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Tag: Lifecycle stage: C (all modules)

8.3 Module C2

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No specific aspects are given for Module C2 for buildings, as it is likely to be predefined in building LCA studies, e.g. by the use of EoL generic processes and cradle-to-grave EPD, which have already taken this aspect into account.

Please refer to the two following aspects of the EeBGuide – Part A: PRODUCTS guidance document for further information, as well as the EN 15978 standard.

C-05 Transport of wastes to landfill, incineration and recycling facilities – screening and simplified LCA

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Aspect C-05 Transport of wastes to landfill, incineration and recycling facilities – screening and simplified LCA
Description
 The transportation distances are likely to be different, depending on the EoL scenarios. For example, whereas a landfill facility is likely to be found in every city, a recycling plant may be far away as, for example, only one exists in a country exists.In this context, how should representative distances according to different waste EoL routes be defined for screening and simplified LCA?

related study objective

 ☒ stand-alone LCA ☒ comparative assertion

related study phase

 ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
goal and scope definition inventory analysis (LCI) impact assessment (LCIA) interpretation reporting

relevant for
new buildings existing buildings construction products screening LCA simplified LCA complete LCA
Provisions The transport of wastes or recycled products to EoL facilities remains optional for screening and simplified LCA, owing to the assumed minor relevance.This aspect is likely to be predefined, for example in generic LCA data for EoL processes or in each national EPD programme, and may be adopted within a given LCA study.
Rules from:

EN 15804

 

 6.3.4.6 End-of-life stage
6.3.8 Developing product scenarios
7.3 Scenarios and additional technical information
7.3.4 End of life


Guidance
 For recycling and disposal routes, the distances will vary, depending on each national context. Transport distances for different waste types may also vary according to the number of treatment sites. For example, hazardous waste may have the longest transport distance, owing to the limited number of sites, whereas inert waste may have the shortest. (http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_infrastructure_maps.aspx or http://www.landfill-site.com/html/how_many_landfills.php) National waste management plans or waste infrastructure maps may help in identifying the locations of waste management sites.Data may be currently available for transport of waste between the demolition site and sorting plant: e.g. for the French context see the report from [ADEME 2003]. For example, current practice in generic databases or EPD programmes may take into account:- between 10 and 30 km for inert and non-hazardous wastes, as well as for incineration with energy recovery;- around 100 km for hazardous wastes.

For recycled products sent to a recycling facility it is likely that the distance will be higher because, to date, the number of recycling facilities is still low, leading to higher distances than for landfill facilities. As an average value, 250 km for trucks can be assumed. This figure may be revised if more accurate data are available in a national context, and if the EoL transport is found to be significant in the final results.

 

C-06 Transport of wastes to landfill, incineration and recycling facilities – complete LCA

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Aspect C-06 Transport of wastes to landfill, incineration and recycling facilities – complete LCA
Description
 The transportation distances are likely to be different, depending on the EoL scenarios. For example, whereas a landfill facility is likely to be found in every city, a recycling plant may be far away as, for example, only one exists in a country exists.In this context, how should representative distances according to different waste EoL routes be defined for complete LCA?

related study objective

 ☒ stand-alone LCA ☒ comparative assertion

related study phase

 ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
goal and scope definition inventory analysis (LCI) impact assessment (LCIA) interpretation reporting

relevant for
new buildings existing buildings construction products screening LCA simplified LCA complete LCA
Provisions The transport of wastes or recycled products to EoL facilities should be included for complete LCA, even if maybe of assumed minor relevance.This aspect is likely to be predefined, for example in generic LCA data for EoL processes or in each national EPD programme, and may be adopted within a given LCA study.
Rules from:

EN 15804

 

 6.3.4.6 End-of-life stage
6.3.8 Developing product scenarios
7.3 Scenarios and additional technical information
7.3.4 End of life


Guidance
 For recycling and disposal routes, the distances will vary, depending on each national context [SBA 2012]. Transport distances for different waste types may also vary according to the number of treatment sites. For example, hazardous waste may have the longest transport distance, owing to the limited number of sites, whereas inert waste may have the shortest (http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_infrastructure_maps.aspx or http://www.landfill-site.com/html/how_many_landfills.php). National waste management plans or waste infrastructure maps may help in identifying the locations of waste management sites.Data may be currently available for transport of waste between the demolition site and sorting plant: e.g. for the French context see the report from [ADEME 2003]. For example, current practice in generic databases or EPD programmes may take into account:- between 10 and 30 km for inert and non-hazardous wastes, as well as for incineration with energy recovery;- around 100 km for hazardous wastes.For recycled products sent to a recycling facility it is likely that the distance will be higher because, to date, the number of recycling facilities is still low, leading to higher distances than for landfill facilities. As an average value, 250 km for trucks can be assumed. This figure may be revised if more accurate data are available in a national context, and if the EoL transport is found to be significant in the final results.

 

8.4 Module C3

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No specific aspects are given for Module C3 for buildings, as it is likely to be predefined in building LCA studies e.g. by the use of EoL generic processes and cradle-to-grave EPD, which have already taken this aspect into account, as well as the EN 15978 standard

Please refer to the following aspect of the EeBGuide – Part A: PRODUCTS guidance document for further information, as well as the EN 15978 standard.

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C-07 Waste treatment vs recycling and recovery process

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Aspect C-07 Waste treatment vs recycling and recovery process
Description
 How should the waste treatment and recycling/reuse/energy recovery of building materials be accounted for (e.g. different recycling practices, economic feasibility)?

related study objective

 ☒ stand-alone LCA ☒ comparative assertion

related study phase

 ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
goal and scope definition inventory analysis (LCI) impact assessment (LCIA) interpretation reporting

relevant for
new buildings existing buildings construction products screening LCA simplified LCA complete LCA
Provisions The provisions in EN 15804 should be referred to.Scenarios should then be developed, based on each national context. For example, for the French context [ADEME 2010] can be referred to for estimates of the amounts of sorted and recycled materials.This aspect is likely to be predefined in every national EPD programme, and may be adopted within a given LCA study.
Rules from:

EN 15804

 

 6.3.4.6 End-of-life stage
6.3.8 Developing product scenarios
7.3 Scenarios and additional technical information
7.3.4 End of life
Guidance
 Module C3 provides information on waste treatment processes until the product reaches the end-of-waste state or is disposed of (included in C4). In theory, processes before the end-of-waste state is reached are waste treatment processes, and processes after the end-of-waste state is reached are recycling or recovery processes. When deciding whether a process should be included in C3 or be considered as a recycling process within Module D. the focus should be less on the terminology for the process and more on whether the waste has reached the end-of-waste state. The default scenario for the end-of-life stage C3 should be based on current national practice for demolition material. However, alternative scenarios can be given, if a range of waste treatment options is available.National schemes may provide default scenarios and models for Module C3 for various materials, based on current practice.The end-of-waste state is defined in EN 15804 6.3.4.5. All waste treatment process impacts until the end-of-waste state are reached should be included in Module C3, excluding demolition (considered in C1) and transport to waste treatment or disposal (considered in C2).

The Loads and benefits of recycling, recovery and reuse beyond the system boundary are recorded in Module D.

Energy recovered by energy recovery processes, e.g. incineration with an efficiency greater than 60%, is recorded in Module D (as the recovery process impacts and avoided impacts of conventional generation), as the material must have reached the end-of-waste state to be considered for energy recovery (EN 15804 6.3.4.5 Note 2).

Recovery processes with efficiencies of less than 60% cannot be considered as energy recovery, and must be considered as waste management processes, e.g. as incineration (Module C4).

Incineration of demolition materials that have not reached the end-of-waste state must also be considered within Module C4, irrespective of the efficiency of incineration (EN 15804 6.3.4.5 Note 2). In both instances, benefits from these C3 processes beyond the system boundary can be recorded in Module D.

C-03 (Buildings) / C-08 (Products) LCA modelling of landfill/disposal

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Aspect C-03 (Buildings) / C-08 (Products) LCA modelling of landfill/disposal
Description
 Should general rules be defined regarding what is deposited and which LCA data to use? What is the timescale for modelling the fate of disposed material?

related study objective

 ☒ stand-alone LCA ☒ comparative assertion

related study phase

 ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
goal and scope definition inventory analysis (LCI) impact assessment (LCIA) interpretation reporting

relevant for
new buildings existing buildings construction products screening LCA simplified LCA complete LCA
Provisions This aspect depends on the background database used. LCA practitioners need to adopt the procedures from the background database, and have no specific influence on it.The fate of materials should be based on current practice (as a baseline scenario), and not predicted practice in the future (except for sensitivity analysis purposes).
Rules from:

EN 15978

 8.7.5 Scenarios for disposal – Module C4

EN 15804

 6.3.4.6 End-of-life stage
6.3.7 Data quality requirements
6.3.8 Developing product scenarios
7.3 Scenarios and additional technical information
7.3.4 End-of-life
ILCD Provisions 7.4.4.2 Modelling waste treatment
I) SHALL – Waste and end-of-life product deposition
I.a) Model waste management completely
         I.b) Modelling discarding of goods into nature
I.c) Modelling waste as output“Note: the use of generic waste treatment models/processes may be considered to limit time and resources required for data collection.”
Guidance
 Within building or product LCA studies, the depositing of material in landfill or other disposal mechanisms is typically not a focus of the study, and is modelled with the use of generic data from background databases. These databases have their own modelling principles concerning the fate of landfilled material. The practitioner cannot influence this aspect, but should understand the way in which landfill processes have been modeled. In some databases, emissions that occur after 100 years are identified separately, and their effect can therefore be considered separately. Databases may also have specific assumptions about the decay rates of biogenic material in landfill and the composition and capture rates for landfill gas, which may not relate to practice in the various Member States, or to current understanding. The practitioner should ensure that this aspect is not neglected. For example, organic materials should not be handled as though they were inert, as this might yield significant errors in the estimation of the fate of deposited material. The practitioner should ensure that the treatment of landfill and incineration processes is considered consistently with the datasets for the production of biogenic material (this should be the case if data are sourced from the same database). Module C4 covers the disposal of end-of-life construction material arising from the demolition of the building. The disposal of end-of-life material arising from the use phase (Modules B2–B5) is included in the individual module where the waste arises.Current landfilling rates and other disposal processes should be used to develop the scenarios for Module C4.The choice of LCA data for landfilling should correspond, as a minimum, to the different types of wastes (inert, non-hazardous and hazardous), although more detailed landfill models are available in many databases. In addition, the time period over which inputs/outputs should be inventoried from the point of disposal in landfill is 100 years [EN 15804 6.3.7]. For biogenic materials, it is of particular relevance to take account of the fate of the biogenic carbon when landfilled, considering the decay rate, the mix of carbon dioxide and methane produced from decay, and the landfill gas capture rate of the landfill. National assumptions for various materials and landfills vary widely.The extent to which biogenic carbon decays into methane at end of life also needs to be considered in LCA studies, although there is little consensus on exactly how much methane will be generated or released in an average landfill. In any event, the greenhouse gases released from biomass degradation will not be balanced by an equivalent amount of sequestered CO2, owing to the increased GWP of methane emission. National EPD programmes may prescribe landfill models, or the percentage of material that will be placed in landfill at the end of life.
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