The environmental impacts of municipal solid waste landfills in Europe: A life cycle assessment of proper reference cases to support decision making.

In Europe, 23% of the generated municipal solid waste (MSW) was landfilled in 2017. Despite the landfill targets which define waste and landfill requirements, there is still high variability in the waste management performance between EU Member States. Aim of the study was to give an overview of the variability of environmental impacts of MSW sanitary landfills in Europe in relation to the different levels of implementation of the requirements.

A sustainable wood biorefinery for low-carbon footprint chemicals production.

The profitability and sustainability of future biorefineries are dependent on efficient feedstock use. Therefore, it is essential to valorize lignin when using wood. We have developed an integrated biorefinery that converts 78 weight % (wt %) of birch into xylochemicals.

Eliciting stakeholder needs - An anticipatory approach assessing enhanced landfill mining.

Landfill owners, governmental institutions, technology providers, academia and local communities are important stakeholders involved in Enhanced Landfill Mining (ELFM). This concept of excavating and processing historical waste streams to higher added values can be seen as a continuation of traditional landfill mining (LFM) and seems to be an innovative and promising idea for potential environmental and societal benefits. However, ELFM's profitability is still under debate, and environmental as well as societal impacts have to be further investigated.

Circular economy indicators: What do they measure?

Circular Economy (CE) is a growing topic, especially in the European Union, that promotes the responsible and cyclical use of resources possibly contributing to sustainable development. CE is an umbrella concept incorporating different meanings. Despite the unclear concept, CE is turned into defined action plans supported by specific indicators.

Downcycling versus recycling of construction and demolition waste: Combining LCA and LCC to support sustainable policy making.

Urgent solutions are needed in Europe to deal with construction and demolition waste (CDW). EU policy has contributed to significantly reducing the amount of CDW going to landfill, but most of the effort has been put in downcycling practices. Therefore, further policies are needed to stimulate high-quality recycling of CDW.

Innovative market-based policy instruments for waste management: A case study on shredder residues in Belgium.

In an increasingly complex waste market, market-based policy instruments, such as disposal taxes, can give incentives for sustainable progress while leaving flexibility for innovation. However, implementation of disposal taxes is often criticised by domestic waste handlers that fear to be outcompeted by competitors in other countries. The article discusses three innovative market-based instruments that limit the impact on international competitiveness: Tradable recycling credits, refunded disposal taxes and differentiated disposal taxes.

Environmental and economic performance of plasma gasification in Enhanced Landfill Mining.

This paper describes an environmental and economic assessment of plasma gasification, one of the viable candidates for the valorisation of refuse derived fuel from Enhanced Landfill Mining. The study is based on life cycle assessment and life cycle costing. Plasma gasification is benchmarked against conventional incineration, and the study indicates that the process could have significant impact on climate change, human toxicity, particulate matter formation, metal depletion and fossil depletion.

Gas-solid reaction kinetics of ZnFe2O4 formation from 907 to 1100 °C.

The reaction kinetics of Zn vapor with Fe3O4 (magnetite) were studied from 907 to 1100 °C using a new experimental setup that only allows contact between the reactants through a gas-solid reaction. Hematite was used to create the reaction pellets. Because of the reducing atmosphere in the setup, a magnetite layer is formed on the outside of the pellet, which in turn reacts with the Zn vapor.

Assessment of environmental and economic feasibility of Enhanced Landfill Mining.

This paper addresses the environmental and economic performance of Enhanced Landfill Mining (ELFM). Based on life cycle assessment and life cycle costing, a detailed model is developed and is applied to a case study, i.e.