Can LCA support both ends of the recycling stream?

Transcription

1 Can LCA support both ends of the recycling stream? Lise Laurin 37 Route 236, Suite 112, Kittery, ME USA Phone +1 (207)

2 What did our grandmothers (and the EPA) teach us? Waste not, want not.

3 Aluminum pie plate First Life Virgin Aluminum Impact extrusion Retail Baking End of life options Second Life Recycled Aluminum Impact extrusion Retail Baking Landfill

4 What does LCA teach us? (Avoided burden method) Aluminum Pie Plate Climate Change - Avoided Burden 0.50 Aluminum Pie Plate, second life (all landfilled) Climate Change - Avoided burden kg CO2-eq Landfill Recycle Reuse EOL Impact Extrusion Aluminum EOL Impact Extrusion Aluminum Virgin Recycled Reused Climate Change (kg CO2-eq)

5 What does LCA Teach Us? (Cut-Off Method) Aluminum Pie Plate Climate Change - Cut off Aluminum Pie Plate, second life Climate Change - Cut Off kg CO2-eq EOL Impact Extrusion Aluminum EOL Impact Extrusion Refurbishment Aluminum Landfill Recycle Reuse Virgin Recycled Reused

6 It s a question of allocation (or where you draw your boundaries) How do you allocate these flows between product 1 and product 2? Product 1 Product 2 recycling Time

7 Flow diagram of two lives

8 Boundary Diagram, Avoided Burden

9 Boundary Diagram, Cut-Off

10 Other methods? Market-based or economic approach Essentially flips between avoided burden and cut-off, depending upon market conditions What is sustainable changes based on the market 50/50 approach Arbitrarily assigns 50% of the avoided burden to each life Still has pesky negatives Shouldn t throwing something valuable in the recycle bin always be better? Shouldn t using a recycled material that takes less energy to refurbish always be the better option?

11 CAN WE REDRAW THE BOUNDARIES TO SUPPORT BOTH THE RECYCLER AND THE USER OF RECYCLED MATERIAL? (And not have those pesky negatives?)

12 Rethinking the paradigm

13 Rethinking landfilling Steel Commodity Market Landfilling results in the need for additional virgin material All images courtesy pixabay

14 If reuse is the benchmark... Landfilling gets the burden all the way through manufacturing. Incineration takes the same burden of taking a product out of the system. Emissions and land use impacts for landfilling and incineration are added on top Product 1 Product 2 recycling

15 System Boundaries for Reuse, Ideal

16 System Boundary Diagram, Ideal

17 What does LCA teach us using this method? Aluminum Pie Plate Climate Change - Ideal Aluminum Pie Plate, second life (all landfilled) Climate Change - Ideal kg CO2-eq EOL Impact Extrusion Aluminum EOL Impact Extrusion Refurb Aluminum Landfill Recycle Reuse 0.00 Virgin Recycle Reuse Impact difference similar to Avoided Burden Impact difference similar to cut-off

18 Philosophical questions Is the circular economy or cradle-to-cradle concept really better? Can we really emulate nature in our life cycles? If those are truly better ways of working, can LCA reflect it? Should LCA be used to drive better behavior?

19 Thank you! Lise Laurin 37 Route 236, Suite 112, Kittery, ME USA Phone +1 (207)