Accounting for transportation impacts in the environmental assessment of waste management plans |
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Authors: | Emanuele Brambilla Pisoni Roberto Raccanelli Giovanni Dotelli Donatella Botta Paco Melià |
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Institution: | (1) Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica ‘Giulio Natta’, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20123 Milano, Italy;(2) Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio 34/5, 20133 Milano, Italy |
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Abstract: | Background, aim, and scope Many recent studies on waste management have described in detail the potential impacts of recycling and final treatment of
municipal waste. In public debates, the attention has also been focused on the choice of final disposal technologies (e.g.
landfilling vs. incineration). However, a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of waste collection and transport was still
lacking. In the present study, we use LCA to evaluate the potential impact of the provincial waste management plan of Varese
(northern Italy). Particular attention is devoted to the estimation of environmental impacts generated during waste transport.
Materials and methods A detailed Life Cycle Inventory was built for the transportation phase, based on primary data collected by interviewing the
agencies involved in waste collection. To model the recycling and final disposal phase we relied on the BUWAL 250 database.
Impacts were evaluated with the Eco-Indicator 99 method in its egalitarian formulation.
Results The results of our analysis reveal that the major potential impacts of the plan are associated with waste collection and transport.
These impacts are partially compensated by reduced resource consumption through recycling and energy recovery through incineration.
Discussion The outputs of the LCIA were compared with those obtained by using other ecoindicators (Eco-Indicator 99 hierarchist and individualist,
CML2, EPS2000). Although not comparable on a quantitative basis, they are qualitatively consistent.
Conclusions Neglecting the effects of collection and transport might result in a severe underestimation of the environmental impacts of
a waste management system, especially as refers to depletion of fossil fuels, emission of respiratory inorganics and climate
change. To reduce the environmental impact of waste management systems, an accurate optimisation of waste transport is required.
Recommendations and perspectives Effective waste management planning requires the explicit inclusion of waste collection and transport when comparing alternative
management policies. |
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Keywords: | Case studies Life cycle assessment (LCA) PPP impact assessment Waste collection and transport Waste management planning |
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