Integration of resource efficiency and waste management criteria in European product policies – Second phase. Report n° 2: Application of the project’s methods to three product groups

Analysis of new product groups : The report applies the project’s methodologies to some exemplary products in order to test their applicability, their relevance and usefulness at the product level and to draw some recommendations at the methodological level. The outcomes from the application of the methodologies have been used to identify and assess potentially relevant ecodesign requirements for three case-study product: imaging equipments, washing machines, LCD-TV.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Integration of resource efficiency and waste management criteria in European product policies – Second phase Report n° 3 - Refined methods and Guidance documents for the calculation of indices concerning Reusability / Recyclability / Recoverability, Recycled content, Use of Priority Resources, Use of Hazardous substances, Durability (final)

the report illustrates the refined methodologies for the assessment of: reusability/recyclability/recoverability-RRR, use of relevant resources, recycled content, use of hazardous substances, durability. Based on results of the previous project Phase 1, the methodologies have been revised according to the outcomes of their application to some exemplary case-studies .JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Environmental assessment of the durability of energy-using products: method and application

AbstractDurability of products is generally seen to be a desirable goal. However, the extension of the lifetime of energy-using products is not necessarily the optimal strategy, as the efficiency of products generally decreases with wear, and their substitution by more energy-efficient products can be more environmentally beneficial in the long run. There is currently no standardised approach to resolving this conflict. The article describes an original method for environmentally assessing the durability of energy-using products in order to identify if and to what extent the potential extension of the product's lifetime could have life-cycle benefits. The method is based on the comparison, within a life-cycle perspective, of two scenarios of different lifetimes of a target product and its potential substitution with better performing alternatives. The method considers some key parameters of durability, including the product's lifetime, energy consumptions, impacts of lifetime extension and characteristics of the replacement product. The method can be used for ecodesign purposes by manufacturers or by policy makers. The applicability and robustness of the method are discussed, including limitations, difficulties and possible improvement. A general index and a simplified index have been introduced. The applicability and relevance of the simplified durability index is shown in two case-studies (of washing machines). The article shows that some life-cycle environmental benefits can be gained by extending the lifetime of the products. However, the benefits are variable, mostly depending on the selected impact category, the extension of the lifetime, the impact of repair, and the efficiency of the replacement product

Environmental Footprint and Material Efficiency Support for Product Policy - Report on benefits and impacts/costs of options for different potential material efficiency requirements for Dishwashers

The present report has been developed to support the European Commission in the integration in the European product policies of measures for the improvement of resource efficiency of products. In particular, the report analyses potential requirements for dishwashers (DW) that can be implemented within the framework of the Ecodesign directive (2009/125/EC). The analysis is based on the application of the REAPro method to the dishwasher product group for the following resource efficiency criteria: reusability / recyclability / recoverability, recycled content, use of hazardous substances and durability. The study concludes that the resource efficiency of dishwashers could significantly improve by the manual extraction of key parts before shredding, and also by extending the lifetime of a DW. On such purpose, the report proposes some potential ecodesign measures.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Ten years of scientific support for integrating circular economy requirements in the EU ecodesign directive: Overview and lessons learnt

The paper presents and analyses the REAPro Research programme led at the JRC that allowed the Commission to move from the formulation in 2011 of a general policy need to improve circularity of products through design, to the concrete implementation in 2019 of innovative and ambitious circular economy criteria in entry market European legislation. This policy innovation entailed the robust development of complementary components along the policy process, including policy agenda setting (better formulation of the policy need), policy formulation (e.g. identification of indicators to measure resource efficiency of products), and policy implementation (initiation of standardization activities). The paper looks back into 10 years of scientific support to policy and draws some conclusions concerning the needs of scientific support for policy making

Environmental Footprint and Material Efficiency Support for Product Policy - Feasibility study for a standardized method to measure the time taken to extract certain parts from an Electrical and Electronic Equipment

A study of the Joint Research Centre – JRC- on material efficiency published in 2012 established a method for the identification and assessment of “hot-spots” for End-of-Life (EoL) treatments of Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), including television, washing machines and imaging equipment. The method has been since then applied to various other product groups (e.g. enterprise servers). The improved extractability of target parts in Energy related Products (ErP) can represent a potential suitable requirement in the context of Ecodesign Directive for various product groups. In the case of measures for the “design for extraction of target parts in ErP” the 2012 JRC study identified the “time for the extraction” as a good proxy to prove the ‘easiness to disassembly’. However, the verification of the application of measures on extractability implies the availability of a method for repeatable measurements. The present report intends to provide scientific evidences on the feasibility of defining extraction times for the disassembly of WEEE and how it should be structured. The development of a standardised method for measuring the time for extraction of product’s target parts should allow the repeatability of measurements and minimizing uncertainty by removing or decreasing the influence of uncontrolled experimental conditions. The report includes a review of the relevant scientific references (including standards and scientific articles), discusses key issues for the measurement of the ‘time for extraction’ of product’s target parts and proposes how such keys issues can be integrated in an exemplary method for the measurement. Key definitions to be provided in the measurement method have been identified and provided for the following terms: target parts, extraction, extraction sequence, extraction time, worker experience, and tools for the extraction of components/parts. This report also establishes possible operating conditions such as testing area and safety requirements to extract parts of WEEE. The dismantling sequence has been identified as a crucial aspect. Detailed provisions on the dismantling sequence have been provided. The testing dismantling sequence has to be pre-defined prior to the product dismantling. Finally, a proposed measurement method has been developed as proof of concept and it is attached in Appendix 1. The method has been structured in order to reflect the framework of a potential international standard.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Integration of resource efficiency and waste management criteria in European product policies – Second phase. Report n° 1. Analysis of Durability

The present report aims at: 1) identifying key issues concerning the durability of products; 2) analysing methods and standards for the assessment of durability; 3) identifying potential product’s policy criteria for durability. The report is subdivided in 3 Chapters: Chapter 1 analyses scientific publications and standards to identify potential methods for the assessment of the durability of products. Also potential approaches to extend the operating time of products have been illustrated. Chapter 2 applies the method for the environmental assessment of durability to two exemplary washing machines. Chapter 3 illustrates hot spots for durability of washing machines, meaning those key components/parts that are functionally critical for the lifetime of the product. The analysis has been based on researches published in scientific literature and feedback from stakeholders. Potential environmental benefits for the washing machine product group due to extension of product’s lifetime have been also estimatedJRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Revision of methods to assess material efficiency of energy related products and potential requirements

The “Resource Efficiency Assessment of Product- REAPro” method has been developed to assess energy related products against a set of resource efficiency criteria, and to identify hot-spots and improvement potentials. The method has been applied and tested to various case-studies as: dishwashers, electronic displays, computers (notebook and tablets) and enterprise servers. These applications allowed to progressively refine the method from a scientifically perspective, but also to link the results to potentially new policy applications, including the development of new types of workable Ecodesign measures and Ecolabel criteria. The present report summarizes the recent advancements of the REAPro method and the definition of innovative requirements. In particular, novel elements discussed in the report are: - Analysis of benefits of reused components: The REAPro method only partially addressed the “reusability” concept (i.e. the potential full reuse of products at the EoL). However, it did not address the possibility that only certain key components (i.e. those having the highest residual value) could be collected from waste for the manufacturing of new products. This aspect has been addressed in a new method that allows to identify if, and to what extent, it is environmentally beneficial to reuse certain components for the remanufacturing of products (Chapter 2). In particular, it is observed that a product with reused components can still be environmentally convenient even if it has a higher energy consumption compared to brand-new products. The results of the method could be applied to build novel policy requirements, which allow higher energy efficiency thresholds for products that embody reused components. - Revision of the assessment of the index on recyclability: based on comments received by stakeholders related to previous case-studies, the index on recyclability benefit rate of the REAPro method has been revised to clearly separate the environmental impacts of the WEEE recycling from the potential credits due to the secondary raw materials produced (Chapter 3). - Assessment of the disassemblability and dismantlability of key components: design for disassembly of key components has been identified as a crucial aspect for the repair and recycling of the products. JRC has been working on developing suitable and verifiable requirements to assess disassemblability and dismantlability since 2012. These requirements have evolved, thanks to comments and suggestions from different stakeholders, and in particular from Market surveillance authorities of some Member States, which are in charge of verification of requirements. Two different types of requirements are presented and discussed in this report (Chapter 4): one based on numbers of disassembly steps necessary to disassemble certain components; and other based on criteria to grant the identification, access and extraction of key components for the product’s recycling, including requirements on their fastening and the provision of relevant information for the end-of-life treatments. - Recyclability of plastics: recycling of plastics is one of the biggest challenges in the WEEE treatment and is addressed in Chapter 5 of this report. Criticalities in plastic recycling have been analysed. In particular, large number of different polymers, technological barriers for plastic sorting, content of additives (especially flame retardants), difficulties for the extraction of plastic parts, downcycling and low value of secondary materials are among the reasons of very low recycling rates for plastics in WEEE. The reports therefore propose some potential requirements based on plastic marking and provision of information. A novel index on the content of flame retardants in plastic parts is proposed. Together with requirements on dismantlability, these requirements could contribute to improve the recycling of plastics from WEEE. At the time of the report (December 2016) several of the requirements above mentioned have been integrated and discussed in various policy proposals, as the Ecodesign requirements for electronic displays, enterprise servers and commercial refrigerating appliances, and Ecolabel criteria for computers and displays.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Modelling of food loss within life cycle assessment: From current practice towards a systematisation

Abstract Food loss is a major concern from both environmental and social point of view. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been largely applied to quantify the environmental impact of food and to identify pros and cons of different options for optimisation of food systems management, including the recovery of potential waste occurring along the supply chain. However, within LCA case studies, there is still a general lack of proper accounting of food losses. A discrepancy both in food loss definition and in the approaches adopted to model the environmental burden of food loss has been observed. These aspects can lead to misleading and, sometimes, contrasting results, limiting the reliability of LCA as a decision support tool for assessing food production systems. This article aims, firstly, at providing a preliminary analysis on how the modelling of food loss has been conducted so far in LCA studies. Secondly, it suggests a definition for food loss to be adopted. Finally, the article investigates the consequence of using such definition and it proposes potential paths for the development of a common methodological framework to increase the robustness and comparability of the LCA studies. It discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches adopted to account for food loss along the food supply chain: primary production, transport and storage, food processing, distribution, consumption and end of life. It is also proposed to account separately between avoidable, possibly avoidable and unavoidable food loss by means of specific indicators. Finally, some recommendations for LCA practitioners are provided on how to deal with food loss in LCA studies focused on food products. The most relevant recommendations concern: i) the systematic accounting of food loss generated along the food supply chain; ii) the modelling of waste treatments according to the specific characteristics of food; iii) the sensitivity analysis on the modelling approaches adopted to model multi-functionality; and iv) the need of transparency in describing the modelling of food loss generation and management

The recyclability benefit rate of closed-loop and open-loop systems: a case study on plastic recycling in Flanders

AbstractOver the last few years, waste management strategies are shifting from waste disposal to recycling and recovery and are considering waste as a potential new resource. To monitor the progress in these waste management strategies, governmental policies have developed a wide range of indicators. In this study, we analyzed the concept of the recyclability benefit rate indicator, which expresses the potential environmental savings that can be achieved from recycling the product over the environmental burdens of virgin production followed by disposal. This indicator is therefore, based on estimated environmental impact values obtained through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) practices. We quantify the environmental impact in terms of resource consumption using the Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment method. This research applied this indicator to two cases of plastic waste recycling in Flanders: closed-loop recycling (case A) and open-loop recycling (case B). Each case is compared to an incineration scenario and a landfilling scenario. The considered plastic waste originates from small domestic appliances and household waste other than plastic bottles. However, the existing recyclability benefit rate indicator does not consider the potential substitution of different materials occurring in open-loop recycling. To address this issue, we further developed the indicator for open-loop recycling and cascaded use. Overall, the results show that both closed-loop and open-loop recycling are more resource efficient than landfilling and incineration with energy recovery