森林凋落物对林地微生境的影响

评述了凋落物改变林地微生境的效应．凋落物减弱了林地地表及表层土壤(2mm厚)中的光照,改变了光谱特性,降低了PPFD和Pfr．缩小了日温差,提高了土壤湿度和肥力,增加了毒素和土壤动物的活动等,但凋落物改变生境的效应强度与凋落物组成、厚度、分解状态和周围生境(如植被、气候、地形和地貌等特性)等有关,在自然森林生态系统中,凋落物对林地微生境的效应因凋落物、植被、气候、地形和地貌的多样化变得更为复杂,而凋落物对植被天然更新的影响也因其对生境改变效应的复杂性而具有多样性和综合性,最后,对凋落物改变生境效应的复杂性和有关研究进行了展望。     

古尔班通古特沙漠植被与环境的关系

对古尔班通古特沙漠进行了纵向及横向的路线调查,植被测度和土壤理化性质分析。对比发现该沙漠地貌形态纵、横向上的显著差异,使沙漠植被分布格局存在着异质性,即植物群落的物种多样性、优势度及盖度在纵、横向上明显不同。CCA排序结果显示,土壤的有机质含量、全盐含量、分选系数、含水量和pH值等微生境使植被沿其变化梯度以不甚耐盐碱的短命、类短命草本和小半灌木、半灌木为主的群落逐渐向耐盐碱的灌木、小乔木类群落转变。地形和土壤质地可使横向上相当数量的植物种产生空间分化,而这种分化在纵向上不明显。沙漠植被物种在各生境梯度作用下形成3类组合,其在横向上对应3个地段,但在纵向上没有清晰的对应空间(除南北边缘区外),原因是多数植物的生境处于沙漠纵向微生境梯度的中间序位。     

内蒙古草原凋落物分解对生物多样性变化的响应

生物多样性与生态系统功能紧密相关。凋落物分解作为生态系统重要功能之一, 对植物群落的物种组成和多样性具有反馈作用。本研究在内蒙古草原通过功能群去除产生不同的多样性梯度, 应用分解网袋法, 研究了草原生态系统的生物多样性变化对凋落物分解过程的影响。实验分为相互补充的三个部分, (1)分解微生境实验: 研究了由于功能群多样性改变引起的分解微生境变化对凋落物分解的影响; (2)凋落物组成实验: 研究了4个功能群的优势物种羊草(Leymus chinensis)、大针茅(Stipa grandis)、细叶葱(Allium tenuissimum)、刺穗藜(Chenopodium aristatum)的单种及不同组合的混合凋落物在相同的分解微生境下物种间的相互作用对凋落物分解过程的影响; (3)综合分解微生境和凋落物组成两种影响因素, 将收集的凋落物的单种及其混合物放回原样方进行分解。结果表明, 功能群多样性高的样方中, 其微生境有利于凋落物的分解; 混合凋落物的分解具有非加和性效应。混合凋落物的分解速率与其初始碳含量呈负相关, 与其初始氮、磷含量呈正相关; 当混合凋落物在功能群多样性不同的微生境中分解时, 重量降解速率与微生境中的功能群多样性没有显著的相关关系, 氮流失与功能群多样性呈正相关。我们的研究表明, 群落中凋落物组成和凋落物的功能群多样性相比, 前者是影响凋落物分解的决定性因素; 与地上存活植株所参与的生物学过程相比, 凋落物分解受生物多样性的影响较小; 在生物多样性更高的区域, 氮的循环加速, 有利于提高群落的生产力。     

鄂西南亚高山湿地泥炭藓的生长与分解

泥炭藓(Sphagnum)是湿地土壤碳的重要来源, 在土壤碳累积过程中发挥着关键作用, 但有关亚热带湿地泥炭藓生长与分解的研究鲜有报道。该研究选择鄂西南亚高山泥炭藓湿地为研究区域, 原位开展不同微生境泥炭藓的生长及其凋落物的分解实验, 室内测试凋落物的化学成分, 探讨亚热带亚高山湿地泥炭藓的生长与分解规律。结果表明: 泥炭藓在自然状态生长12个月后, 丘上和丘间两种微生境下泥炭藓的平均高度增长量分别为2.9和2.7 cm, 对应的净生产量分别为270.94和370.88 g·m ^-2, 生长时间与微生境对泥炭藓的高度增长量及净生产量均有显著影响, 且两者之间存在交互作用, 但是两种微生境下泥炭藓的生长变化过程不同; 两种微生境下泥炭藓的平均生长速率(2017年7-10月)为0.33 mm·d ^-1, 其生长速率高于寒温带地区。另外, 分解时间对泥炭藓的分解量有显著影响, 其残留率随时间增加表现为先减少后增加的趋势。12个月后, 丘间、丘上和水坑3种微生境下最终残留率分别为100.67%、90.54%和85.63%。凋落物中碳含量、碳氮比和多酚含量相比初始值均有所下降, 氮含量则为增加。同时, 微生境对凋落物分解的影响取决于分解时间。分解3个月时, 微生境之间凋落物的分解量差异显著, 其他时间段差异不明显。     

鄂西南亚高山湿地泥炭藓的生长与分解

泥炭藓(Sphagnum)是湿地土壤碳的重要来源,在土壤碳累积过程中发挥着关键作用,但有关亚热带湿地泥炭藓生长与分解的研究鲜有报道。该研究选择鄂西南亚高山泥炭藓湿地为研究区域,原位开展不同微生境泥炭藓的生长及其凋落物的分解实验,室内测试凋落物的化学成分,探讨亚热带亚高山湿地泥炭藓的生长与分解规律。结果表明:泥炭藓在自然状态生长12个月后,丘上和丘间两种微生境下泥炭藓的平均高度增长量分别为2.9和2.7cm,对应的净生产量分别为270.94和370.88g·m~(–2),生长时间与微生境对泥炭藓的高度增长量及净生产量均有显著影响,且两者之间存在交互作用,但是两种微生境下泥炭藓的生长变化过程不同;两种微生境下泥炭藓的平均生长速率(2017年7–10月)为0.33 mm·d~(–1),其生长速率高于寒温带地区。另外,分解时间对泥炭藓的分解量有显著影响,其残留率随时间增加表现为先减少后增加的趋势。12个月后,丘间、丘上和水坑3种微生境下最终残留率分别为100.67%、90.54%和85.63%。凋落物中碳含量、碳氮比和多酚含量相比初始值均有所下降,氮含量则为增加。同时,微生境对凋落物分解的影响取决于分解时间。分解3个月时,微生境之间凋落物的分解量差异显著,其他时间段差异不明显。     

黄顶菊凋落物分解对节肢动物群落结构的影响

选择黄顶菊(Flaveria bidentis)入侵的林地、农田、荒地、沟渠等4种生境作为调查样地, 比较黄顶菊与本地植物凋落物的分解速率及凋落物分解对节肢动物群落结构的影响。于2014年10月凋落物高峰期在各样地内分别搜集黄顶菊与本地植物的凋落物, 每种凋落物称取20 g装入尼龙网分解袋中, 放入各生境。2015年的每个月将不同生境不同处理凋落袋各取回10袋, 用Tullgren法分离节肢动物。 4种生境共捕获17,466头, 隶属8纲18目, 4种生境的优势类群皆为蜱螨目和啮目。其中, 林地、农田、荒地、沟渠4种生境处理组中节肢动物数量分别为1,698头, 1,838头, 2,631头, 3,413头, 分别比对照组高18%, 53%, 22%, 11%。多数月份黄顶菊凋落物中的节肢动物丰富度及多样性指数高于同生境对照组, 并且在黄顶菊生长盛期差异显著; 黄顶菊凋落物的分解速率高于对照植物分解速率, 且各月份凋落物分解速率动态与节肢动物数量变化动态呈显著相关。黄顶菊凋落物对节肢动物的影响与人为干扰程度有关, 这种影响在人为干扰较小的荒地与沟渠生境中更为明显。综上所述, 黄顶菊凋落物的分解改变了节肢动物群落结构, 并引起节肢动物多样性的升高。     

凋落物分解对土壤生物的影响

凋落物分解是生态系统物质循环和能量流动的重要环节,而土壤生物是凋落物分解的主要完成者.大量研究分析了土壤生物在凋落物分解中的作用,然而有关凋落物分解对土壤生物影响的研究则相对较少,致使我们对凋落物分解和土壤生物的相互作用了解依然不够深入.本文综述了凋落物对土壤微生物和土壤动物的影响,并进一步探讨了其影响机制.凋落物对土壤微生物的影响与凋落物类型或组成、在土壤中的掩埋位置及其破碎化程度紧密相关;大多数研究表明凋落物对土壤动物群落结构有明显影响;凋落物对土壤生物的影响主要通过直接改变土壤生物的食源和生境.今后需要加强跨区域长期定位实验研究,注重整合研究凋落物分解和生态系统过程,深入研究凋落物分解与土壤生物的相互作用机制.     

全球环境变化对森林凋落物分解的影响

全球环境变化将对森林生态系统凋落物的分解和养分循环产生直接和间接的多重影响.就全球环境变化如全球变暖、大气CO2浓度升高、UV-B辐射增强、氮沉降等对凋落物分解影响的研究进展进行了综合述评.影响凋落物分解的内部因素为凋落物基质质量,外部因素包括生物因素(微生物和动物)和非生物因素(温度、水分和土壤性质等).全球变暖对凋落物分解的非生物作用有正效应,也有负效应.全球变暖对凋落物化学组成虽然只有轻微的影响,但可以通过影响植被的物种组成来间接改变凋落物的产量、化学性质和分解.全球变暖对凋落物分解生物作用的主要影响是增强土壤微生物活性,从而加速凋落物的分解.CO2浓度上升将增加凋落物产量,并通过影响凋落物质量(提高C/N比、木质素/N比等)和生物环境(微生物的数量和活性)而影响分解过程.UV-B辐射和大气N沉降的增加亦对凋落物分解产生直接和间接的影响,但影响效果尚不很清楚,有待进一步的研究.总起来看,全球环境变化将通过影响凋落物的分解速率而对全球碳循环产生重要影响,但由于气候变化和凋落物分解响应的复杂性以及各因子之间的相互作用,气候变化对凋落物分解的总效应尚需更深入的研究来定量化.     

不同林龄马尾松人工林年凋落量与养分归还动态

利用空间代替时间的方法,对不同发育阶段马尾松人工林年凋落量与养分归还量动态进行了研究。结果表明:1)马尾松人工林凋落物量具有明显的季节变化,受树种本身生物学特性和气候影响,气候对凋落量的影响效应具有滞后性;2)马尾松各凋落物组分的养分浓度具有明显的季节变化,季节差异可达1倍以上;3)随着林龄增长,通过凋落物归还到林地的K量呈下降趋势,其他养分量则呈"V"字型,51年生时有较高的养分利用效率。凋落物对马尾松人工林林地养分维持具有重要作用,凋落物尤其凋落针叶的输出切断了人工林生物地球化学循环过程中凋落物养分归这个关键环节,会加剧土壤贫瘠化进程,导致林地生产力降低,因此在经营马尾松人工林过程中要尽量降低凋落物输出量,以维持林地的长期生产力。     

微地形改造的生态环境效应研究进展

干旱缺水和生境不良使世界上许多地区的植被恢复和生态改善面临困难。为了提高植被成活率、遏制土壤侵蚀和土地退化态势,国内外许多重点地区都开展了多种微地形改造与下垫面整地措施,使得地表生境和植被状况得到一定改善。但微地形改造对生态环境影响的基础研究仍严重滞后于实践的客观需求,许多关键效应和科学机理不明。本文系统梳理和总结了国内外学者在不同生态系统类型区和自然地理单元上开展的相关研究。认为微地形改造对土壤属性和微生境、降雨入渗和水蚀过程、植被恢复的效果及其生态服务功能发挥等多个方面都有重要影响,并综述了相关研究进展。同时指出当前微地形改造研究中存在的突出问题。包括科学分类标准有待系统化、实地量化技术相对滞后、微地形改造的水文效应有待强化、影响植被恢复的机理不明等若干重要局限。建议应进一步加强微地形改造的分类体系研发、发展微地形改造方式的定量刻画技术;设立野外定位站,跟踪监测其长期效应,并加强不同微地形改造措施的生态环境效应对比,为科学筛选和优化下垫面改造技术、服务区域生态改善和应对气候变化提供科学依据。     

基于物质流分析的废纸回收利用体系生态成本研究

废弃物回收利用在一定程度上对缓解资源和环境危机起到积极的作用,已经成为可持续发展的重要举措,但生产过程中消耗的资源、能源,排放的污染物同样也会对自然环境产生负面影响。为解决此问题,以废纸回收利用体系为例,基于物质流分析方法构建了生态成本核算模型,为废弃物回收利用体系优化提供基础。在对生态成本相关研究归纳总结的基础上,定义了生态成本的概念,界定了生态成本的研究内容,并分析基于物质流核算生态成本的可行性。生态成本是对生态负荷的价值化,主要分为资源耗减成本、污染产生和环境保护成本以及生态环境损害成本3部分。污染产生和环境保护成本可以通过将总成本按比例分配给正、负产品的方式求得,资源耗减成本和环境损害成本借助LIME方法核算,总生态成本是回收利用体系内部各项生态成本的总和。生态成本核算是评价生态负荷的重要手段,在废纸回收利用体系物质流动图的基础上,分析各生产流程生态成本的构成情况。提出的生态成本核算模型不仅适用于废纸回收利用体系,其他废弃物也同样适用。通过生态成本的核算,寻找到对生态环境影响较大的工序、流程,为废弃物回收利用体系经济与环境的双赢提供理论与实践指导。     

氨基酸废水处理技术的研究进展

氨基酸废水处理技术一直是国内外氨基酸生产厂家和环保界的研究热点。本文对国内外氨基酸废水处理方法,如膜分离法、生物法等进行了详细评述,认为生物法是解决我国氨基酸废水污染的最终出路,同时提出将三维电极电化学法应用于氨基酸废水的处理,具有重要的理论意义和实际的应用价值。     

Microbial keratinases: industrial enzymes with waste management potential

Proteases are ubiquitous enzymes that occur in various biological systems ranging from microorganisms to higher organisms. Microbial proteases are largely utilized in various established industrial processes. Despite their numerous industrial applications, they are not efficient in hydrolysis of recalcitrant, protein-rich keratinous wastes which result in environmental pollution and health hazards. This paved the way for the search of keratinolytic microorganisms having the ability to hydrolyze “hard to degrade” keratinous wastes. This new class of proteases is known as “keratinases”. Due to their specificity, keratinases have an advantage over normal proteases and have replaced them in many industrial applications, such as nematicidal agents, nitrogenous fertilizer production from keratinous waste, animal feed and biofuel production. Keratinases have also replaced the normal proteases in the leather industry and detergent additive application due to their better performance. They have also been proved efficient in prion protein degradation. Above all, one of the major hurdles of enzyme industrial applications (cost effective production) can be achieved by using keratinous waste biomass, such as chicken feathers and hairs as fermentation substrate. Use of these low cost waste materials serves dual purposes: to reduce the fermentation cost for enzyme production as well as reducing the environmental waste load. The advent of keratinases has given new direction for waste management with industrial applications giving rise to green technology for sustainable development.     

亮斑扁角水虻对有机废弃物的应用及其肠道微生物研究进展

有机废弃物的安全处理与二次利用是当今社会发展进程中的一大难题,亮斑扁角水虻Hermetia illucens强大的生物转化能力可有效解决此类问题：一方面,亮斑扁角水虻可大量消耗有机废弃物,有效治理环境污染;另一方面,转化后的虫体营养价值高,广泛应用于养殖领域。然而,亮斑扁角水虻的生物转化作用机制目前尚不明确,可转化的有机废弃物范围及其转化效率的影响因素仍有待探讨。本文结合近年来关于亮斑扁角水虻领域的研究,主要从亮斑扁角水虻对有机废弃物的生物转化作用、转化效率的影响因素、虫沙的应用和肠道微生物的功能4个方面进行综述,同时对未来需要解决的问题进行了展望,以期为亮斑扁角水虻的综合开发利用提供参考依据。     

Sustainable sanitation technology options for urban slums

Poor sanitation in urban slums results in increased prevalence of diseases and pollution of the environment. Excreta, grey water and solid wastes are the major contributors to the pollution load into the slum environment and pose a risk to public health. The high rates of urbanization and population growth, poor accessibility and lack of legal status in urban slums make it difficult to improve their level of sanitation. New approaches may help to achieve the sanitation target of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7; ensuring environmental sustainability. This paper reviews the characteristics of waste streams and the potential treatment processes and technologies that can be adopted and applied in urban slums in a sustainable way. Resource recovery oriented technologies minimise health risks and negative environmental impacts. In particular, there has been increasing recognition of the potential of anaerobic co-digestion for treatment of excreta and organic solid waste for energy recovery as an alternative to composting. Soil and sand filters have also been found suitable for removal of organic matter, pathogens, nutrients and micro-pollutants from grey water.     

长江经济带典型锌冶炼园区不同固废处置模式生态效率研究

我国铜铅锌有色冶炼固废种类多、存量大,富含多种环境毒害元素如镉铬汞砷等,而目前固废末端处置方式单一,对其所含的大量铜铅锌银镍等有价金属组分也未能有效分离,固废污染防控与高效资源化利用问题突出,已成为制约产业绿色可持续发展的关键因素。以长江经济带典型铜铅锌综合冶炼基地为例,设置直接处理(情景1)、内部循环(情景2)和协同利用(情景3)三种锌冶炼固废处置情景模式,结合物质投入产出法、层次分析法与熵值法,构建资源能耗、环境风险、物质循环与经济效益的多维生态效率指标核算方法体系,对三种情景模式开展生态效率综合评估分析。结果表明,情景3因加强了锌冶炼固废在铜、铅冶炼系统间的协同转化,其生态效率综合评价指数最高,为0.2246,较情景1和情景2分别高出313.6%和25.5%;从资源能耗角度来看,情景2单位产品能耗最高,达0.3086;而从物质循环和经济效益角度来看,情景3固废综合利用率最高,达97.6%,铜铅锌三种有价金属回收率达97.2%,利润总额达48131.3万元;但在环境风险方面,尽管情景3固废中重金属污染排放减少1470.4 t/a,但废气中铅砷镉汞等重金属污染排放却比情景1增加了3倍...     

生物降解聚烯烃类塑料研究进展

聚烯烃类塑料是一类以C–C键为骨架的高分子材料,被广泛应用于日常生活的各个领域。由于具有稳定的化学性质并且难以被环境中的微生物快速降解,聚烯烃塑料废弃物在全球范围内持续积累,造成了严重的环境污染及生态危机。近年来,利用生物方法降解聚烯烃类塑料引起了研究人员的广泛关注。自然界丰富的微生物资源为生物降解聚烯烃类塑料废弃物提供了可能,已经有一些对聚烯烃塑料具有降解能力的微生物被陆续报道。本文总结了聚烯烃类塑料生物降解资源及生物降解机制的研究进展,提出了目前聚烯烃类塑料生物降解过程存在的问题,并对未来的研究方向进行了展望。     

Cleaning up after human activity in Antarctica: legal obligations and remediation realities

National Antarctic Programmes do not have a strict legal obligation to remediate the Antarctic environment following human activity. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the “Madrid Protocol”) obliges parties to conduct environmental impact assessments to prevent adverse impacts on the polar environment and to “clean up” pollution from waste disposal sites. The obligations stemming from the Madrid Protocol are not clearly defined, and give potential scope for parties to neglect past sites of human activity on the continent. This scope is narrowed by the work of the Committee for Environmental Protection in implementing clear practical clean‐up guidelines for National Antarctic Programmes based on scientific‐based recommendations from the Antarctic Treaty Parties. Despite better modern practice, Parties are still faced with damage from past activities. Some of these sites are deemed to be “beyond help.” This article proposes that rather than abandoning waste disposal sites because of widely acknowledged difficulties, that National Antarctic Programmes prioritize research into restorative methodologies and techniques, while increasing cooperation with other parties to overcome the enormous logistical and economic costs of cleaning up pollution in Antarctica.     

LCA application to integrated waste management planning in Gipuzkoa (Spain)

Goal, Scope and Background  Gipuzkoa is a department of the Vasque Country (Spain) with a population of about 700,000 people. By the year 2000 approximately 85% of municipal solid waste in this area was managed by landfilling, and only 15% was recycled. Due to environmental law restrictions and landfill capacity being on its limit, a planning process was initiated by the authorities. LCA was used, from an environmental point of view, to assess 7 possible scenarios arising from the draft Plan for the 2016 time horizon. Main Features  In each scenario, 9 waste flows are analysed: rest waste, paper and cardboard, glass containers, light packaging, organic-green waste, as well as industrial/commercial wood, metals and plastics, and wastewater sludge. Waste treatments range from recycling to energy recovery and landfilling. Results  Recycling of the waste flows separated at the source (paper and cardboard, glass, light packaging, organic-green waste, wood packaging, metals and plastics) results in net environmental benefits caused by the substitution of primary materials, except in water consumption. These benefits are common to the 7 different scenarios analysed. However, some inefficiencies are detected, mainly the energy consumption in collection and transport of low density materials, and water consumption in plastic recycling. The remaining flows, mixed waste and wastewater sludge, are the ones causing the major environmental impacts, by means of incineration, landfilling of partially stabilised organic material, as well as thermal drying of sludge. With the characterisation results, none of the seven scenarios can be clearly identified as the most preferable, although, due to the high recycling rates expected by the Plan, net environmental benefits are achieved in 9 out of 10 impact categories in all scenarios when integrated waste management is assessed (the sum of the 9 flows of waste). Finally, there are no relevant differences between scenarios concerning the number of treatment plants considered. Nevertheless, only the effects on transportation impacts were assessed in the LCA, since the plant construction stage was excluded from the system boundaries. Conclusions  The results of the study show the environmental importance of material recycling in waste management, although the recycling schemes assessed can be improved in some aspects. It is also important to highlight the environmental impact of incineration and landfilling of waste, as well as thermal drying of sludge using fossil fuels. One of the main findings of applying LCA to integrated waste management in Gipuzkoa is the fact that the benefits of high recycling rates can compensate for the impacts of mixed waste and wastewater sludge. Recommendations and Outlook  Although none of the scenarios can be clearly identified as the one having the best environmental performance, the authorities in Gipuzkoa now have objective information about the future scenarios, and a multidisciplinary panel could be formed in order to weight the impacts if necessary. In our opinion, LCA was successfully applied in Gipuzkoa as an environmental tool for decision making.     

Life cycle assessment of a pyrolysis/gasification plant for hazardous paint waste

Goal, Scope and Background Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) remains an important tool in Dutch waste management policies. In 2002 the new National Waste Management Plan 2002–2012 (NWMP) became effective. It was supported by some 150 LCA studies for more than 20 different waste streams. The LCA results provided a benchmark level for new waste management technologies. Although not new, operational techniques using combined pyrolysis/gasification are still fairly rare in Europe. The goal of this study is to determine the environmental performance of the only full scale pyrolysis/gasification plant in the Netherlands and to compare it with more conventional techniques such as incineration. The results of the study support the process of obtaining environmental permits. Methods In this study we used an impact assessment method based on the guidelines described by the Centre of Environmental Science (CML) of Leiden University. The functional unit is defined as treatment of 1 ton of collected hazardous waste (paint packaging waste). Similar to the NWMP, not only normalized scores are presented but also 7 aggegated scores. All interventions from the foreground process (land use, emissions, final waste) are derived directly from the site with the exception of emissions to soil which were calculated. Interventions are accounted to each of the different waste streams by physical relations. Data from background processes are taken from the IVAM LCA database 4.0 mostly originating from the Swiss ETH96 database and adapted to the Dutch situation. Allocation was avoided by using system enlargement. The study has been peer reviewed by an external expert. Results and Discussion It was possible to determine an environmental performance for the pyrolysis/ gasification of paint packaging waste. The Life Cycle Inventory was mainly hampered by the uncertainty occurred with estimated air emissions. Here several assumptions had to be made because several waste inputs and two waste treatment installations profit from one flue gas cleaning treatment thus making it difficult to allocate the emission values from the flue gasses. Compared to incineration in a rotary kiln, pyrolysis/gasification of hazardous waste showed better scores for most of the considered impact categories. Only for the impact categories biodiversity and life support the incineration option proved favorable due to a lower land use. Several impact categories had significant influence on the conclusions: acidification, global warming potential, human toxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity. The first three are related to a better energy efficiency for pyrolysis/gasification leading to less fossil energy consumption. Terrestrial ecotoxicity in this case is related to specific emissions of mercury and chromium (III). A sensitivity analysis has been performed as well. It was found that the environmental performance of the gasification technique is sensitive to the energy efficiency that can be reached as well as the choice for the avoided fossil energy source. In this study a conservative choice for diesel oil was made whereas a choice for heavy or light fuel oil would further improve the environmental profile. Conclusions Gasification of hazardous waste has a better environmental performance compared to the traditional incineration in rotary kilns mainly due to the high energy efficiency. As was determined by sensitivity analysis the differences in environmental performance are significant. Improvement options for a better performance are a decrease of process emissions (especially mercury) and a further improvement of the energy balance by decreasing the electricity consumption for shredders and oxygen consumption or making more use of green electricity. Recommendations and Perspectives Although the life cycle inventory was sufficiently complete, still some assumptions had to be made in order to establish sound mass balances on the level of individual components and substances. The data on input of waste and output of emissions and final waste were not compatible. It was recommended that companies put more emphasis on data storage accounted to particular waste streams. This is even more relevant since more companies in the future are expected to include life cycle impacts in their environmental performance.