LCA and Waste Management

Methodological principles

LCA's in waste management represent a special case according to the LCA method ISO 14040ff. The development and use of the LCA method in waste management grew as a result of the search for an instrument to assess the "more environmentally friendly" way of handling waste within the context of the German waste recycling and management law (KrW-/AbfG).

As part of a commissioned project by the German Federal Environment Agency, IFEU prepared the basic methodological development and practical testing of LCA's in waste management (pdf in German 21KB). The practicality of the approach was tested through the case study of old tires and household refrigerators

Waste LCA's required a few additions and refinements in the procedure steps when compared to the standard LCA method. For example, things need to be taken into account that are not normally within the context of an LCA such as the accumulation of pollutants which is necessary to meet the requirements of the KrW-/AbfG.

Further particularities arise regarding the considered life cycle: The LCA begins with the accrual of waste insofar as questions about waste reduction are not touched upon in an assignment and that only the more environmentally friendly disposal practice of a particular waste needs to be determined. The origin of the waste can be ignored since the comparison systems service "disposal of a particular type of waste" fulfils the same primary benefit. Furthermore, there is a departure from the traditional product LCA at the end of the life cycle. In the spirit of a life cycle economy, a "new" product can come about at the end of the life cycle of a piece of waste instead of looking at the cycle until the final disposal. As long as attention is paid to equal utilisation and that the value of the secondary product is taken into account, then the continued life cycle does not have to be considered.

Complete and simplified LCA approaches

The waste LCA method used for waste management has been successfully used by IFEU in a variety of projects. These lead to new discoveries and the further development of the method for a large variety of tasks.

Complete LCA

All detectable environmental effects should be considered and evaluated in the LCA in order to answer the fundamental questions of the research or the substantive questions from the perspective of legislation and policy. Such comprehensive studies were carried out for the recycling of organic waste in a research project funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation. The packaging LCA's carried out at IFEU also consist of comprehensive LCA's. The environmental problems of the disposal of sewage sludge sludge were investigated using a comprehensive LCA, particularly in projects for the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein.

Simplified LCA

In other circumstances, the guiding objective is the determination of leading representative findings. A simplified LCA is especially preferable for individual companies or individual decisions in regulatory implementation since it is practicable and proportionate to the demand. A corresponding adjustment of the LCA method was developed by IFEU during the study ""Bewertung von Entsorgungsoptionen" for the Baden- Wuerttemberg waste consultancy ABAG (2002). Afterwards, the cumulative energy demand (CED) proved to be a suitable lead parameter supplement as appropriate by specific control questions, that can't be considered by the CED covered environmental effects.

The possibilities of a comprehensive and simplified LCA are not limited to waste management, but can be widely used with the LCA method. Further instruments for LCA studies include ecological profiles and eco-efficiency analysis.

In connection with simplified LCA studies, tools for indicative findings were developed by IFEU as part of various projects. For example a screening tool was developed for the assessment of environmental packaging (2003) on behalf of a European packaging manufacturer. Also during a project about the LCA requirements for Co-Fermentation of organic waste in septic tanks on behalf of the Ministry of Environment in NRW, a tool was developed for wastewater treatment plan operators and authorities to determine the fundamental ecological suitability of certain organic waste for co-fermentation (2001).

More projects on the subject of waste management LCA's can be found in the LCA reference list.

Contact

Horst Fehrenbach (06221/ 4767-16; horst.fehrenbach@ifeu.de)
Jürgen Giegrich (06221 / 4767-21; juergen.giegrich@ifeu.de)
Florian Knappe (06221 / 4767-26; florian.knappe@ifeu.de)
Regine Vogt (06221 / 4767-22; regine.vogt@ifeu.de)