View in EDS

Compostable cutlery and waste management: An LCA approach

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Compostable cutlery and waste management: An LCA approach
Authors: Razza, Francesco1, Fieschi, Maurizio2, Innocenti, Francesco Degli3 fdi@novamont.com, Bastioli, Catia3
Source: Waste Management. Apr2009, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p1424-1433. 10p.
Subjects: Disposable tableware, Fast food restaurants, Canteens (Establishments), Life cycle costing, Product life cycle, Waste management, Plastic scrap, Biodegradable products
Abstract: The use of disposable cutlery in fast food restaurants and canteens in the current management scenario generates mixed heterogeneous waste (containing food waste and non-compostable plastic cutlery). The waste is not recyclable and is disposed of in landfills or incinerated with or without energy recovery. Using biodegradable and compostable (B&C) plastic cutlery, an alternative management scenario is possible. The resulting mixed homogeneous waste (containing food waste and compostable plastic cutlery) can be recycled through organic recovery, i.e., composting. This LCA study, whose functional unit is “serving 1000 meals”, shows that remarkable improvements can be obtained by shifting from the current scenario to the alternative scenario (based on B&C cutlery and final organic recovery of the total waste). The non-renewable energy consumption changes from 1490 to 128MJ (an overall 10-fold energy savings) and the CO2 equivalents emission changes from 64 to 22 CO2 eq. (an overall 3-fold GHG savings). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
Copyright of Waste Management is the property of Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
Description
Abstract:The use of disposable cutlery in fast food restaurants and canteens in the current management scenario generates mixed heterogeneous waste (containing food waste and non-compostable plastic cutlery). The waste is not recyclable and is disposed of in landfills or incinerated with or without energy recovery. Using biodegradable and compostable (B&C) plastic cutlery, an alternative management scenario is possible. The resulting mixed homogeneous waste (containing food waste and compostable plastic cutlery) can be recycled through organic recovery, i.e., composting. This LCA study, whose functional unit is “serving 1000 meals”, shows that remarkable improvements can be obtained by shifting from the current scenario to the alternative scenario (based on B&C cutlery and final organic recovery of the total waste). The non-renewable energy consumption changes from 1490 to 128MJ (an overall 10-fold energy savings) and the CO2 equivalents emission changes from 64 to 22 CO2 eq. (an overall 3-fold GHG savings). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
ISSN:0956053X
DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2008.08.021