End Of Life Scenarios Research Articles

Making the Environmental Case for Reusable PET Bottles

In order to meet increasingly demanding environmental regulations, redesigning mass-manufactured products for sustainable reuse is of great interest. A good percentage of the estimated world daily production of billion or so single-use Polyethylenterephtalate (PET) bottles does not get recycled. Therefore, the availability of such a bottle to meet multi-use requirements would have dramatically positive effects toward reducing plastic waste. While autoclaving is not recommended for PET, other (gas) sterilization methods are suitable. With different end of life scenarios (reuse, recycling, or re-manufacture), the “Energy End of Life” potential is a measure of the energy that could possibly be recovered at the end of life of a product. Even for a single reuse of a typical 500 ml PET bottle, our findings estimate that one reuse of 500 ml bottle will save about 1 MJ per bottle. As compared with the recycling option, our estimates calculate 74% more energy savings and produce 182% less CO2 for one reuse option. For the estimated world daily production of one billion bottles, assuming all bottles are reused only once, the resulting energy savings are estimated at 0.365 * 1018 J (or 0.365 Exa Joules) of energy. Similarly, 0.033 kg of CO2 per bottle or 0.033 kg CO2 * 365 * 109= 1.1 x 1010 kg CO2 savings can be realized annually. Proportional multiples of these energy and CO2 savings can be realized for multiple reuses of the same PET bottle. For example, five reuses of a 500mL PET bottle would result in energy worldwide annual savings estimate of 1.82 Exa Joules.

Exploring the relative value of end of life QALYs: Are the comparators important?

In the UK, life extending, end-of-life (EoL) treatments are an exception to standard cost-per-quality-adjusted life year (QALY) thresholds. This implies that greater value is placed on gaining these QALYs, than QALYs gained by the majority of other patient groups treated for anything else in the health system, even for other EoL contexts (such as quality of life (QoL) improvements alone). This paper reports a Person Trade-Off (PTO) study to test whether studies that find societal support for prioritising EoL life extensions can be explained by the severity, in terms of prospective QALYs loss, of the non-terminal comparator scenarios.Eight health scenarios were designed depicting i) QoL improvements for non-EoL temporary (T-QoL) and chronic (C-QoL) health problems and ii) QoL improvements and life extensions (LEs) for EoL health problems. Preferences were elicited from a quota sample of 901 Scottish respondents in 2016 using PTO techniques via Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI).Our results indicate that there is little evidence to suggest that the severity of non-EoL comparator scenarios influence preferences for EoL treatments. Respondents do not appear to have a preference for EoL over non-EoL health gains; instead there is some indication that non-EoL health gains are preferred, particularly when compared to EoL-LE health gains. Comparing between QoL and life extending EoL scenarios, our results suggest QoL improvements are preferred to life extensions. Overall, results challenge current UK EoL policy which gives additional weight to EoL health gains, particularly EoL life extensions in the case of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

Extending the RIPEx exergy-based method for selecting End of Life strategy

The decision process to cope with waste coming from End of Life (EoL) products is not often achievable in a sustainable way. Most of the current methods rely on environmental criteria, demanding hundreds of variables, frequently resulting in late and biased interpretation with EoL scenarios chosen with high levels of uncertainties. This paper aims to propose a method able to quantitatively identify clear best EoL strategies and thus, focus the recyclers’ efforts during the waste treatment of industrial products. The method relies on energy and material flows quantified in terms of exergy, depicting environmental impact, energy efficiency, cost and technical efficiency. To extend the original method, the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) is adopted. The case study quantifies and strongly reiterates the classical hierarchy of EFVs concerning the importance of Reuse, however, challenging the traditional order proposed for other EoL. Hence, materials with high calorific content, such as plastics, are more sustainable by incineration than from recycling. Therefore, the extended method may contribute to decision practices that favour circular economy, waste to energy. An exergy-based approach would drive EoL decision and suggests where to make efforts on more in-depth LCA assessments, disassembly and energy-recovery technologies.

Shared Decision-Making About End-of-Life Care Scenarios Compared Among Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Patients: A National Cohort Study.

Authors of expert guidelines and consensus statements recommend that decisions at the end-of-life (EOL) be discussed before and after implantation of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and include promotion of shared decision-making. The purpose of this study was to describe experiences, attitudes, and knowledge about the ICD at EOL in ICD recipients and to compare experiences, attitudes, and knowledge in ICD recipients with and without heart failure (HF). We further sought to determine factors associated with having discussions about EOL. Using a national registry in Sweden of all ICD recipients (n=5355) in 2012, an EOL questionnaire, along with other ICD-related measures, was completed by 2403 ICD recipients. Of the participants, 1275 (n=53%) had HF. Their responses in the knowledge, experience, and attitude domains were almost identical to those without HF. Forty percent of patients with and without HF did not want to discuss their illness trajectory or deactivation of their ICD ever. In logistic regression analyses, we found that having had an ICD shock (OR, 2.05; CI, 1.64-2.56), having high levels of anxiety (OR, 1.41; CI, 1.04-1.92), and having high levels of ICD concerns (OR, 1.53; CI, 1.22-1.92) were the only significant predictors of having discussions with providers about EOL scenarios (P<0.001 for full model). HF was not a predictor of having an EOL conversation. Further research is needed to determine if attitudes related to not wanting to discuss EOL interfere with good quality of life and of death, or if shared decision-making should be encouraged in these individuals.

The Reporting of End of Life and Module D Data and Scenarios in EPD for Building level Life Cycle Assessment

This paper identifies the need for Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) to provide End of Life (EoL) and Module D data for products for use in building level Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Although the provision of data for EN 15804 Modules A4-D is not currently mandatory for EPD, many currently report some or all of these. This paper provides an overview of the existing reporting of the end of life (Modules C1-4) and Module D and the types of scenarios used in European EPD. Using examples from existing EPD for two product groups, this paper examines the variation in approaches to scenarios for Module C and D. It explores the difficulties brought by this variation and discusses benefits from using default national scenarios at end of life, but additionally considers the advantages of providing alternative EoL scenarios for products to promote the circular economy.

Rural Dementia Caregivers in Southwest Texas: An Exploratory Study of Advance Directives and End-of-Life Proxy Decision Making.

For a growing number of persons with dementia (PWDs), advance care planning (ACP) can help families make important end-of-life (EOL) care decisions that reflect PWDs' values and preferences. The current exploratory study aimed to understand advance directive planning and decision making among PWDs and caregivers. A survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 47 ethnically diverse PWD caregivers recruited from rural health care facilities in Southwest Texas. Sixty-eight percent of PWDs and caregivers were Hispanic. The majority of PWDs had completed an advance directive (60%) and preferred equally shared decision making between family (including the PWD) and physicians (57%). Under a hypothetical EOL scenario for PWDs, caregivers chose comfort (40%) and palliative care treatment (55%) more than other goals and treatment options. In this scenario, Hispanic PWDs were less likely than non-Hispanic White counterparts to complete an advance directive (48% vs. 81%, p < 0.05) and to choose only pain and symptom management (46% vs. 81%, p < 0.05). Although the overall ACP rates among rural PWDs may be comparable to those for the general PWD population, ethnic differences exist. More culturally competent education efforts are needed to promote ACP among PWDs in culturally diverse rural communities. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 45(9), 11-17.].

Whole-Buildings Life Cycle Assessment Sensitivity to Scenario Choices

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an important technique to measure environmental impacts of products and processes and its application to diagnose and optimize whole-buildings’ environmental performance has increased in the past years. However, LCA results carry uncertainties which may limit their utility as environmental decision-making support. Since normative choices are unavoidable within whole-building LCA (wbLCA) modelling, it becomes important to analyse their inherent uncertainty. Recent literature indicates that different material wastage values, lifetime choices and end of life scenarios are the main uncertainties drivers on wbLCA. To understand how these choices influence wbLCA results, we conducted a scenario analysis, to estimate the effects that parameters and input choices produce on final results by describing possible future situations. Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) and CML 2001 v.2.05 methods were selected for calculating embodied energy and global warming potential in SimaPro 7.3. Our results indicate that wbLCA outcomes vary greatly with different alternatives for normative choices, and a scenario uncertainty analysis is necessary to understand all implications of its results.

A Simulated Approach to Fostering Competency in End-of-Life Care Among Pharmacy Students

Objective. To determine if pharmacy students participating in simulation-based scenarios reported fewer learning needs about the transition from acute to end-of-life (EOL) care compared to students participating in solely case-based scenario delivery. Methods. Four end-of-life cases were developed for both paper-based case study and simulation delivery. Pharmacy students on three distant campuses were exposed to the case study approach while four teams of nine to ten pharmacy students were exposed to simulated versions of the same cases. A validated questionnaire was administered before and after exposure to assess end-of-life care learning needs. Results were analyzed following a Bonferroni-adjustment for multiple testing. Results. The case study groups produced similar pre/post changes on the questionnaire. After results were pooled and compared to the simulation only group, significantly higher changes in pre/post scores were found for the simulation group. Conclusion. Pharmacy students exposed to simulated EOL scenarios experienced significantly reduced learning needs following the scenarios, unlike their classroom-based counterparts.

LCA-Based Design Support for a Senior Citizens’ Residence

This paper reports on a project for a senior citizens’ residence in the vicinity of Trento, Italy. The project constitutes the major part of a Master’s thesis in Architectural Engineering, developed at the University of Trento in Italy and at TU Vienna in Austria. The work entails a full account of environmental impacts during the life cycle of the building through LCA (Life Cycle Assessment). Furthermore, as buildings' end of life scenarios are insufficiently considered in most conventional LCA studies, the present contribution attempts to pursue a “cradle to cradle” approach (exploring a closed-loop flow of materials, energy, and resources) and to emphasize that the consequences of the choices made at the early stage of the design phase are critical for the subsequent stages of construction, use, maintenance, and end of life.The work consists of two parts. The first part relating to the architectural project involves careful consideration of the local characteristics of the site according to bioclimatic studies. In the second part, a comparative LCA study of different timber constructions and energy system options is presented, followed by a global LCA of the project. This aims at the estimation of the impacts of construction and end of life. Thereby, different possibilities are explored for reusing and recycling materials, such that disposal and incineration could be reduced as much as possible. Thus, the relative significance of different stages of the building construction, operation, and decommissioning can be explored.In conclusion, the paper offers a number of theoretical reflections on uncertainty analysis in LCA, addressing input assumptions (availability and quality of data) as well those regarding normalization and weighting factors. Thereby, the aim is to contribute to efforts toward a more pervasive application of the LCA methodology in the building design and delivery process.

How to manage biocomposites wastes end of life? A life cycle assessment approach (LCA) focused on polypropylene (PP)/wood flour and polylactic acid (PLA)/flax fibres biocomposites

Biocomposites has gained increasing attention in recent years. The environmental impacts of end-of-life (EoL) treatments of those emerging materials should be evaluated before they are produced and installed commercially, to ensure a minimal impact of these products all along their life cycle. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out to evaluate environmental impacts of the EoL treatments of wood flour (WF) reinforced polypropylene (PP/WF) and flax fibers reinforced polylactic acid (PLA/Fl). The aim was to evaluate which EoL was the most environmental friendly to manage those emerging wastes in France and to help stakeholders of the waste sectors in their decisions. The attributional LCA was realized using the methodological framework of the international standard ISO 14040:2006. The study only focuses on the EoL of the biocomposites with four scenarios: incineration, landfill, composting and recycling. Mid-point indicators were evaluated thanks to the Recipe method. Results were also normalized to the annual mean environmental impact of a European inhabitant. For both biocomposites, recycling EoL scenario presents the lowest environmental impacts except for the freshwater eutrophication impact of the PP/WF EoL. Models should be completed in the future when new data will be available. Results obtained for both biocomposites are in agreement with the European waste hierarchy.If recycling of plastic is difficult to implement, incineration would be the preferable option for the PP/WF composite, while composting would be the other choice for PLA/Fl material.

Reducing environmental impacts of the ups system based on PEM fuel cell with circular economy

In this paper an environmental impacts of a 3 kW uninterruptible power supply system with polymer membrane fuel cell (FCH-UPS) was evaluated with a life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The analysis was focused on the analysis of the end of life (EOL) scenarios that will help to reduce environmental impacts during manufacturing stage. Numerical model of the FCH-UPS was developed using Gabi software. The scope of analysis was cradle-to-grave with functional unit 1 kWh of produced electric energy. In operating phase two geographical locations are compared where hydrogen is produced with electrolysis on-site. Three EOL scenarios were analysed: base, feasible and realistic scenario. With realistic EOL scenario in average a 72% reduction of all environmental impacts in the manufacturing phase was achieved. EOL phase of 3 kW FCH-UPS represents low environmental impact compared with other phases in the entire life cycle of observed system. CO2 emissions of 3 kW FCH-UPS system was 239 g CO2 per 1 kWh of produced electricity if operating in Norway and 4040 g CO2 per 1 kWh in Morocco due to electricity grid mix. Results show that with circular economy, recycling and reuse of the materials in EOL phase, an average reduction of 66% in all environmental impact indicators could be achieved in entire life cycle of a 3 kW FCH-UPS system operated in Norway.

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of End-of-Life Silicon Solar Photovoltaic Modules

The cumulative global photovoltaic (PV) waste reached 250,000 metric tonnes by the end of 2016 and is expected to increase considerably in the future. Hence, adequate end-of-life (EoL) management for PV modules must be developed. Today, most of the EoL modules go to landfill, mainly because recycling processes for PV modules are not yet economically feasible and regulation in most countries is not yet well established. Nevertheless, several methods for recycling PV modules are under development. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology that quantifies the environmental impacts of a process or a product. An attributional LCA was undertaken to compare landfill, incineration, reuse and recycling (mechanical, thermal and chemical routes) of EoL crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar modules, based on a combination of real process data and assumptions. The results show that recovery of materials from solar modules results in lower environmental impacts compared to other EoL scenarios, considering our assumptions. The impacts could be even lower with the adoption of more complex processes that can reclaim more materials. Although recycling processes can achieve good recycling rates and recover almost all materials from solar modules, attention must be paid to the use of toxic substances during the chemical routes of recycling and to the distance to recycling centres due to the impacts of transportation.

A comparative life cycle assessment of end‐of‐life treatment pathways for photovoltaic backsheets

AbstractIn light of growing photovoltaic (PV) installation capacities around the world, and with it the increasing number of decommissioned modules, it is vital that PV waste is duly treated to recover valuable materials as well as to comply with legislative requirements. The European Union (EU) directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and the Restriction of Hazardous Substances mandates manufacturers, retailers, and importers to collectively organise and finance the end‐of‐life (EoL) stage of electronic products in the EU. Using life cycle assessment, this study makes a comparative analysis of the environmental impacts stemming from the EoL treatment of fluorine‐free and fluorinated backsheet material present in PV modules. The 2 potential EoL treatment scenarios explored in this study are incineration and pyrolysis. In general, the life cycle assessment of fluorine‐free backsheet material shows better environmental performance than fluorinated backsheet material for both EoL scenarios. For incineration scenario, the environmental impact of fluorine‐free backsheet is evidently better than fluorinated backsheet across 11 out of 12 investigated impact categories. Similarly for pyrolysis scenario, fluorine‐free backsheets have better environmental performance than fluorinated backsheets in 8 out of 12 impact categories. Furthermore, because of the release of high amounts of hydrogen fluoride, as well as the presence of halogenated hydrocarbons and halogenated aromatics in pyrolysis products, it can be concluded that pyrolysis is not an environmentally feasible pathway for fluorinated backsheet.

Relative impacts of methylammonium lead triiodide perovskite solar cells based on life cycle assessment

The environmental performance of four different device assembly procedures based on hybrid halide perovskite solar cell (PSC) were assessed from cradle to grave using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. In addition, a new environmental indicator was defined to measure the time evolution of an impact category, specifically in this case, human toxicity cancer payback time. PSCs procedures accounted for the probably three more used basic recipes for laboratory perovskite deposition: 1) spin coating of stoichiometric precursor solution, 2) spin coating of precursor solution using lead chloride precursor and 3) the two step deposition method. Also, the two most widely used substrate configurations (planar and mesoporous substrate)were considered. LCA included three realistic scenarios for the end of life: 1) residual landfill, 2) reuse and residual landfill and 3) reuse and recycling. The remaining variable parameters to assemble the device were fixed in common for all four devices, which were the major responsible of the whole PSC impact. Lead of PSCs had no significant contribution in environmental impacts. Beyond shared procedure steps, impacts generated by the two-step method and the use of mesostructured type substrate were higher. End of life scenario with reuse and recycling improved the toxicity impact categories.

Product design in the circular economy: Users' perception of end-of-life scenarios for electrical and electronic appliances

In previous years, numerous firms have established environmentally aware strategies with regards to product design, manufacturing and end-of-life (EoL) product management (Cheung et al., 2017). Product developers can choose to design products according to an environmentally favorable EoL scenario. Such strategies may also assist societies in the transition to a more circular economy. However, at the end of a product's useful life, it is uncertain whether the end users will handle the product according to the original intention of the product developers. Situated within this context, this research investigated how end users perceive three EoL scenarios (reuse, recycling and remanufacturing) and two disposal methods (door-to-door collection and delivery at point of purchase) for eight household electrical and electronic products (e-products) spanning a representative range of product categories. To this end, a quantitative Kano survey (N = 146) was used to classify product features related to EoL and disposal methods according to users' preferences. An extension developed by the authors was also deployed to identify differences within user segments in terms of demographic (e.g., age, gender, education level) and relevant psychographic variables (e.g., environmental awareness). Taken collectively, the results showed that the majority of EoL scenarios were actually regarded as attractive features in the Kano framework, meaning that users would be very satisfied with a product that can be disposed of according to a favorable EoL scenarios, but may not have any prior expectations at point of purchase. Reuse potential emerged as the most attractive EoL scenario, suggesting that users' preferences are largely aligned with the concept of circular economy. Interestingly, women were found to prefer all EoL scenarios more than men, and were also more willing to pay a premium price for environmentally friendly e-products. These results suggest that gender may be the most important basis for user segmentation (e.g. in the context of product development), and that products targeted towards women are more likely to enter favorable EoL scenarios.

Degradability and sustainability of nanocomposites based on polylactic acid and chitin nano fibrils

Plastic food packaging materials currently in use are hardly recyclable and very often post consume plastic packaging is directed to incineration or landfill. Use of bio-recyclable plastic will have positive effect on environment, and is gaining importance in particular for the production of active packaging, where a longer shelf-life of the packed food, coupled with improved sustainability can justify the higher cost of biodegradable polymers versus current petro based polymers used in packaging. Among other biodegradable polymers polylactic acid (PLA) has attracted researcher and industries attention for the production of plastic food packaging. In the present contribute we report a study to evaluate the degradability in compost of some representative examples of materials prepared with PLA and chitin nano-fibrils (NC). Since blending a biodegradable polymer with an active compound might hinder the compost ability of the materials produced, it is important to perform test of degradability on innovative materials even if based on biobased and biodegradable components. As well the production of bio-based, biodegradable materials when based on innovative processes, may present several steps that may have a negative effect on sustainability being not optimised in yield, energy consumption and proper valorization of each stream generated in the process. A life cycle assessment study is very important to spot the critical steps in the process and propose corrective actions in the production cycle in order to make the final material more sustainable. The materials based on PLA and NC passed the test of disintegration in compost, evidencing no toxicity on germination of cress seeds. The process of production of NC fibrils, was mostly affected by the high consume of water, and use of chemicals thus plans for recovery and re-use of the water based buffer will improve the sustainability of the process. The bio-nanocomposites based on PLA and NC have a positive environmental effect due to being based on natural resources and having compost ability as possible end of life scenario.

Electric vehicle battery reuse: Preparing for a second life

Purpose: On pursue of economic revenue, the second life of electric vehicle batteries is closer to reality. Common electric vehicles reach the end of life when batteries loss between a 20 or 30% of its capacity. However, battery technology is evolving fast and the next generation of electric vehicles will have between 300 and 400 km range. This study will analyze different End of Life scenarios according to battery capacity and their possible second life’s opportunities. Additionally, an analysis of the electric vehicle market will define possible locations for battery repurposing or remanufacturing plants.Design/methodology/approach: Calculating the barycenter of the electric vehicle market offers an optimal location to settle the battery repurposing plant from a logistic and environmental perspective.This paper presents several possible applications and remanufacture processes of EV batteries according to the state of health after their collection, analyzing both the direct reuse of the battery and the module dismantling strategy.Findings: The study presents that Netherlands is the best location for installing a battery repurposing plant because of its closeness to EV manufacturers and the potential European EV markets, observing a strong relation between the EV market share and the income per capita.15% of the batteries may be send back to the an EV as a reposition battery, 60% will be prepared for stationary or high capacity installations such as grid services, residential use, Hybrid trucks or electric boats, and finally, the remaining 25% is to be dismantled into modules or cells for smaller applications, such as bicycles or assisting robots.Originality/value: Most of studies related to the EV battery reuse take for granted that they will all have an 80% of its capacity. This study analyzes and proposes a distribution of battery reception and presents different 2nd life alternatives according to their state of health.

Product Redesign for Improved Value Recovery via Disassembly Bottleneck Identification and Removal

Making progress towards a circular economy requires the reuse of material/components to realize their maximum utility. Integrating end-of-life (EOL) considerations into the design of products will greatly facilitate the recovery of material/components at EOL, and enable their reintroduction into new product life cycles. Past research has largely employed qualitative or single objective oriented approaches for environmental product design. This paper presents a quantitative method for value recovery, in which disassembly bottlenecks are identified and removed by improving upon an existing design. The approach determines the value that can be recovered from EOL products through different EOL options. For a given EOL scenario, major bottlenecks are generally associated with joints, material incompatibility, and product architecture. Once the bottlenecks to rapid, cost effective dismantling of EOL products are identified, different design changes are considered to reduce the time/cost required to recover components/materials. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, a hard disk drive is used as a case study.

A design for EoL approach and metrics to favour closed-loop scenarios for products

Recently, environmentally conscious design and extended producer responsibility have become key aspects for companies that need to develop products that are sustainable along their whole life cycle. Design for End of Life (EoL) is a strategy that aims to reduce landfill waste through the implementation of closed-loop product life cycles. It is important to consider disassembly and EoL scenario management as early as the design phase. For these reasons, this paper presents an approach to help designers in the evaluation and subsequent improvement in product EoL performance. The method is based on four innovative EoL indices that compare different EoL scenarios for each product component. In this way, the designer can modify the product structure or the liaisons to maximise the reuse and remanufacture of components as well as material recycling. The presented case studies confirm the validity of the approach in helping designers during the redesign phase of goods and products to reduce the quantity of materials and industrial wastes sent to landfill.

End-of-life modelling in life cycle assessment—material or product-centred perspective?

End-of-life (EoL) modelling in life cycle assessment has already been broadly discussed within several studies. However, no consensus has been achieved on how to model recycling in LCA, even though several approaches have been developed. Within this paper, results arising from the application of two new EoL formulas, the product environmental footprint (PEF) and the multi-recycling-approach (MRA) ones, are compared and discussed. Both formulas consider multiple EoL scenarios such as recycling, incineration and landfill. The PEF formula has been developed within the PEF programme whose intent is to define a harmonized methodology to evaluate the environmental performance of products. The formula is based on a 50:50 allocation approach, as burdens and benefits associated with recycling are accounted for a 50% rate. The MRA formula has been developed to change focus from products to materials. Recycling cycles and material losses over time are considered with reference to material pools. Allocation between systems is no longer needed, as the actual number of potential life cycles for a certain material is included in the calculation. Both the approaches have been tested within two case studies. Methodological differences could thereof be determined, as well as applicability concerns, due to the type of data required for each formula. As far as the environmental performance is concerned, impacts delivered by MRA are lower than those delivered by PEF for aluminium, while the opposite happens for plastic and rubber due to the higher share of energy recovery accounted in PEF formula. Stainless steel impacts are almost the same. The application of the two formulas provides some inputs for the EoL dilemma in LCA. The use of a wider perspective, better reflecting material properties all over the material life cycle, is of substantial importance to properly represent recycling situations. In MRA, such properties are treated and less data are required compared to the PEF formula. On the contrary, the PEF model better accommodates the modelling of products whose materials, at end of life, can undertake the route of recycling or recovery (or landfill), depending on country-specific EoL management practices. However, its application requires more data.