Reducing Your Wasteline
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Transcript Reducing Your Wasteline
Life Cycle Analysis
Topics
Definition
Use
Process
Limitations
Definition
Holistic approach to pollution prevention by
analyzing the entire life of a product, process
or activity
Complete picture of environmental impact
Environmental impact and cost of
manufacturing, distribution, and disposal
Energy consumption, material use, and
wastes released
Possible Results of LCA
Can be used in product design and system
engineering and process and facilities
engineering:
1. material selection/ changes,
2. equipment selection/ changes
3. improved purchasing choices,
4. improved operating practices,
5. disposition practices, and
6. improved logistics.
Possible Uses
Communicate relationship between
environmental implications and
engineering requirements or policy
Assess environmental implications of
alternatives
Identify improvement opportunities
Guide for product design or use
Stages of Product, Process or
Activity
Material production (mining non
renewable and harvesting biomass)
Manufacturing and construction
Use, support, and maintenance
Decommissioning and material recycling
and disposal
LCA Process
Goal Definition and Scoping
Inventory Analysis
Impact Assessment
Interpretation
Goal Definition and Scoping
Define and describe the product, process or activity.
Establish the context in which the assessment is to
be made and identify the boundaries and
environmental effects to be reviewed for the
assessment.
Define the Goal(s) of the Project
Determine What Type of Information Is Needed to
Inform the Decision-Makers
Determine the Required Specificity
Determine How the Data Should Be Organized and
the Results Displayed
Define the Scope of the Study
Determine the Ground Rules for Performing the Work
Inventory Analysis
Identify and quantify energy, water and
materials usage and environmental
releases (e.g., air emissions, solid waste
disposal, waste water discharges).
Impact Assessment
Assess the potential human and ecological
effects of energy, water, and material usage
and the environmental releases identified in
the inventory analysis. Examples:
Evaluate categories (global warming, ozone
depletion, smog ….
Evaluate data to permit comparisons (CO2
equivalents for global warming)
Weighting according to importance (nonattainment air quality area might weigh air
pollutants more)
Interpretation
Evaluate the results of the inventory
analysis and impact assessment to
select the preferred product, process or
service with a clear understanding of
the uncertainty and the assumptions
used to generate the results.
Application to Integrated Solid
Waste Management
Apply to waste management elements
(collection/transportation, recycling/
materials recovery, treatment, final
disposal)
Generators divided by
– Sectors
– Waste components
Evaluate from curbside to final disposal
From Barlaz et al, Journal of Env. Engr,(2002) Vol 128 (10): 981
Life Cycle Analysis of ISWM
Use linear programming to solve mass
balance for identified alternatives
Evaluate all feasible alternatives for
waste processing using objective
functions
– Minimize cost
– Minimize environmental emissions, or
– Minimize energy consumption
Select objectives (example: cost
minimization or specific pollutant)
Limitations
Lack of spatial resolution – e.g., a 4,000-gallon
ammonia release is worse in a small stream than in a
large river.
Lack of temporal resolution – e.g., a five-ton release
of particulate matter during a one month period is
worse than the same release spread through the
whole year.
Inventory speciation – e.g., broad inventory listing
such as “VOC” or “metals” do not provide enough
information to accurately assess environmental
impacts.
Threshold and non-threshold impact – e.g., ten tons
of contamination is not necessarily ten times worse
than one ton of contamination.