Authors: Zachary A Coventry Ronald Tize Arunprakash T Karunanithi
Publish Date: 2016/04/21
Volume: 18, Issue: 5, Pages: 1515-1524
Abstract
The “cradletograve” human and environmental impacts of municipal solid waste MSW management practices are often evaluated using life cycle assessment LCA methods and tools Many MSW LCA methods have been previously proposed however research suggests that the applicability of a given method is limited by geography This paper sets forth the city of Austin Texas as a fair representation of a “typical” US city from the perspective of MSW treatment and disposal It then describes the methods and findings of a comparative LCA of four different waste treatment scenarios in the city of Austin In addition the paper presents a unique approach termed as orders of separation to clearly establish and communicate LCA upstream and downstream considerations The paper’s findings suggest that most life cycle impacts are from treating the MSW and that thermal treatment strategies are generally preferable to land filling strategies Consequently it may be justifiable to transport wastes longer distances to reach a thermal treatment facility The findings of this paper will be of interest to solid waste managers and policy makers to compare different treatment options for US cities
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