Environmental consequences of different recycling alternatives for wood waste

• The revised framework for waste management in the EU (WFD), adopted in 2008, includes a target for recovery of construction and demolition waste (CDW). The target was added during the final negotiations of the Directive text and was adopted without performing a consequence analysis. In 2014 the WFD target will be evaluated. To provide a basis for assessing the consequences of the target, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency launched a Nordic project, ENCORT-CDW. This report is a contribution to this Nordic project, funded by Ångpanneföreningen's Foundation for Research and Development and Foundation (Åforsk) and The Foundation for IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute (SIVL) and tackles the wood CDW. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden the waste reported as wood waste from the construction sector is mainly incinerated with energy recovery, while in Finland parts of the wood waste from construction may go to incineration without energy recovery or to landfill. However, the present Eurostat data does not reveal if wood waste from construction is re-used or if material is recovered. Consequently, the Eurostat database is not adequate to follow up the WFD target about 70 % recovery. Better information about wood waste flows from “cradle to grave” is required. The screening LCA performed here uses two system approaches that are applied in LCA: a) the product approach, also known as attributional LCA, and b) consequential LCA covering a complex system. Attributional LCA is very robust and only includes direct consequences, while consequential LCA also includes indirect effects. According to an attributional LCA, which has a product perspective, the use of C&D wood waste for manufacturing of particle board and insulation bats and then substituting gypsum board and mineral wool, will result in environmental improvements. According to a consequential LCA, a marginal fuel has to be defined. This marginal fuel is the fuel that will replace the current C&D wood waste as fuel source. The most environmental profitable alternative will depend on what fuel is assumed to be the marginal fuel.

• This report is only available in English.

Nyckelord

Attributional LCA

consequential LCA

construction and demolition waste (CDW)

ENCORT-CDW

life cycle assessment (LCA)

recovery target

wood waste

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

rap (ämneskategori)