IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE OF A WASTE TREATMENT SYSTEM VIA LIFE CYCLE ASSESSEMENT

Abstract

The study entails the application of an LCA to a waste treatment facility located in Massafra in the Apulia region in southern Italy. The objective is that of evaluating the environmental profile of the whole system of the waste treatment company via an Organisation Environmental Footprint approach, with the intent of identifying the most impacting lifecycle phases and of proposing improvement options. The most critical phases are landfilling and transport operations. Such activities impact particularly on the Climate Change, Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential, Cumulative Energy Demand, Human Toxicity and Freshwater Ecotoxicity impact categories. The study has highlighted that there are potential improvement opportunities regarding the use of thermographic image processing to identify bio-gas leaks from the landfill and the introduction of novel methods for the bio-stabilisation of the landfilled waste.