Life-cycle based cost-benefit assessment of waste management options

Weidema B P, Wesnæs M, Christiansen K, Koneczny K (2006)

Publication info

Presentation for ISWA Annual Congress 2006, Copenhagen, 2006.10.1-5. The full report from this study has been edited and published by the EU Commission.

Excerpt of Executive Summary

In a study for the EU commission (DG-JRC), a new method for monetarisation of life cycle impacts has been developed and applied to different waste treatment scenarios, using the most recent generic data sources for the different technologies.

The objectives of the study were:
* To provide life cycle assessment data, results and strategy recommendations for municipal waste management in the new EU member states, with Malta and Krakow as specific cases.
*To provide background insights for the development of a common European reference system for life cycle assessment (LCA).

The study applies a mainstream “bottom-up” life cycle assessment method, supplemented by data for background processes from “top-down” input-output matrices, based on national accounting statistics combined with national emission statistics.

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