Ecodesign Life Cycle Assessment of a waste treatment plant

This paper aims to provide an exhaustive comparison of alternative waste management scenarios for the integrated waste treatment centre of Saliceti through a gate-to-grave comparative LCA study of four different possible scenarios for the management of future OFMSW (Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste) and Green-waste streams. Specifically, the scenarios selected are A) production of Biogas utilizing a biodigester, B) construction of a composting plant, C) current condition (i.e., sending the flows to other regions plants) and, D) hybrid treatment plant, a mix of B and C scenarios. The study was conducted from May to July 2019 through the application of the ReCiPe method at midpoint level using the DTU Environment EASETECH software through primary information provided by the plant managers and the manufacturer in collaboration with ARPA Liguria, and secondary information collected from the Ecoinvent v3.3 database. The study demonstrates that building the biodigester is the least impactful scenario for the environment given all alternatives are considered equally valid on an industrial level.