Microsoft Word - Environmental benefits of recycling 2010 update.doc

cases out of 18). The studies comparing recycling and pyrolysis also conclude that recycling is better for this indicator, with ...

2 1 21 11 2 262 12 6 4 ‐175% ‐150% ‐125% ‐100% ‐75% ‐50% ‐25% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% Relative difference with recycl ...

Depletion of natural resources Figure 15 shows that recycling is more favourable than the other alternatives regarding depletion ...

2 2 28 6 43 ‐175% ‐150% ‐125% ‐100% ‐75% ‐50% ‐25% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% Relative difference with recycling accordi ...

Energy demand As shown in Figure 17, recycling appears more favourable than landfill in all the cases. Regarding the comparison ...

2 2 2 1 4 2 31 12 4 4 2 1 ‐175% ‐150% ‐125% ‐100% ‐75% ‐50% ‐25% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% Relative difference with rec ...

Water consumption Only studies no 4 and 7 include the indicator water consumption and study no 7 only compares recycling and lan ...

2 1 111 ‐175% ‐150% ‐125% ‐100% ‐75% ‐50% ‐25% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% Relative difference with recycling according t ...

Other indicators Acidification Recycling appears as the preferable option in most cases while landfill is the least preferable o ...

Eutrophication No clear conclusion can be draw up for this indicator but still recycling and pyrolysis both emerge as the option ...

A 100-year period is chosen in most LCAs but there is a debate around this issue among LCA experts. It can for instance be noted ...

Avoided material production and substitution ratio The good environmental performance of recycling and pyrolysis that was highli ...

Table 41 Influence of the choice of material substitution for recycling in study n°2 (Shonfield, 2008) Substitutes 100% virgin p ...

power plant were compared to the reference scenario for which the power produced substitutes production from a combined-cycle ga ...

Table 44 points out the diversity of assumptions in the selected studies. The influence of the sorting efficiency is analysed in ...

3.3.5 Comparison with the results from the previous report edition The review conducted in 2006 covered 60 scenarios and compare ...

3.4 Biopolymers 3.4.1 Presentation Biopolymers are polymers produced from biomass and are therefore made of renewable resources. ...

Table 45 Presentation of the selected studies for biopolymers Study number Title Main author Year Geographical scope 1 Life Cycl ...

Crop growing and harvesting Starchextraction Production of intermediates products Electricity Biopolymer shaping Biopolymer prod ...

Table 46 Overview of the end-of-life alternatives compared within each case for biopolymers Case Recycling Composting Incinerati ...