Identification of most relevant variables and processes to assess the environmental impacts of remediation technologies along their life cycles: Focus on the waste management scenarios

Abstract

The application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to remediation technologies is still not a consolidated practice and it is especially lacking in the assessment of the environmental impacts associated to the management of the waste produced during remediation. This study aims at addressing these methodological gaps by identifying the typologies of waste typically generated during the remediation of a contaminated site and classifying them according to the European Waste Catalogue (EWC) codes. Thereafter, the following steps are: (i) the identification of the waste management scenarios (WMSs) applicable to the identified waste typologies, (ii) the selection of Life Cycle Assessment processes that can be used to assess the impacts of the different WMSs and (iii) the quantification and comparison of the environmental impacts caused by the different WMSs applied considering hazardousness levels to which the same waste may belong in relation to its contamination levels and characteristics: inert, non-hazardous and hazardous waste (Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC). As results, a matrix reporting the classes and typologies of waste, their EWC codes, their different WMSs and the suitable LCA processes from the Ecoinvent database that can be applied to each EWC within a specific WMS, has been developed. Additionally, the comparative assessment of the impacts caused by the Ecoinvent processes applicable to the same waste typology within the same WMS has been performed to support the selection of the most appropriate WMS case by case.