A Methodology for Robust Comparative Life Cycle Assessments Incorporating Uncertainty.

We propose a methodology for conducting robust comparative life cycle assessments (LCA) by leveraging uncertainty. The method evaluates a broad range of the possible scenario space in a probabilistic fashion while simultaneously considering uncertainty in input data. The method is intended to ascertain which scenarios have a definitive environmentally preferable choice among the alternatives being compared and the significance of the differences given uncertainty in the parameters, which parameters have the most influence on this difference, and how we can identify the resolvable scenarios (where one alternative in the comparison has a clearly lower environmental impact).

A framework for evaluating the economic performance of recycling systems: a case study of North American electronics recycling systems.

A framework for evaluating the economic performance of a recycling system is proposed, and data from four electronics recycling systems in North America (Alberta, California, Maine, and Maryland) that use different operating models are used as a preliminary test of the framework. The framework is built around a hierarchy of descriptors that clarify the function of the system components under consideration and the activities, cash flow elements, and resources within those functions; costs are incurred by specific stakeholders. Data from each system on fee and mass collection amounts and collection, processing, and management costs are used to create a matrix of several net costs for stakeholders within each system.