Engineering Commons^™

Single-Use And Sustainability: Continued Studies Using Lca Tools, William Whitford

Single-Use Technologies III: Scientific and Technological Advancements

The issue of plastic materials in our environment has been of recent interest. The biotechnology community has responded by examining the effects of single-use systems employed in biomanufacturing. It is natural to emphasize a particular set of environmental concerns over others, and especially the more visible ones. But, in supporting truly sustainable manufacturing systems, it is important to consider all relevant types of pollution or environmental stress. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a science-based approach for evaluating the environmental impacts, benefits, trade-offs, and burden shifts of a process in an objective format. It considers production process’ materials, equipment and …

Evaluation Of The Environmental Benefits Of Biochar Addition Into Concrete-Based Composites, Isabella Bianco, Mauro Giorcelli, Massimo Rovere, Alberto Tagliaferro, Gian Andrea Blengini, Silvia Bobba

Biochar: Production, Characterization and Applications

Biochar is a carbon by-product obtained from a termochemical conversion of biomass. Currently, biochar is generally treated in biomass landfill, representing an economic and environmental cost.

Recent works focus their attention to the use of biochar as an alternative filler to produce more economic and environmental friendly composites. Some studies proved that the introduction of biochar as carbon filler can also increase mechanical [1] or electrical [2] properties. As a consequence, large scale production of composites containing biochar could have important effects both on the economic and environmental point of view.

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Developing A Method Of Accounting For The Material Use Of Biomass/Biochar And Its Positive Side Benefits Within The Company Carbon Footprint: A Case Study At Hochschule Geisenheim University, Georg Ardissone, Claudia Kammann

Biochar: Production, Characterization and Applications

The federal state of Hesse announced the aim to achieve a „CO₂-neutral administration“. In this context, the carbon footprint (CF) of the 16 universities in the federal area has been accounted. The CF by common units (kg CO₂ per student or square meter) of the Hochschule Geisenheim University (HGU) is comparably high, due to the campus’ structure with (monument protected) building stock, a big share of greenhouses integrated into the campus and a comparably small number of students (Müller & Person, 2015, S. 27ff).

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Lca Applied To Residual Organic Fertilizing Materials ‐ An Overview Of Emission Inventory Data At The Spreading Operation, Claire Déchaux, Marilys Pradel

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

LCA case studies applied to waste management options of organic products face several inventory completeness issues and among them, the spreading operation emissions. Indeed, organic products contain nutrient elements which turn into air, water and soil emissions after their spreading. LCA practitioners need to consider these quantitative data in order to carry out relevant assessments. Emission data obtained from experimental measurements, as they are specific to each residual organic fertilizing material and each pedoclimatic condition, cannot be used as generic data. Moreover, when the LCA case study is processed based on the primary function “to treat the waste”, the secondary …

Lca Applied To Residual Organic Fertilizing Materials ‐ An Overview Of Substitution Methodological Options And Quantitative Substitution Rates, Marilys Pradel, Claire Déchaux

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

LCA case studies applied to waste management options of organic products face several LCA methodological choices and among them, the multifunctionality question. Indeed, studies dealing with waste management aim to assess the environmental impacts of different organic waste treatments that enhance the organic waste fertilizing and amending properties. This is expressed in LCA studies by a primary function (to treat the waste) and secondary functions (to fertilize or provide an organic amendment to agricultural soils).The induced multifunctionality is often treated by system expansion by subtracting the secondary functions, leading to potentially avoided impacts. When dealing with residual organic fertilizing materials, …

Integrated Environmental Analysis Of Urban Waste Separate Collection In The Sorrento Peninsula, In Italy, Giovanni De Feo, Daria Milione, Anna Rita Polito, Alberto Grosso, Santa Maria Del Pianto, Luigi Cuomo

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

The main aim of this work was to study the kerbside collection system of two municipalities in the Sorrento peninsula (in Italy) with an integrated approach based on the three pillars of sustainability: society, environment and economy. The studied municipality are Sorrento (16,745 inhabitants, 1,681 inhabitants/km²) and Piano di Sorrento (13,159 inhabitants, 1,793 inhabitants/km²). Piano di Sorrento and especially Sorrento are tourist towns and this obviously has an impact on the quantity and quality of urban waste. In 2014, the percentage of separate collection was 63.3% in Piano di Sorrento with a per capita production of 465.7 kg/inhabitant/year, …

Complementing Lca With Qualitative Organisational Study For Improving Waste Management Governance – Illustrated By A Comparative Case On Metal Packaging, Mathias Lindkvist, Henrikke Baumann, Maria Ljunggren Söderman

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

We here present a novel method that combines the life cycle approach with qualitative organisational study for environmentally effective waste management. While LCA is useful for producing a systems overview of the environmental performance, it does not provide further guidance on systems management since the actors and activities that uphold them are not systematically studied. The human dimension is particularly manifest in waste management where many types of actors (private, public, consumers, legislators, sector organisations) interact in complex ways.

Our method, with which we study Product Chain Organisation (PCO), is designed to complement LCA. Descriptions and accounts of actors interacting …

Combining Mfa, Lca And Optimization Techniques To Improve Msw Management In Switzerland, Melanie Haupt, Carl Vadenbo, Stefanie Hellweg

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

The waste streams of society contain a substantial potential of material and energetic resources. The benefits of its utilization, however, depend on the waste management strategy applied. The present study aims at environmentally optimizing the Swiss municipal solid waste (MSW) management system by using the combination of material flow analysis (MFA), life cycle assessment (LCA), and mathematical optimization techniques. MFA supports decisions in resource management providing an understanding of the waste management system, providing information about capacities of treatment options, and assists in priority setting (Brunner and Rechberger 2004). MFA does, however, not provide information on the environmental impacts associated …

Lca Of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration In France: From Comprehensive Site‐ Specific Data To Life Cycle Inventory Modeling, Antoine Beylot, Antoine Hochar, Pascale Michel, Marie Descat, Yannick Ménard, Jacques Villeneuve

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

In France, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), including non-hazardous waste from economic activities collected together with post-consumer waste, are primarily incinerated (approximately 30% in 2010; ADEME, 2012). Yet, current Life Cycle Inventory databases do not precisely account for the characteristics of waste incineration in the specific French context, in particular with respect to air emissions, use of reactants, energy recovery rates and treatment of bottom ashes. This study accordingly aims at collecting environmental and energy data specific to French incinerators for their further integration into a dedicated Life Cycle Inventory model. The results of data collection and analysis are focused at …

Life Cycle Assessment And Economic Evaluation Of The Recovery Of Materials In An Urban Waste Management System, Giovanni De Feo, Alessio Finelli, Alberto Grosso, Santa Maria Del Pianto

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

The main aim of this study was to perform a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as well as an economic evaluation of the recovery of recyclable materials in an urban waste management system. Urban waste is mainly composed of three fractions: 1) putrescible materials, 2) recyclables materials, and 3) residual waste. The putrescible materials have to be collected separately and sent to composting and/or anaerobic digestion plants. The recyclables materials have to be sorted and sent to the proper industrial facilities. Finally, the residual waste could be further selected to be sent to energy recovery plants. If citizens separate erroneously urban …

Lca To Start And Perform Green Public Procurement For Funeral Products, Francesco Baldoni, Valeria Bettini, Alessandro Buosi, Roberto Bortolotti

Life Cycle Assessment and Other Assessment Tools for Waste Management and Resource Optimization

AMNU S.p.A. is an Italian multi-utility company, whose owner are local municipalities, which operates basically in the territory of the Province of Trento in urban waste collection and transport.

In the last years AMNU has started the “new” activity of funeral service that has a wide public concern and is a source of deep connection with the the territory.

Funeral services and cemetery's management are becoming more and more important and therefore AMNU has moved forward in the environmental path and this is the objective of this work: to integrate procurement tenders for the funeral products industry by inserting environmental …