Disposal Scenarios Research Articles

Environmental performance analysis of three organic waste disposal scenarios: landfilling, composting, and EP-50

The rapid increase in the population, urbanization, increasing standard of living, indifference, and other factors can be used to explain the concerning rate of waste generation. Research suggests that most countries prefer to process and dispose of their waste via open dumping or landfilling due to its affordability and simple mechanism. However, leachate and landfill gas emissions present environmental risks associated with landfilling. To prevent landfilling’s detrimental impacts on the ecosystem, alternative methods of disposing of organic waste need to be investigated. An environmental impact analysis was undertaken utilizing the openLCA software to evaluate the ecological footprints of three distinct waste management strategies i.e., Landfilling, Composting, and composting using EP-50 assessing four key environmental indicators. Composting using EP-50 (EcoProbe 50) is a recent advancement towards waste management where organic waste is turned to compost artificially under high temperature and pressure along with constant mixing and churning of the waste for better nutrient value. The EP-50 composter, according to our research hypothesis, offers a greener option to conventional landfilling and composting. We evaluated the potential for global warming, acidification, eutrophication, and human toxicity of landfilling, conventional composting, and EP-50 composting utilizing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). According to our findings, the EP-50 system minimizes the potential for global warming to around 420 kgCO2 eq in comparison to 1243 kgCO2 eq from conventional composting and 4653 kgCO2 eq for landfilling. In addition, EP-50 increases the amount of nutrients in the compost generated while reducing the effects of eutrophication and acidification by more than 15%. These results demonstrate EP-50 as a scalable and effective method for managing organic waste.

An integrated environmental and economic assessment for the disposal of food waste from grocery retail stores towards resource recovery.

Food waste gives rise to many environmental problems. A large amount of food waste is produced by grocery retail stores. It is therefore important to apply efficient food waste treatment technologies with minimal environmental impact and investigate the optimal approach for food waste collection, transportation, and treatment. In the present study, a life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) was conducted to analyze different food waste disposal scenarios, including incineration, landfilling, composting, anaerobic digestion, and bioconversion. The impacts of the five scenarios on the environmental, economic, and social aspects were assessed. The results suggested that the landfilling scenario has the lowest net cost for the treatment of food waste, followed by the incineration scenario. The bioconversion treatment cost has the most significant positive effect on the net cost of the bioconversion scenario, and both the price and yield of compost have a significant negative effect on the net cost. The rankings of the five scenarios are the same under both weight determination methods, with the bioconversion scenario performing the best, followed by the composting scenario. The results of this study can help improve the disposal of food waste in grocery retail stores in the framework of sustainability and the circular economy.

Recycling Fly Ash into Lightweight Aggregate: Life Cycle Assessment and Economic Evaluation of Waste Disposal

This study analyzed environmental impacts and economic feasibility to evaluate whether recycling fly ash, which has rarely been addressed in previous studies, as a raw material for lightweight aggregates can be a sustainable waste management alternative. This study presents a comparative analysis of three disposal scenarios: landfill disposal, recycling as cement raw material, and recycling as lightweight aggregate raw material. Nine environmental impacts were assessed through life cycle assessment (LCA): acidification, global warming, eutrophication, photochemical oxidation, stratospheric ozone depletion, human toxicity, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, and terrestrial ecotoxicity. The results showed that the landfill disposal scenario posed the greatest threat to global warming, eutrophication, and marine aquatic ecotoxicity, while the cement scenario had the greatest impact on stratospheric ozone depletion, human toxicity, and other ecotoxicity items while recycling as lightweight aggregate showed the lowest environmental impacts in most items except acidification and photochemical oxidation. Life cycle costing (LCC) analysis was also performed to compare the economic aspects of each scenario. The lightweight aggregate scenario is more energy-intensive and costly, but it has significant economic benefits due to the significant revenues from the products produced. Therefore, even though the cost is high, this scenario is considered economically advantageous. This study highlights that recycling fly ash into lightweight aggregate reduces environmental impacts, provides economic benefits, and is a better alternative to landfilling and recycling cement raw materials. It will also contribute to promoting sustainable practices of fly ash recycling.

IoT-Enabled Street Dustbin Monitoring System Based on Machine Learning

Abstract In this article, a novel method is proposed by using the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine Learning (ML) to monitor and manage street dustbins effectively. The proposed innovative solution aimed at optimizing waste management processes and improper disposing of the waste in street dustbins. The system involves the installation of sensors in dustbins, which collect real-time data about the fill level of the bins. The capability of the proposed model allows for dynamic adjustment of waste collection schedules, reducing unnecessary trips and thus saving time, energy, and resources. In addition to that, the model is also trained in various waste disposal scenario such as improper disposal, massive garbage dumps, and e-waste. The proposed model is able to predict and report the trained conditions with the 100% accuracy. The system is implemented using Raspberry Pi 4, a single-board computer with the necessary hardware interface. A suitable web interface has been developed to oversee the status of dustbins and provide optimum travel route for collection of waste from the street dustbins. The proposed system not only enhances operational efficiency but also contributes to environmental sustainability.

Achieving the sustainable waste management of medical plastic packaging using a life cycle assessment approach

Hospital waste management often classifies all waste, including uncontaminated plastic packaging, as hazardous, leading to incineration as the primary treatment method. While effective for safe treatment, incineration incurs high costs and significant environmental impacts. This study explores an alternative approach through the segregation and sustainable management of plastic packaging waste derived from medical device use to mitigate these environmental consequences. Using a Life Cycle Assessment, this research evaluates and compares the environmental impacts of three waste disposal scenarios of plastic packaging: hazardous waste incineration, general waste landfill, and plastic recycling. The analysis focuses on 1 kg of plastic packaging waste generated from medical devices at the Limb Vascular Center, Konkuk University Hospital, South Korea. The results show that general waste landfill has an environmental impact of 79.7 % and plastic recycling has an impact of just 11.8 %, highlighting their significantly lower environmental impacts compared to hazardous waste incineration. These findings underscore the significant benefits of adopting more sustainable waste management practices in healthcare and offering valuable insights for enhancing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices within hospitals.

Estimating CO2 emission from fly ash and bottom ash collection and transport from thermal waste processing in Jakarta

Abstract Municipal solid waste poses a significant challenge in DKI Jakarta Province. This study assumes that DKI Jakarta has distributed waste treatment facilities (ITFs) covering western, eastern, and southern service areas, employing thermal waste systems due to their efficiency in handling large waste volumes. However, its residual waste, Fly Ash and Bottom Ash (FABA), presents its own concerns. FABA accounts for 1.5% and 18.5% of the total waste volume in all ITFs, equivalent to 88.47 tons of fly ash and 1,091.07 tons of bottom ash daily. The study analyses total distance travelled and fuel consumption for FABA transportation from each ITF to designated disposal sites. The planned fleet is 12-ton capacity truck or equivalent. Arc-GIS is employed for trip assignment and generate daily trip requirements. Three FABA disposal scenarios are considered: TPST Bantargebang, certified third-party sites in Gunung Putri, and a combination of both. The daily total distance ranges from 8,247.96 to 10,026.48 km and consume 5,071.16 to 6,164.66 Liters of biosolar. The trip assignment reveals that the distance to Gunung Putri exceeds the other alternatives, while transporting FABA to TPST Bantargebang yields the lowest total distance travelled. Estimated CO2 emissions range from 11.22 to 13.64 tons per day.

Holistic life cycle cost analysis of road bridges with non-metallic reinforcement

Corrosion-related damage due to exposure to environmental conditions is the main cause of costs in the maintenance of transport infrastructure. Because of its high corrosion resistance and the associated higher durability, non-metallic reinforcement offers great potential for preventing such damage, thus reducing maintenance costs. In this article, potential savings for an integral road bridge are studied through a holistic life cycle cost (LCC) analysis considering four different reinforcement materials (steel, glass, basalt, carbon). A fair comparison is enabled by a material-specific design, the calculation of maintenance and user costs and the consideration of the respective disposal scenario. Moreover, environmental costs are recognised by carbon pricing based on life cycle analysis (LCA). The influence of individual parameters is quantified by means of a sensitivity analysis and the probability of savings is studied by Monte Carlo simulation. It is shown that higher investment costs for non-metallic reinforcement can be compensated by lower user costs. This is mainly due to shorter maintenance periods, as less time is required for repair action, whereby potential savings in user costs are particularly evident if the traffic route below the bridge is not disrupted. It is concluded that even from today's perspective, the use of glass and basalt fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement in highway bridges with average traffic volumes very likely offers an economic advantage over corrosion-prone reinforcing steel.

Assessing the circularity and sustainability of circular carpets — a demonstration of circular life cycle sustainability assessment

Abstract Purpose Robust assessments are needed to identify the best circular economy (CE) approaches related to their contribution to achieving a CE by simultaneously considering the complexity of the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, economic, social). In this regard, the circular life cycle sustainability assessment (C-LCSA) framework was recently developed. This study aimed to demonstrate its applicability and capability of identifying trade-offs and interlinkages between the different dimensions using a case study of different CE approaches to carpet tiles. Methods C-LCSA integrates circularity and life cycle sustainability assessments (LCSA). Thus, this study applied the material circularity indicator (MCI) in parallel to life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC), and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA). The last technique was applied as social hotspot assessment. Five CE approaches of carpet tiles produced in the US, including strategies like reducing the consumption of primary materials through recycled and bio-based feedstock or replacing carpet tiles for a longer overall service life, as well as recycling, were assessed and compared to their mainly linear counterpart. Results and discussion The study revealed that recycling carpet tiles containing recycled and bio-based materials at the end-of-life (EoL) resulted in the lowest global warming potential (8.47 kg CO2 eq.) and the highest circularity (MCI value of 0.76, with 1 indicating the maximum level of circularity) compared to the other scenarios. However, this scenario had a trade-off with a higher acidification potential (0.039 kg SO2 eq.) and higher costs (US$19.98) compared to the disposal scenario. On the other hand, the scenario using primary, non-bio-based materials in production and disposing of the carpet tiles at their EoL performed the worst in circularity (MCI value of 0.11) and implied high environmental impacts while being more cost-effective (US$10.27). Conclusions C-LCSA transparently revealed interlinkages in terms of circularity and the overall sustainability performance of different CE approaches. While no significant differences in terms of social hotspots were identified, approaches associated with a higher circularity and improved environmental performance in most impact categories tended to result in higher costs. This emphasized the need for individual and holistic assessments of the new CE approach to identify and address trade-offs. To enhance and foster C-LCSA in academia and industry, further studies applying the framework to different sectors are encouraged.

Impacts of advanced metals recovery on municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash: aggregate characteristics and performance in portland limestone cement concrete

The optimization of alternative materials in concrete production continues to garner considerable attention in order to meet sustainability goals and supplement natural materials. Portland limestone cement (PLC) and municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash (BA) have been proposed separately as green cement and coarse aggregate supplement in low-strength concrete production, creating sustainable products and alternative disposal scenario for a waste material. This study discusses the impact of advanced ash processing techniques on aggregates and presents the performance of concrete incorporating both of these products with PLC for the first time. Two sources of MSWI BA were investigated, one as-produced (TMR) and one processed with novel advanced metals recovery (AMR). The AMR process reduced total Al content in ash compared to TMR (20,500 vs 17,000 mg/kg), though not aluminum oxide content, as the AMR process targets metallic aluminum. A composition study on both aggregates supports a reduction in ferrous and non-ferrous metals following the AMR process. All control and test mixes met 28-day compressive strength requirements (17 Mpa). Both AMR and TMR MSWI BA-amended concretes yielded compressive strengths below control specimens (no ash) ranging from 17 to 23 MPa, with little to no difference observed dependent on MSWI BA processing. The life-cycle discussion supports benefits deriving from supplementing naturally mined materials and recovering ferrous and nonferrous metals with the AMR process.

Comparison on Environmental Benefits of Municipal Solid Waste Management in Suzhou Before and After Classification

In order to systematically understand the urban environmental benefit improvement of municipal solid waste （MSW） classification, based on the disposal data of MSW before and after the MSW classification in Suzhou from 2017 to 2021, the environmental impact potential （EIP） of the MSW collection-transportation-disposal process was calculated, and the environmental benefits of the MSW integrated management in Suzhou to 2035 were predicted. After the MSW classification in Suzhou at the end of 2019, the EIP （in terms of PET2000, the same below） of the per unit weight of MSW was reduced by 18.38% from 2.34×10-13 t-1 in 2017 to 1.91×10-13 t-1 in 2021. The environmental benefits of the MSW integrated management could be improved by classification. Based on the Suzhou MSW removal and transportation situation in 2021, different classification and disposal scenarios were established to calculate. It was found that after the classification effect showed gradient improvement, and the disposal capacity matched accordingly, the environmental benefits of MSW were further improved. Under the planning disposal capacity scenario of "zero waste to landfill", the EIP and the total carbon emissions of per unit weight of MSW should be reduced by 23.96% and 30.73%, respectively, compared with the actual situation in 2021. Based on the linear model of population and economic development level of Suzhou, it is expected that the annual production of MSW in Suzhou will be increased to 6.965 million tons in 2035. Under the background of continuous improvement of MSW classification and continuous optimization of city appearance and environment in Suzhou, based on the status quo of terminal disposal capacity in Suzhou, the EIP of per unit weight of MSW after improving the efficiency of classification by 2035 was predicted to be 1.54×10-13 t-1, the total EIP would be 1.05×10-6, and the total carbon emissions would increase to 3.80 million tons. Under the ideal scenario of expanding the scale of waste disposal, "zero landfill" of raw MSW, and full resource utilization of food waste, the EIP of per unit weight of MSW in 2035 was predicted to be 1.28×10-13 t-1, and the total EIP and the total carbon emissions would be 8.69×10-7 and 3.23 million tons, respectively, which was approximately 5.65% and 1.23% less than the actual scenario in 2021, respectively. The EIP and carbon emissions of MSW integrated management could be controlled better by the coordinated promotion of classified collection and transportation and quality disposal.

Environmental sustainability of closed-loop regeneration of NaHCO3 in CO2 utilization-driven desulfurization ash: From the perspective of integrated hybrid life cycle assessment

The closed-loop regeneration of NaHCO3 by treating sodium-based desulfurization ash (SDA) using CO2 in flue gas and ammonia by-products demonstrates an attractive perspective of low-cost sodium-based dry desulfurization (SDD) application. To push generation reuse of desulfurization ash into more practices, taking the application in coking plants as a case, this study first compares the environmental and economic performance of four scenarios of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) and desulfurization ash disposal by integrated hybrid life cycle assessment (IHLCA) with life cycle costing. Compared with process-based LCA, IHLCA captures more environmental impacts through the economic input-output (EIO) system, especially 36.40–67.89% of terrestrial ecotoxicity comes from the EIO system. Based on evaluation results of four scenarios, among the ten environmental impact categories (excluding photochemical oxidation), the SDD scenario with NaHCO3 regeneration by CO2 and ammonia (S2) is not only the most environmentally friendly route, but also has the lowest total hourly operating cost. These are mainly due to the offsetting effect of by-products replacing traditional chemicals on the total impact and avoiding landfill and raw material transportation. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis also shows that when technical parameters change, the environmental and economic performance of S2 still remains the best, except for the case when the NaHCO3 regeneration rate is 60%. The findings will be valuable for the selection and optimization of FGD in coking plants, incineration plants, and others.

END-OF-LIFE PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES: LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT AND SENSIBILITY ANALYSIS

The use of photovoltaic (PV) systems in energy generation has been grown worldwide. In Brazil, this continuous growth is seen in the increase in the number of consumer units. The expected useful life of PV modules is estimated to be between 25 and 30 years. Therefore, most of these units will be deinstalled in the near future. It is important to evaluate the environmental impacts of the technology in order to safely adopt the use of PV energy. The environmental impact of PV modules is a widely studied topic, often using life cycle analysis (LCA). However, these studies emphasize the production phase and exclude or fail to analyze in detail the uninstallation and disposal phase of PV modules. The use of precious metals and components that contain materials classified as hazardous waste has sparked recent interest in highlighting the impacts and likely benefits related to the end-of-life management of PV modules. In this context, the purpose of work is to analyze the environmental impacts of the phase of uninstallation and disposal of photovoltaic (PV) system for Brazil waste management technologies: Recycling, incineration and landfill. The life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied in three scenarios for disposal of modules: Recycling, incineration and landfill. ReCiPe 2008 method was useful to calculating the environmental impacts, with assistance of SimaPro 8.3 software. The results showed that the recycling scenario had a lower environmental performance compared to the other scenarios. The main cause is the high consumption of electricity in metal recovery stage. Besides, this scenario produces a high amount of waste (residual liquid and sludge). The scenario of recycling will be attractive with technological investment in energy efficiency. The advantage of this scenario is the material recovery (precious metal and materials classified as hazardous waste), as consequence will bring environmental benefits.

Comparative life cycle assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis of coffee capsules made with conventional and innovative materials

The following study arises from the need to replace aluminum and polypropylene, from fossil and non-renewable sources, with innovative materials to produce coffee capsules. The analysis was carried out using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). In the comparison were considered different materials: aluminum capsules, polypropylene, biocompostable plastic in an industrial environment (industrial compost) and biocompostable plastic in a domestic environment (home compost). The results indicate that, for current disposal, biocompostable plastic capsules, particularly those suitable for domestic compost, have lower environmental impacts. These results are also confirmed for the 10-year disposal scenario. Polypropylene capsules demonstrate greater environmental sustainability when considering a recovery rate of 100 % of the raw material. The MCDA analysis confirms that, at the moment, bioplastics represent the solution with the least environmental impact. However, this advantage is reduced if the capsules are made of aluminum and polypropylene using exclusively fully recycled raw material. Furthermore, it appears that the recycling of fossil materials is a viable alternative to bioplastics. It should be noted, however, that polypropylene can be recycled up to three times, unlike aluminum which can be recycled an indefinite number of times.

Comparative life cycle assessment of aluminium and CFRP composites: the case of aerospace manufacturing

As climate change intensifies and existing resources are depleted, the need for sustainable industries becomes more important. The aviation industry is actively addressing environmental concerns by enhancing fuel efficiency and adopting lighter materials, especially carbon fibre composites. Research has proven that the use of carbon fibre composites provides cumulative benefits in reducing fuel consumption over the entire life cycle of an aircraft. However, existing studies are lack of a comprehensive exploration of the diverse impacts associated with composite manufacturing processes and recycling methods. To address this gap, a comparative life cycle assessment analysis covering the materials’ manufacturing, operation, and end-of-life phases is conducted. This analysis includes aluminium alloy and five different carbon fibre composite materials produced with varied constituents and manufacturing methods. Composite manufacturing processes, encompassing carbon fibre production, resin selection, and composite manufacturing methods, are considered. Weight savings based on the mechanical properties of utilised composite type are also taken into account. Results highlight the potential to mitigate the environmental impact of composite materials through strategic choices in constituent types, manufacturing processes, and disposal scenarios. Moreover, break-even distances indicate that aluminium becomes more environmentally detrimental than the analysed composite structures beyond a flight distance of 300,000 km.

The corrosion behavior of borosilicate glass in the presence of cementitious waste forms.

Borosilicate glasses are widely used for radioactive waste disposal due to their ability to incorporate a variety of contaminants and radionuclides while exhibiting high durability in various disposal scenarios. This research evaluated the dissolution of borosilicate glass using both single-pass-flow-through (ASTM C1662-18) and product consistency test (ASTM C1285-21) methods with different solutions, including a cementitious-contacted water (called grout-contacted, GC, from this point) and solutions with varying levels of dissolved cementitious species such as Si, Ca, Al. The results indicated that the presence of Ca plays a crucial role in suppressing glass corrosion, as evidenced by the slower normalized dissolution rates, which were one order of magnitude lower for boron and two orders of magnitude lower for rhenium, observed in both Ca-amended and GC solutions compared to the pH 12 buffer solution. This effect is attributed to the formation of a dense, low-porosity, and strongly bonded calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) layer on the glass surface, which implies that a glass corrosion process is influenced by ion exchange involving alkali ions Na+, K+, Ca2+, and hydrogen-containing species. A small number of glass particles treated in the GC solution showed minor corrosion pits in the form of shallow craters with an average diameter of approximately 500 μm. This observation is correlated with a significant reduction, 2000 to 3000 times lower, in the cumulative volume of glass pores, indicating that smaller pore voids were "sealed" in the presence of Ca2+ ions, likely attributed to the formation of CSH precipitation or other corrosion products such as calcium carbonate saturated from the grout solution. These findings suggest that the presence of dissolved Ca in the GC solution can slow down the dissolution of borosilicate glass, contrary to the expected trend of higher dissolution rates resulting from exposure to high alkaline and thus higher pH solutions.

Perspectivas de redução do aporte de carga orgânica em bacia hidrográfica com relevante ocupação urbana

ABSTRACT The prospects for reducing organic load in water basins must be evaluated considering the self-purification capacities of the water bodies into which the raw or treated effluent will be discharged. The aim of this work was to evaluate the reduction of the organic load contribution to the Poti River, a watercourse that crosses the city of Teresina, Piauí, Brazil, considering different conditions for the final disposal of domestic sewage. To estimate the levels of reduction of the organic load contribution, the Water Quality Model Qual-UFMG and Nonlinear Programming were used in a combined manner. Three scenarios of final effluent disposal were modeled. For the appropriation of the reductions in organic load contributions, two different optimization models were used, models that incorporated restrictions based on the environmental quality standards indicated by the Brazilian Environment Council (CONAMA) Resolutions No. 357/2005 and 430/2011. The results indicated that the estimated effort for removal of organic load based on the optimization model that does not employ an equity measure among discharges was lower, regardless of the scenario analyzed. Additionally, in the simulation scenarios in which the quality standards for effluent were not considered, the efforts for removing organic load were lower, regardless of the optimization model used.

Life cycle analysis of anaerobic digestion processes of poultry litter

This article presents results of life-cycle assessment of anaerobic digestion processes of poultry litter (PL) preceded or not by thermal pretreatment (autohydrolysis). For this, the environmental impact categories, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, eutrophication, and soil acidification were evaluated using the ReCiPe Midpoint (H) method. Based on primary data provided by a partner company, life-cycle inventories were constructed for three forms of poultry waste management: i. disposal of in natura PL into the soil, which is the commonly used management technique; ii. anaerobic digestion of in natura PL; and iii. thermal pre-treatment by autohydrolysis of PL before its anaerobic digestion. It is concluded that anaerobic digestion of PL reduces GHG emissions compared to the “business as usual” scenario of soil disposal. The use of digestate (liquid fraction generated by PL anaerobic digestion) as soil fertilizer would result in avoided GHG emissions of 34%, while thermal pre-treatment by autohydrolysis of PL prior to its anaerobic digestion would result in a slightly lower reduction (27%) in GHG. Anaerobic digestion of in natura PL would also reduce the eutrophication potential by 98.2% (kg eq PO4-3/t litter) and the acidification potential by 98.4% (kg eq SO2/t litter) compared to its soil disposal. These results show that anaerobic digestion is a more sustainable way to manage PL than its environmental discharge.

Uranyl-Tc(VII)/Tc(V) hybrid clusters.

Pertechnetate (99TcVIIO4-), reduced Tc, and actinides co-exist in spent nuclear fuel and legacy wastes. They co-transport in fuel reprocessing and waste disposal scenarios, necessitating an understanding of co-speciation. Here, we report five new molecular cluster/framework structures with pentameric and tetrameric uranyl building units decorated by TcO4-/ReO4- oxoanions, or fused with the reduced technetyl cation Tc(V)O. The latter, obtained by Tc auto-reduction (without the intentional introduction of a reducing environment), broadens the basis for Tc-reduction and the burgeoning polyoxometalate-like behavior of technetium.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) of eco-friendly packaging for dairy products and fourth range.

In the current European regulatory environment, there is a growing emphasis on the need to develop fourth range and dairy packaging materials. which are more environmentally sustainable. In response to this need, a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) was conducted to assess the suitability of replacing traditional polystyrene foam boxes and polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) trays with packaging made of corrugated cardboard and coated with bioplastic. Life cycle analysis shows that bioplastic coated cardboard packaging has a lower environmental impact, despite the impact of corn and sugar cane bioplastic production. In the case of dairy packaging, an improved disposal scenario or scenario has been considered, in particular in terms of recycling. In the second case, raw materials that are totally or partially recyclable were considered. For the cardboard tray, recyclability is 100%, while for PET and PP respectively 50% and 4%, due to insufficient recycling and decontamination processes. In this scenario, the impact of fossil plastics decreases substantially, although corrugated and bioplastic packaging is again the best choice. To confirm these results, a multi-criteria decision analysis (multi-criteria Decision Analysis) was conducted, which corroborated the conclusions obtained through life cycle analysis.

Reducing the environmental impact of the end-of-life of buildings depending on interrelated demolition strategies, transport distances and disposal scenarios

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) represents a high environmental impact. This is strongly related to the chosen alternatives for the disposal of these waste. In this paper, different strategies are analysed in order to achieve the most eco-friendly path for the treatment of the CDW, in order to promote both the reduction of environmental impact and the implementation of the circular economy in the construction sector. For each defined strategy and for each type of considered CDW, the environmental impact is determined, using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to determine the indicators of climate change (GWP) and of abiotic depletion potential for fossil resources (ADP f.f.). Ten strategies are considered, which combine: two types of demolition (traditional and selective); the options for waste disposal and valorisation and; local or external treatment. Two case studies are herein considered. Due to the high influence of transport on the determination of the environmental impact, this is separately analysed. The obtained results demonstrate the high environmental benefit of maximizing valorisation and promoting selective demolition, as well as the influence of transport distance on those decisions.