Katarzyna Grzesik

Life cycle assessment of refuse-derived fuel production from mixed municipal waste

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to identify and assess the potential environmental impacts caused by refuse-derived fuel (RDF) production from mixed municipal waste, in a mechanical–biological waste treatment plant in Krakow, Poland. The study is based on life cycle assessment methodology, employing EASETECH model. The system boundaries include only those operations which lead to the production of RDF. The adopted functional unit is 1 Mg of mixed municipal waste generated in Krakow, which enters the mechanical–biological waste treatment plant.

A Life Cycle Assessment of the Municipal Waste Management System in Tarnów.: Analiza cyklu życia systemu gospodarki odpadami komunalnymi w Tarnowie.

One of the essential aspects of sustainable development is establishing an effi cient, economically viable and integrated waste management system, which would have a minimal negative impact on the environment. The methodology which allows for the identifi cation and evaluation of the environmental impact is Life Cycle Assessment, considered to be one of the most eff ective tools of environmental management. Waste management is an extensive and complex system. Besides waste collecting and processing, waste management system can generate products in the form of recovered secondary raw materials, fertilizers (compost), energy and heat. On the other hand, provision of fuel (collection) and energy (processing) are necessary for the operation of the system. System approach of Life Cycle Assessment covers all environmental impacts related to waste management, including each of the processes, such as waste collection, transportation, sorting, composting, recycling, incineration, landfi lling, as well as obtained useful products (raw materials, fertilizers, energy) and supplied fuel and energy. LCA is a useful tool to assess environmental aspects of waste management systems. However, the LCA procedure is a complex task and, in order to obtain reliable and objective results, it requires a careful defi nition of the scope of a research, acquisition of a variety of accurate data, as well as a skillful selection of a method for assessing environmental aspects. Several models have been developed for modeling the environmental impact of waste management systems, such as: IWM-2, EPIC/CSR, MSW-DST, ORWARE, WISARD, WRATE, LCA-IWM, EASEWASTE [3].