A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of water treatment plants using alternative sources of water (seawater and mine affected water).

Master of Science in Civil Engineering. University of Kwazulu-Natal, Durban 2016Water is a replenishing, yet at times scarce resource that is necessary for the growth and development of all organisms and plant life. In South Africa, the situation is challenging due to competing demands for limited fresh water reserves. Thus, the search for technological solutions is necessary to alleviate water shortages. Two of the potential measures to increase available water supply are desalination and reuse of water. As with any industrial operation, potable water production involves several processes which inherently impact the environment. These need to be taken into consideration in the design and management of water treatment operations. The purpose of the study was to conduct an environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of two water treatment membrane plants that use alternative feed sources namely seawater and mine affected water. The first plant will be located in the Southern area of the eThekwini Municipality and will utilise seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) to produce 150 Mℓ/d of potable water. The second is a case study based on an existing mine water reclamation plant in Mpumalanga that is designed around a two stage ultrafiltration-reverse osmosis (UF-RO) process used to treat 15 Mℓ/d of mine affected water. The LCA guidelines, which were established by the International Organisation for Standardisation, were utilised for the purposes of this study. Design data was collected for both the construction and operation phases of the plants while SimaPro was used as the LCA analysis software with the application of the ReCiPe Midpoint method. The key findings from the assessment reveal that electricity production and consumption is responsible for the majority of environmental impacts that stem from the respective plants. A further analysis indicated that the South African electricity mix has greater environmental impacts than other energy sources such as photovoltaic and wind power. The integration of these energy systems with alternative water treatment processes has been proven to reduce environmental loads to levels associated with conventional water technologies. Based on these results, it is recommended that focus should shift towards energy minimisation techniques and the use of renewable energy sources in order to advance the environmental performance of water treatment processes

The evolution of life cycle assessment in the food and beverage industry: A review

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been progressively used as an tool to quantify and compare environmental impacts in the food and beverage industry. This paper reviews LCAs on single-use food and beverage plastic products from January 2000 to June 2022. Studies are also analysed in the context of marine plastic pollution which is a global concern. A total of 91 studies were reviewed with 44% conducted for the European region. Findings suggest that most studies follow the traditional approach and structure of LCA with some studies focusing on global warming potential and others incorporating aspects such as life cycle costs and mass-based indicators. A total of 62% of reviewed studies had a cradle-to-grave scope. LCA studies can be influenced by public discourse, for example, the rising concern surrounding plastic marine pollution. From 2019, additional environmental indicators have been included in LCAs wherein the product is a major contributor to pollution. To date, six studies have proposed marine litter indicators. In future years, we can expect further development of life cycle impact assessment methods to reflect concerns in the public discourse. This includes methodologies for assessing circularity or plastic pollution. Furthermore, product foci will continue to follow popular trends

What material flow analysis and life cycle assessment reveal about plastic polymer production and recycling in South Africa

Global production and consumption of plastics have increased significantly in recent years. The environmental impacts associated with this trend have received growing attention internationally with single-use plastic packaging responsible for most plastic pollution. Locally, the SA Plastics Pact, the Industry Master Plan, and the National Waste Management Strategy all aim to transform the current linear sector model into a circular system by setting targets for increased collection and recycling rates and recycled content. However, the associated impacts of implementing such circular interventions have not yet been assessed across the plastics life cycle. Industrial ecology tools, material flow analysis and life cycle assessment, are used to generate mass-based indicators as well as indicators of climate damage in the form of the global warming potential. The carbon footprint of the South African plastics value chain from cradle to grave was estimated at 17.9 Mt CO2eq emissions in 2018, with 52% of these due to the local coal-based monomer production process. The end-of-life stage lacks proper waste collection for a third of the population, but contributes only 2% to the total greenhouse gas emissions, with recycling having a minimal environmental impact. Future projections of plastics production, use, disposal, and recycling for 2025 show that increasing mechanical recycling rates to achieve stated targets would start to have a significant effect on virgin polymer demand (in the order of several billion rands of sales annually) but would also reduce waste disposal by 28% relative to baseline growth and 18% below values calculated for 2018.Significance:• Despite increased attention, the flows and resulting life cycle-based carbon footprint of the plastics sector have not been evaluated on a local scale.• The carbon footprint of the South African plastics industry is sizeable at almost 18 Mt CO2eq per annum with emissions strongly associated with the linear rather than the circular stages of the value chain.• The impacts of a key circular economy intervention, namely increased recycling rates to achieve set targets include demand reduction for virgin polymer to the tune of several billion rands

What material flow analysis and life cycle assessment reveal about plastic polymer production and recycling in South Africa

Global production and consumption of plastics have increased significantly in recent years. The environmental impacts associated with this trend have received growing attention internationally with single-use plastic packaging responsible for most plastic pollution. Locally, the SA Plastics Pact, the Industry Master Plan, and the National Waste Management Strategy all aim to transform the current linear sector model into a circular system by setting targets for increased collection and recycling rates and recycled content. However, the associated impacts of implementing such circular interventions have not yet been assessed across the plastics life cycle. Industrial ecology tools, material flow analysis and life cycle assessment, are used to generate mass-based indicators as well as indicators of climate damage in the form of the global warming potential. The carbon footprint of the South African plastics value chain from cradle to grave was estimated at 17.9 Mt CO2eq emissions in 2018, with 52% of these due to the local coal-based monomer production process. The end-of-life stage lacks proper waste collection for a third of the population, but contributes only 2% to the total greenhouse gas emissions, with recycling having a minimal environmental impact. Future projections of plastics production, use, disposal, and recycling for 2025 show that increasing mechanical recycling rates to achieve stated targets would start to have a significant effect on virgin polymer demand (in the order of several billion rands of sales annually) but would also reduce waste disposal by 28% relative to baseline growth and 18% below values calculated for 2018. Significance: Despite increased attention, the flows and resulting life cycle-based carbon footprint of the plastics sector have not been evaluated on a local scale. The carbon footprint of the South African plastics industry is sizeable at almost 18 Mt CO2eq per annum with emissions strongly associated with the linear rather than the circular stages of the value chain. The impacts of a key circular economy intervention, namely increased recycling rates to achieve set targets include demand reduction for virgin polymer to the tune of several billion rands

A lifecycle-based evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions from the plastics industry in South Africa

Increased production rates of plastic and limited disposal methods have fed concerns regarding environmental degradation. Whilst most of the focus is on plastic litter and marine pollution, greenhouse gas emissions of plastic over its value chains are also of interest and non-trivial at the global scale. To quantify the global warming potential of the local plastics industry, a lifecycle-based carbon footprint is presented encompassing activities such as resource extraction, polymer production and conversion, recycling, and disposal stages. The South African plastics sector is estimated to have emitted 15.8 Mt CO2 eq in 2015, with the granulate production stage bearing the highest environmental load. The consumption of fossil fuel based electricity and the burning of plastic waste also contribute notably to the overall emissions. Additionally, the recycling process in 2015 saved approximately 1.4 Mt of greenhouse gas emissions.Significance: Research has typically focused on the environmental impacts of the end-of-life stage of plastics, namely disposal and recycling. Despite growing concern, the global warming potential of the local plastics sector across its value chain has not been investigated. Greenhouse gas emissions arising from the South African plastic sector are non-trivial and are estimated to total 15.8 Mt CO2 eq in 2015. Amongst the lifecycle stages, the resin production process had the highest contribution in South Africa due to the country’s coal-based monomer production process

Status and prospects of life cycle assessments and carbon and water footprinting studies in South Africa

PURPOSE : Using the current state of life cycle assessment (LCA), carbon and water footprinting, and EPDs in South Africa, this work explores the challenges and opportunities for scholarly development in these areas in the country. METHODS : Being a relatively small LCA community in South Africa, academics, consultants, and other stakeholders were approached to provide lists of known studies, with further reports, that may have been missed, obtained through internet searches. Information was collated on database development, capacity building, and other aspects and presented here in a single paper. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION : While the authors are aware of companies working on LCA and related studies, hidden in confidential reports, we were able to find 27 LCA, 17 water and 12 carbon footprinting, and 10 EPD studies. Although these studies have potential advantages for policymaking and business, their number, implementation, and impact remain limited. CONCLUSION : While previously seen as an academic exercise, life cycle thinking has been adopted by industry, private consultants, and the South African National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC-SA), among others. Growing interest has led to the creation of several training courses available at academic institutes, the NCPC-SA, and consulting firms, ranging from the basic understanding to advanced use of software packages and modeling techniques. The development of a national LCI database and further exposure and opportunity for LCA studies are important steps to hopefully spur LCA in Southern Africa in the future.http://link.springer.com/journal/113672021-11-16hj2021Plant Production and Soil Scienc