Life Cycle Assessment and System Dynamics: an integrated approach for the dimension stone sector

The Italian traditional sector of dimension stones (mostly marbles and granites) has begun to recognize the importance of improving its sustainability. Nevertheless, a lot of different variables, sometimes in conflict, influence the production system from the economical, environmental and social point of view. As a consequence, a global and holistic approach is required. The on-going study aims to provide some tools facilitating the analysis of this complex system through the integration of the Life Cycle Thinking and the System Dynamic (SD) Approach. On-site data were collected in order to perform a more accurate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with boundaries from-cradle-to-gate. An SD model was then developed to interlink the obtained values of environmental potential impacts with economical aspects and to dynamically simulate the behaviour of the system

Analysis of material recovery from silicon photovoltaic panels

Lifecycle impacts of photovoltaic (PV) plants have been largely explored in several studies in the scientific literature. However, the end-of-life phase has been generally excluded or neglected from these analyses. It is expected that the disposal of PV plants will become a relevant environmental issue in the next decades. An Italian company is currently developing the project FRELP - Full Recovery End of Life Photovoltaic- as part of the European “LIFE” programme. The FRELP project focuses on the development of an innovative process based on a series of mechanical and chemical treatments to recycle/recover waste crystalline-silicon (C-Si) photovoltaic (PV) panels. Thanks to the FRELP processing several materials can be sorted from 1 tonne of PV waste including: glass (98%), aluminium (99%), silicon metal (95%), copper (99%), and silver (94%) for a total quantity of 908 kg. Some of these materials (e.g. silicon metal, antimony, chromium and fluorspar) are considered as Critical Raw Materials for the European economy, having high economic importance and high risk of supply. The present report describes the application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to analyse the innovative process developed within FRELP project. The system boundaries of the LCA were set from the PV waste collection until the production of recyclable materials. Environmental benefits (i.e. credits) due to the potential productions of secondary raw materials have been accounted by expanding the system boundary. The benefits of the recycling process were compared to impacts due to the production of raw material and manufacturing of the PV panels. The report shows that, when waste materials are recycled to produce secondary raw materials, relevant environmental benefits can be obtained. The LCA methodology was also applied to assess the environmental performance of the innovative recycling process in comparison with the current treatment of PV waste in generic Waste of Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling plants. The results proved that this innovative recycling implies higher impacts for the processing but much higher benefits in terms of recycled materials. Relevant net benefits have been estimated. The LCA identified some hot-spots of the recycling process. Transport has been found to have an important contribution to all life cycle impacts. Finally, the high efficiency and quality of glass separated through the FRELP processes could be used for high quality application (i.e. glass for the production of new PV panels). This process would allow the recycling of antimony used in the glass and currently dispersed in the secondary glass production. In particular, this scenario would allow an overall benefit of 2,274 kg CO2 eq avoided per tonne of recycled PV (20% higher than the FRELP PV waste treatment base case scenario).JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Challenges and opportunities for web-shared publication of quality-assured life cycle data: the contributions of the Life Cycle Data Network

Purpose: The European Commission’s Integrated Product Policy Communication, 2003, defined Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as the ‘best framework for assessing the potential environmental impacts of products’. Since then, the use of LCA and life cycle approaches has been developing in a wide range of European policies, and its use has also significantly grown in business. Increasing the availability of quality-assured Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data is the current challenge to ensure the development of LCA in various areas. Methods: One solution to increase availability is to use LCI data from multiple database sources but under the condition that such LCI data are fully interoperable. Results and discussion: This paper presents original solutions and recent achievements towards increased availability, quality and interoperability of life cycle inventory data, developed through European Commission-led activities and based on wide stakeholder consultation and international dialogue. An overview of related activities, such as the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD), the European Reference Life Cycle Database (ELCD) and the ILCD Entry-Level quality requirements are presented. The focus is then on the Life Cycle Data Network (LCDN). Conclusions: A non-centralised data network of LCI datasets complying with minimum quality requirements that was politically launched in February 2014, already includes several database nodes from different worldwide sources and has the potential to contribute to the needs of the international community

Development of a Sankey Diagram of Material Flows in the EU Economy based on Eurostat Data

Europe relies on reliable and robust knowledge on materials stocks and flows to promote innovation along the entire value chain of raw materials. The concept of the circular economy, recently adopted by the European Commission, aims at maintaining the value of products, materials, and resources in the economy for as long as possible, and minimize waste generation. One of the prerequisites for better monitoring materials use across the whole life-cycle is a good understanding of material stocks and flows. The goal of this report is thus to show how readily available statistical information can be used to generate a Sankey diagram of material flows and their circularity in the 28 member states of the European Union (EU-28). Despite several data challenges, it is possible to develop a visual representation of material flows and their level of circularity in the EU-28 as well as for individual member states for the period 2004 to 2014 (with future updates possible as new statistical data sets become available). The focus is on non-energy and non-food materials in line with the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP-RM). This includes material flows used for their material quality including, e.g., metals, construction minerals, industrial minerals, and biomass like timber for constructions or fibres for paper or textiles. Materials used for their energy content like fossil fuels, fuel wood, feed or food are excluded. A combination of regularly available data sources including economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) and EU waste statistics are used to generate a Sankey diagram showing the flows and net additions to stocks of four major material categories (metals, construction minerals, industrial minerals, and biomass (timber and products from biomass)). In 2014, the turnover of non-energy and non-food materials in the EU economy is found at 4.8 Gt (direct material input + recycling and backfilling). Recycled materials make up around 0.7 Gt (15%) of all materials used in the EU-28 in 2014. Socioeconomic stocks are growing in the EU-28 at about 2.2 to 3.4 Gt each year (net additions to stocks during the period from 2004 to 2014). For example, in 2014 around 51% (2.3/4.5 Gt) of all non-energy and non-food materials used domestically within the EU were added to stocks. Stock accumulation limits the potential for current recovery because material stocks are not immediately available for recycling (but will become available in the future when products providing useful services to the EU economy reach their end-of-life). In 2014, total waste generated from non-energy and non-food materials use in the EU-28 amounted to 2.2 Gt. Some 1.9 Gt of this waste was treated in the EU-28. The largest share of this waste (about 41%) was subject to landfilling operations. About 33% of the waste treated in the EU-28 in 2014 was sent to recycling operations (recovery other than energy recovery and backfilling) and 10% was used in backfilling. The EU is largely self-sufficient for construction minerals and industrial minerals, somewhat import dependent for biomass (for materials purposes), but highly import-dependent for metals. Sankey diagrams for eight individual member states including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain, France, Germany, and Italy are generated and compared with each other. Overall material throughput is highest for Germany, France, and Italy. Belgium’s economy depends on imports of a large number of raw materials, while several other EU countries domestically produce construction minerals and industrial minerals. Metals are imported by all member states although some EU countries (e.g., Finland) also have limited metal mining activities. In the eight EU member states examined, recycling and backfilling ranges between 11% and 68% at end-of-life (output side) and 6% and 27% when compared to overall material inputs (input side). Germany is used as a case study to show how the proposed visualization framework can be used to generate member state Sankey diagrams for multiple years. Further research is needed to confirm these findings, fill in data gaps (e.g., trade in waste products), and better estimate selected flow parameters. However, the proposed assessment and visualization do provide a reasonable first picture of raw material uses and their flow magnitudes (by major material categories) in Europe, and how these evolve over time. The resulting Sankey diagrams will feed into the EC's Raw Material Information System's (RMIS) MFA module (currently in development) to better visualize related material flows for the EU and at individual country level. The level of circularity can be measured considering different groups of raw materials. Because for materials used for energy purposes materials recovery is mostly not possible, we recommend including resource categories including fossil energy materials and biomass for food and energy purposes in future studies to obtain a more holistic picture of raw materials use in the EU.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials: Annual Monitoring Report 2017

The Annual Monitoring Report 2017 assesses the progress made by the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials, namely by providing an overview on the state-of-play of Raw Material Commitments (RMCs) of the EIP on Raw Materials. Commitments are joint undertakings by several partners, who commit themselves to carrying out activities that contribute to achieving actions, targets and objectives of the EIP. It is based on indicators that measure inputs (human resources, funding, etc.) and outputs related to the commitments. The Annual Monitoring Report 2017 shows that the EIP currently counts 60 Raw Materials Commitments, which include around 650 unique partners. Taken together the commitments have reported a total indicative budget of close to €2 billion. They are found to be delivering tangible results such as innovative actions or pilots, and strategic documents. Commitments are joint undertakings by several partners, who commit themselves to carrying out activities that contribute to achieving actions and targets of the EIP. The Annual Monitoring Report 2017 is the fourth of the EIP Annual Monitoring Report series issued by EC. For the second time, the Annual Monitoring Report 2016 analyses the contribution of the Commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Towards Recycling Indicators based on EU flows and Raw Materials System Analysis data

Recycling as a source of secondary raw materials contributes to the security of supply and helps advance materials circularity in the EU economy. Relevant and reliable recycling data and indicators are therefore vital to a number of EU policies related to raw materials, waste management, and circular economy, in order to better understand the present and monitor the progresses towards the future. In the 2016 Raw Materials Scoreboard and in the context of the 2017 list of critical raw materials (CRM) for the EU, the principal recycling indicator is the end-of-life recycling input rate (EOL-RIR). The EOL-RIR equals the ‘input of secondary material to the EU from old scrap to the total input of materials (primary and secondary) and is regarded as a robust measure of recycling’s contribution to meeting materials demand. EOL-RIR meets in fact the so-called "RACER criteria", i.e. is considered to be Relevant, Accepted, Credible, Easy and Robust. The same indicator (EOL-RIR) is also adopted in the Circular Economy monitoring framework. The objective of this report is threefold: (1) consolidate the methodology to calculate EOL-RIR, update relevant data, and fill data gaps, (2) identify a meaningful complementary recycling indicator, namely the end-of-life recycling rate (EOL-RR), focused on how efficient recycling industries and recycling routes in the EU are, and (3) explore a methodology for estimating recycling potentials. Building on a previous JRC report , the key methodological issues related to the principal indicator EOL-RIR are described. Further guidance is provided, in particular, on how to handle multiple data sources in order to: (a) progressively switch from global to regional (EU-28) flows, (b) optimise the use of EU Material System Analysis (MSA) data, (c) handle comparability while mixing EU MSA, Global UNEP/IRP , and industry data. The most updated EOL-RIR figures for 78 raw materials are shown. Methodological details are provided for EOL-RR and results are shown for selected raw materials. The EOL-RR captures the amount of (secondary) materials recovered and functionally recycled at end-of-life compared to the overall waste quantities generated, (i.e., it is an output-related indicator). It therefore provides complementary information specifically about the performance of the collection and recycling sector and is thus useful from a recyclers’ perspective. The estimate of recycling potentials has shown to be an interesting exercise, with promising perspectives as a field of future investigation. The EOL-RIR (potential) can be estimated using the same system boundaries as the EOL-RIR, by considering the amount of material recoverable from non-dissipative end-use applications, under the assumption that the current demand, quantity of products collected for treatment, and import and export flows remain unchanged (‘snapshot in time’). The methodology proposed is illustrated with few examples: Indium, Tungsten, Copper and Aluminium. A general conclusion is that recycling indicators need to be assessed by taking into account materials individually and using material system analyses (MSA)-derived data. Further expansion of raw materials coverage in MSA studies is needed and an update of the 2015 MSA study is advisable, as it used 2012 data which is partly outdated by now. The EU Raw Materials Information System (RMIS) can play a key role in further collecting, storing, and harmonizing material flow related data in the EU.JRC.D.3-Land Resource