Identifying the influence of an operational environment on environmental impacts of waste management
Liikanen, Miia (2019-12-13)
Väitöskirja
Liikanen, Miia
13.12.2019
Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT
Acta Universitatis Lappeenrantaensis
School of Energy Systems
School of Energy Systems, Ympäristötekniikka
Kaikki oikeudet pidätetään.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-335-461-6
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-335-461-6
Tiivistelmä
Ever-increasing waste generation, resource depletion and awareness of adverse environmental impacts all factor into the growing application of life cycle assessment (LCA) as a method for evaluating the potential environmental impacts of waste management. A waste management system is an inherent part of an operational environment because of the close relationship between the waste management and surrounding systems, such as energy production. The environmental impacts of those surrounding systems are thus typically encompassed within the system boundaries when assessing the environmental impacts of waste management. LCA studies of waste management systems in the literature have revealed that the environmental impacts of surrounding systems may well outweigh the impacts generated by waste treatment activities. As operational environments are influenced by socio-economic, political, legislative, technological and geographical aspects of a given case area, these aspects in turn influence the associated waste management system.
The objective of the research herein is to explore the influence of an operational environment on the environmental impacts of waste management, through the lens of LCA as a research method. The comparison of the environmental impacts of waste management in markedly different case studies conducted in distinct corners of the globe, namely in Finland, China and Brazil, enables one to identify the variations in the environmental performance of different waste management alternatives. The three central research questions of this dissertation are as follows: (1) What are the environmental impacts of waste management in the case areas, and how might these be decreased?; (2) How do the environmental impacts of different waste treatment methods differ among the operational environments?; and (3) What are the most important reasons underlying the differences?
This dissertation addresses the objective and research questions through four individual case studies in which LCA has been applied to assess the potential environmental impacts of waste management. Even though the case studies differ in many respects, they do exhibit fundamental similarities, thus enabling their comparison from the standpoint of the thesis. The case studies were carried out acknowledging the context- and case-specific characteristics of the case areas. Thus, in order to facilitate utilization of the results in decision- and policy-making, the assessed scenarios have been outlined case-by-case, rather than being presented as an arbitrary comparison of different waste treatment alternatives.
In exploring the role of an operational environment in the environmental impacts of waste management, the case studies revealed that socio-economic, technological and geographical aspects have a determining influence on the environmental impacts of waste management. In the case studies, the energy recovery rate of waste incineration was identified as the most important factor influencing the results when the environmental performance of incineration was assessed with respect to other waste treatment methods. The energy recovery rate of waste incineration was influenced by numerous factors, such as waste composition, the technological maturity of waste incineration and, most importantly, the need for the recovered energy. These factors were in turn influenced by the aforementioned aspects of an operational environment. The political aspects of operational environments were not found to directly influence the environmental impacts of waste management, but instead were found have a distinct effect on the goal and scope of the case studies.
The thesis identified the most important reasons underlying the differences among the case studies. The aspects of an operational environment should be acknowledged, particularly when exploring the differences in the environmental performance of waste treatment alternatives in different case areas. This plays a vital role, for instance, when outlining the correlation between the priority order of the waste hierarchy and environmental impacts in different areas and waste management systems.
The objective of the research herein is to explore the influence of an operational environment on the environmental impacts of waste management, through the lens of LCA as a research method. The comparison of the environmental impacts of waste management in markedly different case studies conducted in distinct corners of the globe, namely in Finland, China and Brazil, enables one to identify the variations in the environmental performance of different waste management alternatives. The three central research questions of this dissertation are as follows: (1) What are the environmental impacts of waste management in the case areas, and how might these be decreased?; (2) How do the environmental impacts of different waste treatment methods differ among the operational environments?; and (3) What are the most important reasons underlying the differences?
This dissertation addresses the objective and research questions through four individual case studies in which LCA has been applied to assess the potential environmental impacts of waste management. Even though the case studies differ in many respects, they do exhibit fundamental similarities, thus enabling their comparison from the standpoint of the thesis. The case studies were carried out acknowledging the context- and case-specific characteristics of the case areas. Thus, in order to facilitate utilization of the results in decision- and policy-making, the assessed scenarios have been outlined case-by-case, rather than being presented as an arbitrary comparison of different waste treatment alternatives.
In exploring the role of an operational environment in the environmental impacts of waste management, the case studies revealed that socio-economic, technological and geographical aspects have a determining influence on the environmental impacts of waste management. In the case studies, the energy recovery rate of waste incineration was identified as the most important factor influencing the results when the environmental performance of incineration was assessed with respect to other waste treatment methods. The energy recovery rate of waste incineration was influenced by numerous factors, such as waste composition, the technological maturity of waste incineration and, most importantly, the need for the recovered energy. These factors were in turn influenced by the aforementioned aspects of an operational environment. The political aspects of operational environments were not found to directly influence the environmental impacts of waste management, but instead were found have a distinct effect on the goal and scope of the case studies.
The thesis identified the most important reasons underlying the differences among the case studies. The aspects of an operational environment should be acknowledged, particularly when exploring the differences in the environmental performance of waste treatment alternatives in different case areas. This plays a vital role, for instance, when outlining the correlation between the priority order of the waste hierarchy and environmental impacts in different areas and waste management systems.
Kokoelmat
- Väitöskirjat [1099]