Depletion of natural resources
Compared to climate change, fewer cases take this indicator into account (five cases compared to 13 cases).
Figure 27 suggests that for this indicator composting is the least preferable option compared to recycling,
incineration with energy recovery and landfill. However, landfill presents an environmental improvement of only
0-25% compared to composting, for all cases assessed. Thus, given the uncertainties associated with the
indicator, this difference cannot be considered significant. The good performance of incineration with energy
recovery for study no 2 (see Table 50 and Table 51) is due to the energy credits while the benefits of incineration
over composting are lower for study no 1. This is probably linked to the fact that in study n°1 only electricity is
recovered whereas both electricity and heat are generated in study no 2. For recycling, the high benefits come
from the material recovery that avoids the production of virgin material. Figure 28 illustrates that recycling seems
to be the only alternative that performs better than incineration with energy recovery.
Table 50 Relative difference between the impacts from the different end-of-life options vs. composting for depletion of natural resources for
biopolymers. A positive value means that composting is preferable to the other end-of-life option. A negative value means that composting causes
more environmental impact than the other end-of-life option.
N° case 1[MB] 1[OCT] 2[PLA] 2[MB] 2[BIO]
Recycling ‐67520%
Incineration with energy recovery ‐10% ‐10% ‐6480% ‐7860% ‐6700%
Incineration without energy recovery
Landfill 0% 0% ‐20% ‐20% ‐20%
Anaerobic digestion
Studies n°3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 do not include a comparison with composting for this indicator
and thus are not included in this tableComposting versus other alternativesTable 51 Relative difference between the impacts from the different end-of-life options vs. incineration with energy recovery for depletion of
natural resources for biopolymers. A positive value means that incineration with energy recovery is preferable to the other end-of-life option. A
negative value means that incineration with energy recovery causes more environmental impact than the other end-of-life option.
N° case 1[MB] 1[OCT] 2[PLA] 2[MB] 2[BIO]
Recycling ‐770%
Composting 10% 10% 100% 100% 100%
Incineration without energy recovery
Landfill 10% 10% 100% 100% 100%
Anaerobic digestionIncineration with energy recovery versus
other alternativesStudies n°3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 do not include a comparison with incineration with energy
recovery for this indicator and thus are not included in this table