Analisi del fine vita degli pneumatici attraverso una metodologia Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

This study aims to show the scope of environment impact due to tyre treatments. The study scrutinises a firm’s case, Marangoni S.p.A, which is one of the first pneumatics treatments firm with emphasis on disposed and recostructed exhausted pneumatics. In particular those pneumatic’s treatments are two: reconstruction (30% of the whole amount of the pneumatics given) and incineration (70% of the whole amount of the pneumatics given). With LCA methods (EcoIndicator 99, EPS 2000, EDIP 97, IMPACT 2002) it has been possible to value the impact on the environments in terms of human health, ecosystem quality and resources. In addition, comparison with the principal process and subsidiary processes within the main one has brought to highlight how some results could be understood in different way. This interpretation should bring politics and socials network to take decision in order to save our planet.

Waste management in Forlì-Cesena province: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Forlì incinerator

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.

Towards the sustainable production of methyl methacrylate: A comparative analysis of industrial chemical production processes using life cycle assessment methodology

Increasing environmental awareness has been a significant driving force for innovations and process improvements in different sectors and the field of chemistry is not an outlier. Innovating around industrial chemical processes in line with current environmental responsibilities is however no mean feat. One of such hard to overhaul process is the production of methyl methacrylate (MMA) commonly produced via the acetone cyanohydrin (ACH) process developed back in the 1930s. Different alternatives to the ACH process have emerged over the years and the Alpha Lucite process has been particularly promising with a combined plant capacity of 370,000 metric tonnes in Singapore and Saudi Arabia. This study applied Life Cycle Assessment methodology to conduct a comparative analysis between the ACH and Lucite processes with the aim of ascertaining the effect of applying principles of green chemistry as a process improvement tool on overall environmental impacts. A further comparison was made between the Lucite process and a lab-scale process that is further improvement on the former, also based on green chemistry principles. Results showed that the Lucite process has higher impacts on resource scarcity and ecosystem health whereas the ACH process has higher impacts on human health. On the other hand, compared to the Lucite process the lab-scale process has higher impacts in both the ecosystem and human health categories with lower impacts only in the resource scarcity category. It was observed that the benefits of process improvements with green chemistry principles might not be apparent in some categories due to some limitations of the methodology. Process contribution analysis was also performed and it revealed that the contribution of energy is significant, therefore a sensitivity analysis with different energy scenarios was performed. An uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo analysis was also performed to validate the consistency of the results in each of the comparisons.