Microsoft Word - Environmental benefits of recycling 2010 update.doc

Table 1 Overview of the materials and treatment options under study

Recycling Composting Incineration Landfill

Anaerobic

digestion

Pyrolysis Gasification

Paper and card xxx

Plastics xxxx

Biopolymers xxxxx

Food and garden waste xxxx

Wood xxx

Textiles xxx

2.0 Methodology for the selection and assessment of LCA studies

2.1 Literature review ...................................................................................................................

The main objective of this step was to identify all published LCA studies that compare two or more waste
management options for one or more fractions included in the field of this review.

An exhaustive review of LCA publications was carried out using the following sources of information:

 International scientific journals and databases: International Journal of LCA, Science Direct, Springer

 Publications by relevant worldwide organisations in waste management and life cycle assessment:

National Environment Protection Agencies, European Joint Research Center (JRC), DEFRA, WRAP

 BIOIS and CRI’s own databases

 BIOIS and CRI’s contact network

The extensive literature review led to the identification of around 220 studies.

2.2 Publications selection criteria..................................................................................................

In order to be able to choose the publications suitable and relevant for analysis, a list of selection criteria was
established. The objective was to narrow the selection to transparent and high-quality studies.

The criteria used for the selection were:

 the study was an LCA or LCA-like study

 the study included a comparison of one or more end-of-life scenarios for the material fraction under

study

 representation of recycling or composting among the waste management options assessed,

 robustness of the publication: the publication should have been either peer reviewed or published in

a scientific journal

 transparency in the assumptions made

 primary research and not a review of previous work

 no ambiguity in the way impacts are ascribed to materials

 plausibility of the waste management options

Further details regarding these selection criteria are given below.

2.2.1 The study was an LCA or LCA-like study .....................................................................

The choice was made to focus on LCA studies because LCA is currently considered as the most reliable method
for analysing the environmental impacts of products and services. One of the main advantages of LCA is that it
enables a quantitative evaluation of potential environmental impacts on several indicators. The LCA methodology
has been standardised by the International Standards Organization (ISO) (ISO 14040 and 14044 standards).