•Modular approach for life cycle inventories of Lithium-ion batteries.•Assessment of environmental impacts of current and near-future Lithium-ion batteries.•Comparison of life-cycle impacts of ...current Lithium-ion batteries with literature.•Sensitivity analyses based on different modelling options for battery components.
Electric vehicles are gaining increasing room in the global market, since they are seen amongst the most promising solutions to cope with the growing concerns related to climate change and environmental pollution. The successful evolution of the transportation sector towards electro-mobility depends on the battery chemistry and technology, and its environmental impacts. However, the poor availability of data at the commercial production scale and the diversity in modelling choices make evaluating the environmental impacts of Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) difficult and uncertain. We aim at contributing to the creation of flexible and transparent life cycle inventories (LCI) of LIB for background databases by means of a consequently modular approach that will be applicable in the future as common framework to model new generations of LIB. In the present paper, we focus on (i) compiling modular LCI datasets of current and near-future market LIB chemistries, namely NMC111, NMC811 and NCA, by using the most recent data from existing sources, and (ii) exemplarily assessing the environmental impacts of the three modelled chemistries. This assessment takes into consideration a wide range of impact categories, with a focus on climate change and the comparison with the available literature in the sector. The whole is complemented with several sensitivity analyses, which show the relevance of transparency when making choices in compiling the LCI.
Plastics play an increasingly important role in reaching the recovery and recycling rates defined in the European WEEE Directive. In a recent study we have determined the life cycle environmental ...impacts of post-consumer plastics production from mixed, plastics-rich WEEE treatment residues in the Central European plant of a market-leading plastics recycler, both from the perspective of the customers delivering the residues and the customers buying the obtained post-consumer recycled plastics. The results of our life cycle assessments, which were extensively tested with sensitivity analyses, show that from both perspectives plastics recycling is clearly superior to the alternatives considered in this study (i.e. municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) and virgin plastics production). For the three ReCiPe endpoint damage categories, incineration in an MSWI plant results in an impact exceeding that of the examined plastics recycling facility each by about a factor of 4, and the production of virgin plastics has an impact exceeding that of the post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics production each by a factor of 6–10. On a midpoint indicator level the picture is more differentiated, showing that the environmental impacts of the recycling options are lower by 50% and more for almost all impact factors. While this provides the necessary evidence for the environmental benefits of plastics recycling compared to existing alternatives, it can, however, not be taken as conclusive evidence. To be conclusive, future research will have to address the fate of hazardous substances in the outputs of such recycling systems in more detail.
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•LCA of plastics production from plastics-rich WEEE treatment residues•Multiple stakeholder perspectives addressed via different research questions•Plastics production from WEEE treatment residues clearly superior to alternatives•Robust results as demonstrated by extensive sensitivity analyses
The applicability of non-local LCI data for LCA Ossés de Eicker, Margarita; Hischier, Roland; Kulay, Luiz Alexandre ...
Environmental impact assessment review,
04/2010, Volume:
30, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
This study evaluated how applicable European Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data are to assessing the environmental impacts of the life cycle of Brazilian triple superphosphate (TSP). The LCI data used ...for the comparison were local Brazilian LCI data, European LCI data in its original version from the ecoinvent database and a modified version of the European LCI data, which had been adapted to better account for the Brazilian situation. We compared the three established datasets at the level of the inventory as well as for their environmental impacts, i.e. at the level of Life Cycle Environmental Assessment (LCIA). The analysis showed that the European LCIs (both the original and the modified ones) considered a broader spectrum of background processes and environmental flows (inputs and outputs). Nevertheless, TSP production had in all three cases similar values for the consumption of the main raw materials. The LCIA results obtained for the datasets showed important differences as well. Therefore we concluded that the European data in general lead to much higher environmental impacts than the Brazilian data. The differences between the LCIA results obtained with the Brazilian and the European data can be basically explained by the methodological differences underlying the data. The small differences at the LCI level for selected inputs and outputs between the Brazilian and the European LCIs from ecoinvent indicate that the latter can be regarded as applicable for characterizing the Brazilian TSP.
•Combined LCA and MFA shows that informal e-waste sector is best at dismantling.•e-waste recyclers recovered 93% or more of the original mass of the four products.•Informal e-waste recycling offers ...environmental benefits through avoided emissions.•Crucial to avoid cable burning and improper lead disposal in landfilled CRT screens.•E-waste recycling provides important sources of income in low-income communities.
The informal e-waste recycling sector has potential for both harmful environmental releases and environmental benefits associated with avoided emissions from recovered materials. Four household appliances (washing machine, refrigerator, Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) television, fan) were selected for a combined Material Flow Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis of their end-of-life treatment. Data collection took place in an informal e-waste recycling community in Thailand, recording the weight of materials recovered for each appliance, along with the number of each appliance recycled for one entire village. The LCA determined the avoided emissions and damages (human health, ecosystem quality, climate change, and resource use) per kg material recovered, per product, and for an entire recycling community, with a benefit of 2.7 to 25.4 kg CO2 eq avoided per product piece. Informal e-waste recycling appears relatively efficient in material recovery and economically beneficial. Recyclers recovered 93% or more of the original mass of the products. Just over 460,000 kg of waste devices were processed each year, with a net value added of 2.1 million Thai Baht. Each year, the normalized environmental net benefits amount to 0.2 DALYs for human health, 60,000 kg CO2 eq in climate change impacts, and nearly 400,000 MJ in avoided resource damages each month. Informal e-waste recycling was found to have net benefits in terms of avoided emissions, in particular due to recovery of PCBs, copper, steel and plastic with the exception of improper disposal of hazardous materials of lead in landfilled CRT screens and burned cables.
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Prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) studies are widely used for evaluating emerging resource recovery systems. Simulations, engineering-based process calculations and stoichiometric methods are ...frequently used methods to generate life cycle inventory (LCI) in prospective LCAs. The engineering-based upscaling calculation is an efficient method for LCI generation requiring fewer resources than simulations. This study aims to test an engineering-based upscaling method for LCI generation and adapt it to biochemical resource recovery processes. The method's validity for biochemical resource recovery processes was tested using data for biogas generation by anaerobic digestion in laboratory, pilot, and full scales, and using a combination of lab-scale data and kinetic equations. Biogas generation was chosen for two reasons: (1) there are several emerging technologies based on anaerobic digestion with products other than biogas, and (2) data is available for different scales. The results showed, a substantial difference between the methane production amount in actual and conceptual plants, is an important cause of the variation in impact category results. Different estimations of fugitive emissions have an important impact on the global warming potential results. Combination of lab-scale data and kinetic equations approximates best with the actual plant for the abiotic depletion, eutrophication, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, global warming and photochemical ozone creation potentials. The results are sensitive to biogas generation amount in several categories.
•Production yields achieved in the lab and actual plant affect impact category results.•Equations specific to intended products together with experimental data are proposed.•Conceptual design based on lab data couple with kinematic equations resembles better.•The results are sensitive to biogas generation amount.
Microplastics are ubiquitous in ecosystems and a lot of research is being performed to understand their environmental fate and effects on organisms. However, the release and impact of MP has so far ...not been considered in LCA studies. This is due to missing information on the inventory side about microplastic releases and missing Characterization Factors to quantify the effects of MP. The goal of this study was to elucidate the relevance of MP release into freshwaters from an LCA perspective, by using worst-case assumptions. In accordance with the USEtox framework, an interim and simplified Characterization Factor for the impact category of freshwater ecotoxicity was calculated to be 3231 PAF·m3·d·kg−1. Applying this Characterization Factor, two LCA case studies were conducted, one on a polyester T-Shirt and one with a shower gel containing microplastics. The results show a small contribution of microplastics to the freshwater ecotoxicity for a scenario with state-of-the-art wastewater treatment. Different scenarios varying in microplastic release and removal during wastewater treatment and a sensitivity analysis of the Characterization Factor allowed identifying the potential range of the microplastic contribution to the overall ecotoxicity. In conclusion, the inclusion of microplastic release into LCA only marginally influences the overall environmental effects of the two products in the LCA case studies.
Cotton t-shirts are a basic clothing item that everyone possesses. To date, no studies have taken into account the consumers’ perspective, even though they can play an important role regarding the ...actual environmental impact of their clothing items. Therefore, a life cycle assessment study was performed in order to inform the public about the environmental impacts of a typical cotton t-shirt and the relevance of consumer behavior (i.e., washing and drying) on the overall impacts along the entire life cycle of such a t-shirt. The aim was to provide hints, allowing users to reduce the impacts of their t-shirts. While the production phase was based on global data, the use phase focused on Switzerland as the study was established in the context of an exhibition in the Textile Museum in St. Gallen (Switzerland). With this study, it was found that users have various choices in order to make their t-shirt more sustainable. Wearing the t-shirt throughout its entire life expectancy was found to be the most important factor influencing the overall environmental performance of such a clothing item. The relevance of filling the washing machine to maximum capacity, washing at a lower temperature, or using a tumbler was also illustrated. In addition, choosing materials other than cotton or choosing textiles labelled for lower environmental impacts during production could further improve the environmental performance of t-shirts.
Nanotechnologies are expected to hold considerable potential for the development of new materials in the construction sector. Up to now the environmental benefits and risks of products containing ...manufactured nanomaterials (MNM) have been quantified only to a limited extent. This study aims to assess the potential environmental, health and safety impacts of coatings containing MNM using Life-cycle assessment: Do paints containing MNM result in a better environmental performance than paints not containing MNM? The study shows that the results depend on a number of factors: (i) The MNM have to substitute an (active) ingredient of the initial paint composition and not simply be an additional ingredient. (ii) The new composition has to extend the lifetime of the paint for such a time period that the consumption of paint along the life cycle of a building is reduced. (iii) Releases of MNM have to be reduced to the lowest level possible (in particular by dumping unused paint together with the packaging). Only when all these boundary conditions are fulfilled, which is the case only for one of the three paint systems examined, is an improved environmental performance of the MNM-containing paint possible for the paint compositions examined in this study.
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