IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/inecol/v22y2018i5p1039-1049.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Linking Data Choices and Context Specificity in Life Cycle Assessment of Waste Treatment Technologies: A Landfill Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Trine Henriksen
  • Thomas Fruergaard Astrup
  • Anders Damgaard

Abstract

To generate meaningful results, life cycle assessments (LCAs) require accurate technology data that are consistent with the goal and scope of the analysis. While literature data are available for many products and processes, finding representative data for highly site‐specific technologies, such as waste treatment processes, remains a challenge. This study investigated representative life cycle inventory (LCI) modeling of waste treatment technologies in consideration of variations in technological level and climate. The objectives were to demonstrate the importance of representative LCI modeling as a function of the specificity of the study, and to illustrate the necessity of iteratively refining the goal and scope of the study as data are developed. A landfill case study was performed where 52 discrete landfill data sets were built and grouped to represent different technology options and geographical sites, potential impacts were calculated, and minimum/maximum (min‐max) intervals were generated for each group. The results showed decreasing min‐max intervals with increasing specificity of the scope of study, which indicates that compatibility between the scope of study and LCI model is critical. Hereby, this study quantitatively demonstrates the influence of representative modeling on LCA results. The results indicate that technology variations and site‐specific conditions (e.g., the influence of precipitation and cover permeability on landfill gas generation and collection) should be carefully addressed by a systematic analysis of the key process parameters. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the targeted waste treatment technologies is necessary to ensure that appropriate data choices are made within the boundaries of the defined scope of the study.

Suggested Citation

  • Trine Henriksen & Thomas Fruergaard Astrup & Anders Damgaard, 2018. "Linking Data Choices and Context Specificity in Life Cycle Assessment of Waste Treatment Technologies: A Landfill Case Study," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(5), pages 1039-1049, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:22:y:2018:i:5:p:1039-1049
    DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12709
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12709
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jiec.12709?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shannon M. Lloyd & Robert Ries, 2007. "Characterizing, Propagating, and Analyzing Uncertainty in Life‐Cycle Assessment: A Survey of Quantitative Approaches," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 11(1), pages 161-179, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dimitrios Mathioudakis & Panagiotis Karageorgis & Konstantina Papadopoulou & Thomas Fruergaard Astrup & Gerasimos Lyberatos, 2022. "Environmental and Economic Assessment of Alternative Food Waste Management Scenarios," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-27, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christian Moretti & Blanca Corona & Robert Edwards & Martin Junginger & Alberto Moro & Matteo Rocco & Li Shen, 2020. "Reviewing ISO Compliant Multifunctionality Practices in Environmental Life Cycle Modeling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-24, July.
    2. Stefano Cucurachi & Carlos Felipe Blanco & Bernhard Steubing & Reinout Heijungs, 2022. "Implementation of uncertainty analysis and moment‐independent global sensitivity analysis for full‐scale life cycle assessment models," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(2), pages 374-391, April.
    3. Khounani, Zahra & Hosseinzadeh-Bandbafha, Homa & Nizami, Abdul-Sattar & Sulaiman, Alawi & Goli, Sayed Amir Hossein & Tavassoli-Kafrani, Elham & Ghaffari, Akram & Rajaeifar, Mohammad Ali & Kim, Ki-Hyun, 2020. "Unlocking the potential of walnut husk extract in the production of waste cooking oil-based biodiesel," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    4. Şenay Çetin Doğruparmak & Simge Çankaya & Murat Efgan Kibar & Beyhan Pekey, 2025. "Assessing the environmental performance of a university campus using a life cycle assessment approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 645-664, January.
    5. Treyer, Karin & Bauer, Christian & Simons, Andrew, 2014. "Human health impacts in the life cycle of future European electricity generation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(S1), pages 31-44.
    6. Briac Baudais & Hamid Ben Ahmed & Gurvan Jodin & Nicolas Degrenne & Stéphane Lefebvre, 2023. "Life Cycle Assessment of a 150 kW Electronic Power Inverter," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-18, February.
    7. Zhang, XiaoHong & Wei, Ye & Li, Min & Deng, ShiHuai & Wu, Jun & Zhang, YanZong & Xiao, Hong, 2014. "Emergy evaluation of an integrated livestock wastewater treatment system," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 95-107.
    8. Stotz, Philippe Maurice & Niero, Monia & Bey, Niki & Paraskevas, Dimos, 2017. "Environmental screening of novel technologies to increase material circularity: A case study on aluminium cans," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 96-106.
    9. Alina Galimshina & Maliki Moustapha & Alexander Hollberg & Sébastien Lasvaux & Bruno Sudret & Guillaume Habert, 2024. "Strategies for robust renovation of residential buildings in Switzerland," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    10. Giovanni Codotto & Massimo Pizzol & Troels J. Hegland & Niels Madsen, 2024. "Model uncertainty versus variability in the life cycle assessment of commercial fisheries," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 28(1), pages 160-172, February.
    11. Chun-Youl Baek & Kiyotaka Tahara & Kyu-Hyun Park, 2018. "Parameter Uncertainty Analysis of the Life Cycle Inventory Database: Application to Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Brown Rice Production in IDEA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, March.
    12. Anna Tenhunen-Lunkka & Tom Rommens & Ive Vanderreydt & Lars Mortensen, 2023. "Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Potential of European Union’s Circularity Related Targets for Plastics," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 475-510, March.
    13. Ivan T. Herrmann & Michael Z. Hauschild & Michael D. Sohn & Thomas E. McKone, 2014. "Confronting Uncertainty in Life Cycle Assessment Used for Decision Support," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 18(3), pages 366-379, May.
    14. Li, Linjun & Lu, Hongfang & Campbell, Daniel E. & Ren, Hai, 2011. "Methods for estimating the uncertainty in emergy table-form models," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(15), pages 2615-2622.
    15. Malça, João & Freire, Fausto, 2012. "Addressing land use change and uncertainty in the life-cycle assessment of wheat-based bioethanol," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 519-527.
    16. Samuele Lo Piano & Lorenzo Benini, 2022. "A critical perspective on uncertainty appraisal and sensitivity analysis in life cycle assessment," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(3), pages 763-781, June.
    17. Alexander T. Dale & André Frossard Pereira de Lucena & Joe Marriott & Bruno Soares Moreira Cesar Borba & Roberto Schaeffer & Melissa M. Bilec, 2013. "Modeling Future Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Environmental Impacts of Electricity Supplies in Brazil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(7), pages 1-27, July.
    18. Jiayuan Dong & Jiankan Liao & Xun Huan & Daniel Cooper, 2023. "Expert elicitation and data noise learning for material flow analysis using Bayesian inference," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(4), pages 1105-1122, August.
    19. Le, Son Tay & Nguyen, Tuan Ngoc & Bui, Dac-Khuong & Ngo, Tuan Duc, 2024. "Techno-economic and life cycle analysis of renewable energy storage systems in buildings: The effect of uncertainty," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    20. David Laner & Helmut Rechberger & Thomas Astrup, 2014. "Systematic Evaluation of Uncertainty in Material Flow Analysis," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 18(6), pages 859-870, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:22:y:2018:i:5:p:1039-1049. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1088-1980 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.