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This first hands-on guide to ISO-compliant Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) makes this powerful tool immediately accessible to both professionals and students. Following a general introduction on the philosophy and purpose of LCA, the reader is taken through all the stages of a complete LCA analysis, with each step exemplified by real-life data from a major LCA project on beverage packaging. Measures as carbon and water footprint, based on the most recent international standards and definitions, are addressed. Written by two pioneers of LCA, this practical volume is targeted at first-time LCA users but equally makes a much-valued reference for more experienced practitioners.

This first hands-on guide to ISO-compliant Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) makes this powerful tool immediately accessible to both professionals and students. Following a general introduction on the philosophy and purpose of LCA, the reader is taken through all the stages of a complete LCA analysis, with each step exemplified by real-life data from a major LCA project on beverage packaging. Measures as carbon and water footprint, based on the most recent international standards and definitions, are addressed. Written by two pioneers of LCA, this practical volume is targeted at first-time LC

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate the environmental impacts of textile products, from raw material extraction, through fibre processing, textile manufacture, distribution and use, to disposal or recycling. LCA is an important tool for the research and development process, product and process design, and labelling of textiles and clothing. Handbook of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Textiles and Clothing systematically covers the LCA process with comprehensive examples and case studies. Part one of the book covers key indicators and processes in LCA, from carbon and ecological f

The growing concern about the development of sustainable production systems leads organizations to seek the support of management tools for decision-making. Considering the whole life cycle of the product, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has an important role in this scenario. The objective of this paper is to present, through the theoretical discussion, the role of LCA in strategic planning of the organization. It showed the enormous potential for decision making on the environmental aspect, but also the critical factor in the development shares in the competitive context. The use of LCA can reduce the environmental impacts of the system under study (primary purpose) and guide the range of advantages in the fields of marketing, legislation and environmental labeling, competitive strategies, efficiency use of resources and others.

This work assesses the environmental impact of a municipal solid waste incinerator with energy recovery in Forlì-Cesena province (Emilia-Romagna region, Italy). The methodology used is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). As the plant already applies the best technologies available in waste treatment, this study focuses on the fate of the residues (bottom and fly ash) produced during combustion. Nine scenarios are made, based on different ash treatment disposing/recycling techniques. The functional unit is the amount of waste incinerated in 2011. Boundaries are set from waste arrival in the plant to the disposal/recovery of the residues produced, with energy recovery. Only the operative period is considered. Software used is GaBi 4 and the LCIA method used is CML2001. The impact categories analyzed are: abiotic depletion, acidification, eutrophication, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, global warming, human toxicity, ozone layer depletion, photochemical oxidant formation, terrestrial ecotoxicity and primary energy demand. Most of the data are taken from Herambiente. When primary data are not available, data from Ecoinvent and GaBi databases or literature data are used. The whole incineration process is sustainable, due to the relevant avoided impact given by co-generator. As far as regards bottom ash treatment, the most influential process is the impact savings from iron recovery. Bottom ash recycling in road construction or as building material are both valid alternatives, even if the first option faces legislative limits in Italy. Regarding fly ash inertization, the adding of cement and Ferrox treatment results the most feasible alternatives. However, this inertized fly ash can maintain its hazardous nature. The only method to ensure the stability of an inertized fly ash is to couple two different stabilization treatments. Ash stabilization technologies shall improve with the same rate of the flexibility of the national legislation about incineration residues recycling.

Marine macroalgae (seaweed) has many advantages over terrestrial crops as a source of renewable biomass but is severely underutilised at present, especially within Europe. In particular, macroalgae has elevated poly- and monosaccharide content, making it an ideal feedstock as a heterotrophic fermentation sugar source for the production of higher value chemicals. Recent reports have detailed the suitability of seaweeds as a feedstock for the production of single-cell oils (SCOs) which have application in food, oleochemicals and fuels. It is proposed that a biorefinery system based on the production of SCOs alongside other secondary metabolites, has the potential to provide a sustainable replacement to terrestrial oils such as palm oil. This work therefore evaluates, for the first time, the environmental and economic sustainability of a production process for SCOs from seaweed Saccharina latissima using the oleaginous yeast Metschnikowia pulcherrima. Two alternative fermentation systems were considered, and uncertainties associated with the seasonal variation in seaweed carbohydrate yield and fermentation performance were integrated into the analysis. From an environmental perspective, the work indicates that seaweed derived SCO lipids and fats can be comparable to a terrestrial oil mix, with a potential climate change impact ranging between 2.5 and 9.9 kg CO 2 eq. kg −1 refined SCO. Interestingly and of particular significance, environmental impacts are mainly dominated by energy demand within fermentation and upstream processing steps. From an economic perspective, a break-even selling price for the oil was determined as between €5,300-€31,000 tonne −1 refined SCO, which was highly dependent on cost of the seaweed feedstock. Overall, we demonstrate that key uncertainties relating to seaweed cultivation costs and hydrolysate fermentation at scale result in a large range in values for environmental impact and economic return on investment. Yet even within the constraints and limitations of current knowhow, seaweed already offers a viable proposition for the competitive production of exotic oils similar to cocoa or shea butter in price and nature. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 665992

Tourism is an activity that anyone can take part in, regardless of their age, gender, nationality or level of income. This makes tourism one of the most rapidly developing industries in the world. Despite the number of benefits which tourism produces, it also has significant negative impacts on the environment. To minimise the scope of these negative impacts, joint efforts combining tourism and environmental management are called for. This book examines the application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method and lifecycle thinking as a tool to generate more accurate and holistic appraisals of the environmental impacts of tourism. Looking at the issue of sustainability of tourism operations, the book evaluates how it can be improved. It highlights the potential of LCA to affect tourist behaviour and contribute to tourism policy-making and managerial practice. This book provides a valuable resource for undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers interested in sustainable tourism, sustainable development and environmental impact assessment