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Life cycle assessment and valuation of the packaging waste recycling system in Belgium

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Abstract

This study analyses the packaging waste management system in Belgium. Waste management operations involve a significant number of processes associated with energy consumption and emission of pollutants in air and water. To assess the impact on the environment of the several waste management operations, a life cycle assessment was developed. The operations of selective and refuse collection, sorting, recycling and incineration of packaging waste were considered. A comparison between two scenarios was developed. The first scenario comprised the packaging waste management system in operation in 2010. This system comprises the waste management operations envisaging the recycling of the packaging materials. The second scenario was developed based on the hypothesis that there was no recycling system and all packaging waste would be collected in the refuse collection system. An environmental valuation was performed to convert the environmental results into a common unit (EUR). To accomplish this valuation, three methods were used: Ecocost, Ecovalue and Stepwise. These methods were developed in Europe and follow different methodologies. The environmental results were compared using the three methods and they were consistent with the conclusion that the recycling scenario (i.e. the actual situation in 2010) is more environmentally sound.

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Notes

  1. Printed paper is collected together with packaging paper.

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Acknowledgments

This paper had the financial support of the European Investment Bank University Research Sponsorship (EIBURS) Program. The findings, interpretation and conclusions presented in this article are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to the EIB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven, Warmoesberg 26, 1000, Brussels, Belgium

    Simon De Jaeger

  2. CESUR, Instituto Superior Técnico, ULisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal

    S. Ferreira, M. Cabral, P. Simões & R. C. Marques

  3. LSE Cities, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, UK

    Nuno F. Da Cruz

Authors
  1. S. Ferreira
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  2. M. Cabral
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  3. Simon De Jaeger
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  4. Nuno F. Da Cruz
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  5. P. Simões
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  6. R. C. Marques
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Correspondence to S. Ferreira.

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Ferreira, S., Cabral, M., De Jaeger, S. et al. Life cycle assessment and valuation of the packaging waste recycling system in Belgium. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 19, 144–154 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-015-0383-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-015-0383-x

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