Incentives for recycling and incineration in LCA: Polymers in Product Environmental Footprints

For material recycling to occur, waste material from a product life cycle must be made available for recycling and then used in the production of a new product. When recycling is beneficial for the environment, the LCA results should give incentives to collection for recycling and also to the use of recycled material in new products. However, most established methods for modelling recycling in LCA risk giving little or even wrong incentives. Many methods, such as the Circular Footprint Formula (CFF) in a Product Environmental Footprint (PEF), assign some of the environmental benefits of recycling to the product that uses recycled materials. This means that the incentive to send used products for recycling will be lower. If energy recovery also provides an environmental benefit, because the energy recovered substitutes energy supplied with a greater environmental impact, the LCA results may indicate that the waste should instead be sent to incineration – even when recycling is the environmentally preferable option for the society. This study aims to increase the knowledge on the extent to which PEF results, and LCA results in general, risk giving incorrect incentives for energy recovery from plastic waste. Our calculations focus on the climate impact of the recycling and incineration of LDPE waste generated in Sweden. Since this is a pilot study, we use easily available input data only. We estimate the net climate benefit through simple substitution, where recycled material is assumed to replace virgin material and where energy recovered from LDPE waste is assumed to replace average Swedish district heat and electricity. We then apply the CFF to find whether a PEF would give the same indications. Our results show no risk of a PEF or LCA giving incorrect climate incentives for incineration of fossil LDPE. However, an LCA can wrongly indicate that renewable LDPE should be incinerated rather than recycled. Our results indicate this can happen in a PEF when the heat and electricity substituted by incineration has 40-200% more climate impact than the Swedish average district heat and electricity.Our study also aims to increase knowledge about the extent to which correct incentives can be obtained through a more thorough analysis of incineration with energy recovery – specifically, through:\ua0\ua0\ua0 1. a deeper understanding of Factor B, which in the CFF can be used to assign part of the burdens and benefits of energy recovery to the energy instead of the product investigated, but which in the PEF guidelines by default is set to 0, or\ua0\ua0\ua0 2. a broader systems perspective that accounts for the effects of energy recovery on waste imports and thus waste management in other countries.We estimate Factor B based on the observation that waste incineration can be described as a process with multiple jointly determining functions. Waste treatment and energy recovery both contribute to driving investments in incineration. This, in turn, defines the volume of waste incinerated, the quantity of energy recovered, and the quantity of energy substituted. We propose that expected revenues from gate fees and energy are an appropriate basis for calculating Factor B. Up-to-date estimates of the expected revenues in the relevant region should ideally be used for the calculations. Lacking such data,we suggest the value B=0.6 can be used in the CFF when modelling waste incineration in Sweden. Our PEF calculations with Factor B=0.6 indicate such a PEF will identify the environmentally best option for plastic waste management in almost all cases. However, this is at least in part luck: Factor B will vary over time and between locations, and other parts of the CFF varies between materials.To account for the broader systems perspective, we develop two scenarios based on different assumptions on whether change in Swedish waste imports affects the incineration or landfilling in other European countries. The scenarios bring a large uncertainty into the results. This uncertainty is real in the sense that it is difficult to know how a change in Swedish waste imports in the end will affect waste management in other countries. The uncertainty still makes it difficult to draw conclusions on whether renewable LDPE should be recycled or incinerated.Our suggestions for Factor B and European scenarios both make the CFF more balanced and consistent: it now recognizes that not only recycling but alsoenergy recovery depends on more than the flow of waste from the life cycle investigated. However, neither Factor B nor the broader systems perspective amends the fact that LCA tends to focus on one product at a time. This might not be enough to guide a development that requires coordinated or concerted actions between actors in different life cycles – such as increased recycling or energy recovery. Assessing decisions in one product life cycle at a time might in this context be compared to independently assessing the action of clapping one hand. This will most probably not result in an applaud.Besides a more thorough assessment of energy recovery, we also discuss the option to give correct incentives for recycling from LCA by assigning the full environmental benefit of recycling to the product that generates waste for recycling but also to the product where the recycled material is used. We find that this 100/100 approach can give negative LCA results for products produced from recycled material and recycled to a high degree after recycling, because the benefits of recycling are counted twice. The LCA results would indicate that you save material resources by producing and recycling such products without ever using them. The 100/100 approach also lacks additivity, does not model foreseeable consequences, and does not assign a well-defined environmental value to the recovered secondary material.To guide concerted actions, like recycling or energy recovery, it seems systems analysis should ideally assess the necessary actions in combination. Many situations require the environmental impacts to be estimated for a specific product or a specific action. In some cases, however, the LCA results can be calculated and presented with, for example, the following introduction:“When the material is sent to recycling, you will, together with the recycler and the actor using the recycled material, jointly achieve this net environmental benefit: …”Such joint assessment of supply and demand for secondary materials means the allocation problem is avoided. It is also consistent with the recommendation in the old SETAC “Code of Practice” to assess life cycles with recycling by studying the inputs and outputs from the total linked system

Modelling incineration for more accurate comparisons to recycling in PEF and LCA

When recycling is beneficial for the environment, results from a life cycle assessment (LCA) should give incentives to collection for recycling and also to the use of recycled material in new products. Many approaches for modeling recycling in LCA assign part of the environmental benefits of recycling to the product where the recycled material is used. For example, the Circular Footprint Formula in the framework for Product Environmental Footprints (PEF) assigns less than 45% of the benefits of recycling to a polymer product sent to recycling. Our calculations indicate that this creates an incorrect climate incentive for incineration of renewable LDPE, when the recovered energy substitutes energy sources with 100–300% more climate impact than the Swedish average district heat and electricity. The risk of incorrect incentives can be reduced through allocating part of the net benefits of energy recovery to the life cycle where the energy is used; we propose this part can be 60% for Sweden, but probably less in countries without a district-heating network. Alternatively, the LCA can include the alternative treatment of waste that is displaced at the incinerator by waste from the investigated product. These solutions both make the LCA more balanced and consistent. The allocation factor 0.6 at incineration almost eliminates the risk of incorrect incentives in a PEF of renewable polymers. However, the focus of LCA on one product at a time might still make it insufficient to guide recycling, which requires concerted actions between actors in different life cycles

A case of Mycobacterium goodii prosthetic valve endocarditis in a non-immunocompromised patient: use of 16S rDNA analysis for rapid diagnosis

Background: Mycobacterium goodii is a rare cause of significant infection. M. goodii has mainly been associated with lymphadenitis, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, and wound infection. Case presentation: A case of a 76-year-old Caucasian female is presented. The patient developed a prosthetic valve endocarditis caused by M. goodii. She had also suffered from severe neurological symptoms related to a septic emboli that could be demonstrated as an ischemic lesion found on CT of the brain. Transesophageal echocardiography verified a large vegetation attached to the prosthetic valve. Commonly used blood culture bottles showed growth of the bacteria after 3 days. Conclusions: Although M. goodii is rarely involved in these kinds of severe infections, rapidly growing mycobacteria should be recognized during conventional bacterial investigations and identified by molecular tools such as analysis of 16S rDNA. Species identification of nontuberculous mycobacteria is demanding and is preferably done in collaboration with a mycobacterial laboratory. An early diagnosis provides the opportunity for adequate treatment. In the present case, prolonged antimicrobial treatment and surgery with replacement of the prosthetic valve was successful

Leder ett medlemskap i ASEAN till ökade utländska direktinvesteringar?

This study investigates if there are any advantages in increasing foreign direct investments for members of the Association of South Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional integration area. The study explains the effect that regional integration, preferential trade agreements and free trade areas have on attracting foreign direct investments. Different aspects of regional integration are used to explain what projects within ASEAN that could contribute to an increased inflow of foreign direct investments. The organs and agreements within ASEAN that are discussed are the following; AIA, AFTA, CEPT and how they could contribute to foreign direct investments. The dynamic and stationary effects of regional integration are used to explain the advantages of being a member of a regional integration area. The model used to explain inflows of foreign direct investments is an augmented gravitation model in which different variables are investigated to help the explanatory effect of the regression. The time period used for this study is 2001 to 2012 and it measures inflows to ASEAN and control group of Asian countries from investor countries that are part of UNCTADS top 20 list of outflows of foreign direct investments. It is found that ASEAN could explain Foreign Direct Investments using one regression, but when adding some variables, it loses its significance and thus we find that to some extent a membership in ASEAN does have significance when it comes to attracting foreign direct investments

Beviljat asyl – en fråga om regeringsfärg?

The aim of this study is to explain if the political orientation of the government has an effect on recognition rates of asylum applications. Previous studies discuss what could affect applications of asylums, whilst this study focuses on understanding why the recognition of asylums are unproportionally distributed within the European Union. To do that the explanatory variable of government orientation on the economic left-right scale is used. The theories used to explain the differences in government- and how they affect asylum recognition are based on leftist parties and how they are positioned towards immigration. The study also explains the Common European Asylum System and the Dublin Regulation with regard to the asylum process in the EU and recognition rates of asylum applications. The study analyses data from 1999 to 2012 and uses these result to show several differences within EU itself and proves that leftist governments do not grant more asylum application than rightist governments

Drömmen om ett högt organisatoriskt engagemang

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är öka förståelsen för vad som bidrar till ett högt organisatoriskt engagemang hos medarbetare. Metod: En kvalitativ fallstudie på företaget Carl F. Datainsamling har primärt genomförts genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och det analytiska ramverket som har använts är kategorisk reducering genom ett tolkande synsätt. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Studien utgår från Meyer och Allens trekomponentsmodell som beskriver organisatoriskt engagemang. De tre komponenter innefattar viljan, behovet och skyldigheten en individ känner och hur dessa påverkar dennes engagemang. Empiri: Samtliga respondenter påvisar utifrån empirin ett högt organisatoriskt engagemang gentemot företaget. Materialet visade även att företaget hade en väldigt familjär känsla med omhändertagande ledare samt ett decentraliserat arbetssätt. Resultat: Den organisatoriska kontexten samt den positiva inställningen på företaget ligger till grund för det höga organisatoriska engagemanget på CarlF

Assessment of the spatial distributions of total- and methyl-mercury and their relationship to sediment geochemistry from a whole-lake perspective

The aim of this study was to determine the spatial variability for total- and methylmercury in surface sediments (0–2 cm) across a single whole-lake basin, and to relate this variability to the sediment’s geochemical composition. 83 surface sediment samples from Stor-Strömsjön – a lake with multiple sub-basins located in northern Sweden – were analyzed for geochemical composition as well as total-mercury (total-Hg) and methylmercury (methyl-Hg; 35 samples) concentrations. Our results indicate that variations in fine-grained mineral matter (36%) and organic matter (34%) explain an equal amount of the total-Hg variation, but that their relative importance varies between different parts of the lake. Total-Hg concentrations were similar in locations controlled by organic matter or fine-grained mineral matter (average 109 ng g␣1); however, total-Hg inventories (mass per unit area) were significantly higher in the latter (35 and 53 mg m␣2, respectively). Methyl-Hg concentrations are largely (55% of variance) controlled by water depth and sulfur concentration, which supports the importance of within lake methylation reported from other studies. Both for concentrations and inventories the spatial distribution for methyl-Hg in surface sediments is patchy, and interestingly the highest methyl-Hg inventory (1.4 mg m␣2) was found in a shallow location with coarse-grained minerogenic sediment (very low organic matter). A large spatial variability, even within a single lake, is something that needs to be recognized, e.g., when studying processes affecting mercury cycling, mercury loadings and when using lake sediments to reconstruct historic mercury deposition

RED, PEF, and EPD: Conflicting rules for determining the carbon footprint of biofuels give unclear signals to fuel producers and customers

Biofuel producers and other commodity suppliers are increasingly affected by conflicting rules for life cycle assessment (LCA). They may get multiple requests for LCAs to be used in various contexts, which require the application of different methodological approaches that vary in scope, system boundaries, data demand, and more. This results in increased cost and competence requirements for producers, as well as confusion among other actors including their customers. Differences in methodologies might also lead to various outcomes, conclusions and conflicting guidance regarding which fuels to prioritize or develop. We have analyzed the actual differences when applying three different frameworks: the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED), the EU framework for Product Environmental Footprints (PEF), and the framework of Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), which have different modeling requirements. We analyzed the methods from a conceptual point of view and also applied the methods to estimate the carbon footprint on a wide range of biofuel production pathways: (i) ethanol from corn, (ii) fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) from rapeseed oil, (iii) biogas from food waste, (iv) hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) from rapeseed oil, and (v) HVO from used cooking oil. Results obtained for a specific fuel could differ substantially depending on the framework applied and the assumptions and interpretations made when applying the different frameworks. Particularly, the results are very sensitive to the modeling of waste management when biofuel is produced from waste. Our results indicate a much higher climate impact for, e.g., biogas and HVO produced from used cooking oil when assessed with the PEF framework compared to the other frameworks. This is because PEF assigns at least part of the production of primary materials and energy to the use of recycled material and recovered energy. Developing Category Rules for biofuels for PEF and EPD ought to help clarifying remaining ambiguities

New insights from XRF core scanning data into boreal lake ontogeny during the Eemian (Marine Isotope Stage 5e) at Sokli, northeast Finland

Biological proxies from the Sokli Eemian (Marine Isotope Stage 5e) paleolake sequence from northeast Finland have previously shown that, unlike many postglacial records from boreal sites, the lake becomes increasingly eutrophic over time. Here, principal components (PC) were extracted from a high resolution multi-element XRF core scanning dataset to describe minerogenic input from the wider catchment (PC1), the input of S, Fe, Mn, and Ca-rich detrital material from the surrounding Sokli Carbonatite Massif (PC2), and chemical weathering (PC3). Minerogenic inputs to the lake were elevated early in the record and during two abrupt cooling events when soils and vegetation in the catchment were poor. Chemical weathering in the catchment generally increased over time, coinciding with higher air temperatures, catchment productivity, and the presence of acidic conifer species. Abiotic edaphic processes play a key role in lake ontogeny at this site stemming from the base cation- and nutrient-rich bedrock, which supports lake alkalinity and productivity. The climate history at this site, and its integrated effects on the lake system, appear to override development processes and alters its long-term trajectory.Peer reviewe

Расчетно-статистические модели режимов потребления электроэнергии как основа нормирования и оценки энергетической эффективности

Необходимым прямым и косвенным инструментом государственной политики энергосбережения яв­ляется механизм нормирования расхода топлива и энергии для технических процессов, установок, продукции [1]. Нормирование потребления топливно-энергетических ресурсов (ТЭР), с одной сторо­ны, необходимо для определения энергетической составляющей затрат в структуре себестоимости продукции (при калькуляции себестоимости), а с другой стороны — для оценки эффективности использования ТЭР. Нормирование расхода ТЭР является одним из элементов экономической части по­литики энергосбережения, способствует устранению неэффективного использования ТЭР и внедре­нию энергосберегающих мероприятий, призвано регулировать деятельность промышленных потре­бителей в области энергосбережения