01 UE: Sustainability

Question 1

What are the arguments for and against waste incineration in the context of sustainable thinking?

(waste incineration = “Müllverbrennung”)

Answer 1

Pro

• Generation of electricity and district heating by substitutes of fossil fuels.
• Increases resource productivity by recovering metal. The production of secondary raw materials is often less energy-intensive and produces fewer emissions than the extraction of primary raw materials.
• Recovery of non-recyclable waste with high pollution loads that would otherwise be dumped on landfills.

Contra

• Generation of greenhouse gas emissions as a result of the incineration process.
• Can be at the expense of material recovery (recycling) and undermine the idea of a circular economy
  –> Conflict with the waste management hierarchy.
  (Example: In Germany, incineration capacities increasingly exceed the volume of waste, which lowers the price of waste disposal. As a result, the attractiveness of material recycling is decreasing).
• Orientation towards the idea of waste disposal
  –> The aim should be to shape consumer behaviour in such a way that less waste is produced.

Question 2

Describe the waste management hierarchy according to the EU framework directive 2008/98/EG.

Answer 2

Waste management hierarchy according to the EU framework directive 2008/98/EG

1. Prevention
2. Preparing for reuse
3. Recycling
4. Other recovery, e.g. energy recovery through waste incineration
5. Disposal

Question 3

Describe the general methodological life cycle assessment framework.

Answer 3

The general methodological life cycle assessment frameworkLife Cycle Assessment framework contains the following methodological building blocks:

1.) Goal and scope definition
2.) Inventory analysis
3.) Impact assessment
4.) Interpretation

Compare slide 8

Question 4

How are MJ converted into MWh?

Answer 4

1 [MJ] = 1 [MWs] = 1/3600 [MWh]

Question 5

Name 4 different tools which evaluate the sustainability of a certain product, service or system.

• The tools are intended to evaluate parts of / all environmental impacts of a product/service/system over a certain period of its life / its whole lifespan.
• The focus is on energy use and its implications as an indicator of its sustainability.
• The economic or social dimension of sustainability is not explicitly investigated here.

Answer 5

Cumulated Energy Demand (CED)

Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI) / Harvesting Factor

Grey Energy / Embodied Energy (EE)

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Question 6

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

• The objective of LCA is “…” over its whole lifespan.
• It is one of the leading quantitative methodologies for assessing the sustainability of human activities.
• LCA studies can be performed for various scopes:
  –> Cradle to gate (raw materials until factory gate; focusing on extraction and transport)
  –> Gate to gate (only focusing on the manufacturing process)
  –> Cradle to cradle (closed loop)
  –> Cradle to grave (raw material extraction, transport, manufacturing, consumption/usage until disposal/recycling)
  –> Well to wheel (for transport fuels and vehicles)

Answer 6

“to quantitatively compile and evaluate the environmental impacts of a product/service/system”

Question 7

Name direct applications of the LCA.

Answer 7

LCA - Direct Applications

• Product development and improvement
  –> To improve the environmental performance of products within different steps of their life cycle.
• Strategic planning
  –> To support decisions on relevant indicators including measuring procedures.
• Public policymaking
  –> To inform decision-makers on the environmental performance of different products/systems.
• Marketing
• Research
• Others