx to air (for acidification, marine and terrestrial eutrophication, and, to some extent, photochemical ozone formation), of P to water and to soil (for freshwater eutrophication) and of fossil CO2 to air (for climate change). Significant differences at the inventory side are key drivers for the differences in total impacts. These include: (i) differences in the intensity of emissions, (ii) differences in the coverage of elementary flows, (iii) differences in the level of detail relative to elementary flows. Overall, the key converging results from both approaches (in particular regarding most contributing areas of consumption and substances) can be considered as a robust basis to support the definition of policies aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of household consumption in Europe.

Tailored mesoporous Ir/TiOx: Identification of structure-activity relationships for an efficient oxygen evolution reaction

The depletion of fossil resources coupled with an increasing demand in both sustainable and renewable energy sources further strengthen the development of highly efficient electrocatalytic water splitting catalysts. Iridium oxide is well known for its excellent activity and stability during acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, high prices and rare abundance demand the most efficient utilization.We report a new synthesis approach for iridium/titanium-based mixed oxides with a tailored mesopore structure employing iridium acetate and titanium chloride as precursors. The new Ir/TiOx system outperforms OER catalysts based on other titanium precursors by a factor of up to two. The material is used as a model system to investigate the impact of synthesis and structural parameters on OER performance.We find that calcination temperature and iridium content are the main synthesis parameters to achieve tailored structures and superior electrochemical activity. The highest surface area and OER-activity are attained for samples with a fully developed mesoporous network and small crystallite sizes obtained by a moderate calcination around 400 °C. A minimum content of iridium is required to achieve sufficient electrical conductivity, whereas at higher iridium content the OER performance scales approximately linearly.

A taste of the new ReCiPe for life cycle assessment: consequences of the updated impact assessment method on food product LCAs

PurposeRecently, an update of the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method ReCiPe was released: ReCiPe 2016. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of using this update instead of the previous version: ReCiPe 2008. Do the absolute outcomes change significantly and if so, does this lead to different conclusions and result-based recommendations?MethodsLife cycle assessments (LCAs) were conducted for 152 foods for which cradle-to-plate inventories were available and that together are estimated to account for 80% of the total greenhouse gas emissions, land use and fossil resource depletion of food consumption in the Netherlands. The LCIA was performed on midpoint and endpoint level, with both ReCiPe 2008 and 2016, and using the three perspectives provided by ReCiPe. Both the uses of the global-average characterisation factors (CFs) and the Dutch-specific CFs were explored.Results and discussionResults showed a strong correlation between LCAs performed with ReCiPe 2008 and with 2016 on midpoint and endpoint level, with Spearman’s rank correlation between 0.85 and 0.99. Ranking of foods related to their overall environmental impact did not differ significantly between methods when using the default hierarchist perspective. Differences on endpoint level were largest when using the individualist perspective. The predicted average absolute impact of the foods studied did change significantly when using the new ReCiPe, regardless of which perspective was used: a larger impact was found for climate change, freshwater eutrophication and water consumption and a lower impact for acidification and land use. The use of Dutch CFs in ReCiPe 2016 leads to significant differences in LCA results compared with the use of the global-average CFs. When looking at the average Dutch diet, ReCiPe 2016 predicted a larger impact from greenhouse gas emissions and freshwater eutrophication, and a lower impact from acidification and land use than ReCiPe 2008.ConclusionsThe update of ReCiPe leads to other LCIA results but to comparable conclusions on hotspots and ranking of food product consumption in the Netherlands. Looking at the changes per product due to the update, we recommend updating endpoint-level LCAs conducted with ReCiPe 2008, especially for products that emit large amounts of PM2.5 or consume large amounts of water within their life cycle. As new and updated methods reflect the scientific state of art better and therefore include less model uncertainty, we recommend to always use the most recent and up-to-date methodology in new LCAs.

Aspects of determining biomass-based levoglucosenone by UHPLC–UV in aqueous samples

The depletion of fossil resources and concerns about the environment encourage the search for renewable biomass-based chemicals with broad applications. Levoglucosenone (LGO) is a carbohydrate derivative obtained by the pyrolysis of cellulose containing raw materials. Because of its two chiral centres LGO is particularly appealing to the organic synthesis industry, therefore improved ways of producing LGO are continuously investigated. This study deals with the quality control of the LGO containing pyrolysis products by modern UHPLC–UV methods. Acceptable chromatographic separation of LGO could be achieved in most samples of pyrolysis products obtained from birch (Betula pendula) wood. However, a significant degradation of LGO was observed in aqueous solutions, which needs to be taken into consideration both when performing analysis, as well as during the storage of the pyrolysis products which are generally recovered from the pyrolysis reactor as a water condensate. The degradation rate of LGO in a water/acetonitrile solution, which corresponds with the mobile phase of the UHPLC method, at 5°C was 1.8% a day. Even faster degradation occurred in samples without the addition of acetonitrile.

Environmental sustainability assessment of ready-made baby foods: Meals, menus and diets

Although there is a growing body of literature on the environmental impacts of food, virtually none of the studies has addressed baby foods. Therefore, this work explored the life cycle environmental impacts of different ready-made baby foods, both at the level of individual meals and their combinations within a weekly menu. Twelve different meals were considered, based on baby food products available on the UK market, spanning breakfast, lunch and dessert. Menus following four different diets – omnivorous, vegetarian, pescatarian and dairy-free – were also evaluated. The results showed that, on average, lunch meals had the highest impacts and desserts the lowest. Breakfast has either intermediate (wet porridge) or low (dry porridge) impacts. Among the lunch meals, spaghetti Bolognese and salmon risotto had the highest impacts and among the desserts, strawberry, raspberry and banana as well as apple, pear and banana purees had the lowest. The key hotspots across the meals were raw materials and packaging. Meals with more meat and cream were found to have higher impacts. Manufacturing also played a significant role for global warming potential as well as depletion of fossil resources and the ozone layer due to the fossil fuels used in the process. When the impacts were analysed per mass of baby food consumed weekly, the dairy-free diet had higher impacts than the other three, but the difference among them was relatively small. The trends changed when nutritional value was taken into account, with the dairy-free diet exhibiting considerably higher impacts per unit of energy content. In that case, the pescatarian diet became the best option for most impacts. There was little difference between the omnivore and vegetarian diets. It is expected that these results will be of interest to baby food manufacturers and consumers, helping them to make more informed manufacturing and purchasing decisions.

Energy efficient design optimization of a bioclimatic house

The global energy context of the year 2018 makes us pessimistic about the future. The geopolitical, environmental and socio-economic aspects are linked to the political tensions of countries that hold and manipulate the global energy market. These countries are haunted by the population growth, the depletion of fossil resources and the global economic crisis. Each country is trying to find reasonable solutions to deal with this crisis. Unfortunately, these solutions always have direct negative repercussions on the population and on the environment. In this paper we present a case study developed in Algeria and inspired by the current and critical socio-economic situation of the country, in particular, the application of energy-saving techniques to an existing building. The investigation was conducted by using both simulation software and real interventions. We analyse some of the major components, such as building’s orientation and exposure to daylight which have significant impact on energy consumption. We present the concept of Building Performance Simulation Analysis, using Autodesk ECOTECT Analysis and COMSOL Multiphysics software, and give full consideration to various ecological energy-saving methods. Using our models, we present a possible solution for retrofitting a building to minimize its energy consumption. The results are useful for both building energy conversation and creating a comfortable living environment in future.

Reductive Amination/Cyclization of Methyl Levulinate with Aspartic Acid: Towards Renewable Polyesters with a Pendant Lactam Unit.

Environmental regulation and depletion of fossil resources are boosting the search for new polymeric materials produced from biomass. Here, the synthesis of a new diester bearing a pendant lactam unit from methyl levulinate and aspartic acid is reported. The palladium-catalyzed reductive amination/cyclization sequence was carefully optimized to afford the diacid with high yield (>95 %). In a second step, the compound was esterified to give the corresponding diester. The latter monomer was copolymerized with α-ω linear diols, yielding polyesters with molecular weights up to 20.5 kg mol-1 .

Life cycle assessment of recycling options for polylactic acid

This paper presents an attributional life cycle assessment for different recycling technologies for post-industrial and post-consumer polylactic acid (PLA) waste in Germany. The study investigates mechanical recycling of post-industrial and post-consumer PLA waste as well as solvent based recycling and chemical recycling of post-consumer PLA waste. Recycling of PLA waste is exclusively compared to thermal treatment since a comparison of the different recycling options is not possible due to different qualities of the waste streams and of the products. The life cycle impact results show environmental benefits of all recycling technologies. Environmental benefits are achieved by replacing virgin PLA with PLA recyclates. The substitution of virgin PLA by recyclates leads to higher savings of greenhouse gas emissions compared to incineration. Depending on the recycling technology, savings are 0.3–1.2 times higher. The lower global warming impact goes along with higher savings in primary energy demand and less fossil resource depletion. Apart from benefits related to global warming impact and energy, the comparison between thermal treatment and the recycling shows benefits in the category agricultural land occupation since biomass cultivation is avoided. Further environmental benefits are achieved in the impact categories photochemical ozone formation, terrestrial and aquatic eutrophication, acidification, and particulate matter due to avoided biomass cultivation, harvesting, and transportation. The latter three impacts are mainly influenced by agricultural activities and transportation, whereas eutrophication is driven by fertilization. The results demonstrate that recycling of PLA products can contribute to a better environmental performance of PLA products in their life cycle.

A multi-objective mathematical model to redesign of global sustainable bioenergy supply network

In today's industrial world, depletion of fossil resources and the adverse environmental effects of consuming fossil fuels have become one of the serious challenges in sustainable development of the societies. In recent years, substantial attention has been paid to using biomass for producing bioenergy in order to increase economic performance, reduce environmental effects, and providing new opportunities in different societies in pursuit of sustainable development. The complexities related to procurement, logistics, technology selection, raw material management (biomass), and product distribution planning are the main causes of using the optimization models to design the bioenergy supply chains. On the other hand, the globalization of economy and industry increased the significance of the subjects related to global logistics and the ecological and social objectives of the countries have undeniable influences on each other. Hence, in this paper, a mathematical model has been developed to redesign a global bioenergy supply network. This model has simultaneously studied the economic, environmental, and social objectives and the environmental coefficients of the model were calculated using SimaPro software. The multi-objective model was solved by augmented ɛ-constraint method and the decision makers were informed of the obtained Pareto solutions. Data taken from the study on Iran and Armenia was used to validate the model and the Geographic information system (GIS) software was used with the goal of studying the geographical map of each country more accurately.

One‐pot conversion of carbohydrates into γ‐valerolactone under the coordination of heteropoly acid based ionic liquid and Ru/ZrO2 in water media

AbstractBACKGROUNDThe chemical catalytic conversion of carbohydrates into γ‐valerolactone (GVL) is a sustainable alternative to the petrochemical process starting from the depleting fossil resources. Direct conversion of carbohydrates (fructose, glucose, starch and cellulose) into GVL was achieved via the combined heteropoly acid based SO3H‐functionalized ionic liquid (HAIL) and supported ruthenium (Ru) catalyst system in one pot and in water media.RESULTSA 63% GVL yield (based on fructose) was obtained under the catalysis of 1‐methyl‐3‐(3‐sulfopropylimidazolium)silicotungstate ([MIMPS]4SiW) and Ru/ZrO2 at 180 °C, first in 0.1 MPa nitrogen (N2) for 3 h (dehydration), and then in 4 MPa hydrogen (H2) for 10 h (hydrogenation). Under the same reaction conditions, the GVL yields from glucose, starch and cellulose were 68%, 60% and 60%, respectively. The recyclability of the catalytic system consisting of [MIMPS]4SiW and Ru/ZrO2 was investigated in four runs. The activity for [MIMPS]4SiW did not change after use. Partial deactivation of Ru/ZrO2 was observed, which was ascribed to the severe carbon deposition.CONCLUSIONSIn the present method, HAIL and Ru/ZrO2 catalysts were loaded together. No separation and/or neutralization step reported in the literature was needed and only an atmosphere change (from N2 to H2) step was involved. Therefore, we provide a promising method for efficient conversion of carbohydrates into GVL. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

Life cycle assessment of forest-based biomass for bioenergy: A case study in British Columbia, Canada

Large quantities of residual forest-based biomass, including harvesting and sawmill residues, are available in British Columbia, Canada. They can be used to generate bioenergy. Currently, harvesting residues are burned to reduce fire hazard, and private and remote sawmills’ residues are either burned or landfilled. While previous studies assessed the impact of bioenergy production from residual forest-based biomass on global warming, this life cycle assessment includes a comprehensive set of ten impact categories. Adopting a case study in a region in British Columbia, a life cycle model is applied to three locations considering four combustion and gasification technologies with different capacities (0.5 MW, 2 MW, 3 MW and 5 MW) and product outputs (electricity and/or heat). Most bioenergy supply chain scenarios showed improved environmental performance due to avoided uncontrolled combustion of residues and avoided fossil fuel combustion, particularly in the categories of acidification (+1% to -71%), eutrophication (-2% to -85%), fossil resource depletion (-2% to -84%), respiratory effects (0% to -96%), and photochemical ozone formation (+3% to -59%). Benefits were larger at locations dependent on fossil energy compared to locations dependent on hydropower. In contrast, ecotoxicity values increased in most scenarios (+460% to -11%), due to wood ash disposal. Results confirmed conversion efficiency and wood ash disposal as influencing factors in bioenergy supply chains for the investigated region, but showed a minor influence of the feedstock procurement distance. Moreover, the results emphasized the high contribution of uncontrolled burnings to the overall environmental impact of the forest biomass supply chains.

Economic and environmental benefits of recovery networks for WEEE in Europe

The EU directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) imposes the obligation to collect a large share of the end-of-life products on electronics manufacturers. Environmental aspects, however, are often considered only rudimentarily. Based on previous research and real-world data, a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model of a European reverse network for WEEE is developed, including collection, high-value recovery, or third-party collection and recycling. The results comprise optimal network decisions and corresponding opportunity costs for economic and 21 environmental categories (18 midpoints, 3 endpoints). The evaluation of the environmental impact is based on data from the ecoinvent database, characterized using the ReCiPe 2016 Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method. The results unveil conflicts and congruencies between the objectives. Collection and high-value recovery are preferable in up to six countries for economically optimal networks and in up to 15 countries with optimal benefit for global warming and fossil resource depletion. Discrepancies in objective values are larger between economic and most of the environmental solutions than in between most of the environmental ones. The dimensions land use and freshwater eutrophication show the least conflicts with the economic rationale. Solutions for mineral resource depletion prefer third-party collection and recycling. Conflicts between solutions are resolved by the ε-constraint method. Sensitivity analyses show the robustness of key findings. This study emphasizes the importance of a broad assessment of environmental impacts as well as mutual economic and environmental opportunity costs in large-scale recovery networks for WEEE.