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Environments
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Impact of Recycling Environmental Impact Materials on Energy Savings: Life-Cycle...
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Impact of Recycling Environmental Impact Materials on Energy Savings: Life-Cycle Assessment

A special issue of Environments (ISSN 2076-3298).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2024) | Viewed by 6193

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Humayun Nadeem

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Intelligence in Processes, Advanced Catalysts and Solvents (iPRACS), Faculty of Applied Engineering, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
Interests: circular economy; life-cycle assessment; polymers; packaging; recycling
Dr. Warren Batchelor

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Bioresource Processing Research Institute of Australia, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
Interests: cellulose nanomaterials; barrier layers; life-cycle analysis; size measurement

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Global warming and soaring waste generation are the foremost challenges faced by the modern world due to inefficient use of existing high-environmental-impact materials. To overcome these issues, recycling and reusing resources are increasingly being emphasized. Recycling could be a viable option, but not necessarily in all cases. Many technologies exist or are under development for recycling; however, the challenge of transitioning to resource-efficient systems is often not due to the unavailability of technology for resource recovery but due to poor planning and management and a lack of design methodology to highlight, recognize and utilize the solution with the lowest environmental impact for a particular scenario. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is an ideal method to analyze the alternatives for resource recovery in a context of environmental sustainability. LCA is an interesting tool to compute environmental footprints of process and product streams during the course of their life cycle.

LCA can be more interesting and descriptive when combined with other assessment techniques such as risk assessment and technoeconomic analysis to examine different alternatives for a particular system and provide useful insights on the potential trade-offs among different impact categories. The use of recycling and LCA is an excellent combination, as LCA guides towards the goal of minimizing wastes.

This Special Issue will showcase studies on the impact of recycling on different high-environmental-impact materials (e.g, building materials, packaging and biobased materials). Studies in sustainable production, technoeconomic assessment, energy savings and scalability in the context of recycling and LCA of high-environment-impact materials are encouraged.

Dr. Humayun Nadeem
Dr. Warren Batchelor
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Environments is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • global warming
  • LCA
  • recycling
  • technoeconomic analysis
  • sustainable process design
  • environmental risk assessment
  • scalability
  • energy savings
  • waste management

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 5821 KiB  
Article
Rehabilitation or Demolition of Small Hydropower Plants: Evaluation of the Environmental and Economic Sustainability of the Case Study “El Cerrajón”
by Eduardo Vázquez-López, Victor Matitos-Montoya and Madelyn Marrero
Environments 2024, 11(8), 184; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments11080184 - 22 Aug 2024
Viewed by 961
Abstract
During the 1950s, numerous small-capacity hydroelectric power plants were built in Spain. Seventy-five years on, it must now be decided whether to continue their operation or demolish them. In order to provide a valid answer, it is necessary to have access to decision-making [...] Read more.
During the 1950s, numerous small-capacity hydroelectric power plants were built in Spain. Seventy-five years on, it must now be decided whether to continue their operation or demolish them. In order to provide a valid answer, it is necessary to have access to decision-making tools that enable sustainable economic and environmental decision making. The present work proposes a methodology that employs an economic indicator of life cycle cost and environmental indicators of carbon footprint and embodied energy by means of life cycle data analysis. Quantification of the impacts was carried out with the support of construction cost databases and the PREDICE software tool for the quantification of environmental impacts incorporated into maintenance tasks. The case study of the “Cerrajón” power plant was analyzed, where historical hydrological cycles were considered. A life cycle scenario was evaluated in which renovation extended the life of the power plant by a further 75 years. The results show savings in environmental impacts with respect to the impacts of the Spanish energy mix of up to 175 kgCO2 per MWh produced, although no economic benefit was found. It was also shown that in climate change scenarios, the profit price breakeven increases. Rehabilitation appears to present the best choice when combining the two criteria. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Recycling Environmental Impact Materials on Energy Savings: Life-Cycle Assessment)
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14 pages, 1564 KiB  
Article
Recycling, Material Flow, and Recycled Content Demands of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Bottles towards a Circular Economy in Korea
by Chonghee Lee, Yong-Chul Jang, Kyunghoon Choi, Byeonghwan Kim, Hakyun Song and Youngsun Kwon
Environments 2024, 11(2), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments11020025 - 25 Jan 2024
Viewed by 4248
Abstract
The recycling and proper management of PET bottles is needed to avoid plastic pollution, as well as to achieve a plastic circular economy. In this study, we examined the recycling system of PET bottles and their material flows by life cycle, from production [...] Read more.
The recycling and proper management of PET bottles is needed to avoid plastic pollution, as well as to achieve a plastic circular economy. In this study, we examined the recycling system of PET bottles and their material flows by life cycle, from production to recycling and disposal under different scenarios with reduced consumption for PET bottles. In Korea, PET bottle recycling has been managed by the extended producer responsibility system since 2003. As of 2021, annual usage of PET bottles per capita in Korea was estimated to be approximately 6.5 kg. The recycling rate of PET bottles after collection was determined to be 79% in 2021. However, recycled PET (or r-PET) from mechanical recycling is mostly used in low-grade PET applications such as short fibers, bands, and sheets. More than 112 thousand tons of r-PET chips would be needed to meet the 30% recycled content requirement in PET bottles in 2030 by regulation. Thus, there is an urgent need for high-quality secondary raw materials (i.e., food-grade) by adopting advanced sorting and recycling technologies for PET bottles with recycled content. PET bottle-to-bottle recycling practices can ensure the production of high-quality recycled materials and move Korea toward a plastic circular economy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Recycling Environmental Impact Materials on Energy Savings: Life-Cycle Assessment)
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