Material efficiency to measure the environmental performance of waste management systems: A case study on PET bottle recycling in Austria, Germany and Serbia(Article)
- aResearch Center for Resource Management and Solid Waste Engineering, University of Kassel, Mönchebergstraße 7, Kassel, 34125, Germany
- bInstitute for Water Quality and Resource Management, TU Wien, Karlsplatz 13/226, Vienna, 1040, Austria
- cUniversity of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department of Environmental Engineering, Trg Dositeja Obradovica 6, Novi Sad, 21000, Serbia
Abstract
Material efficiency measures, such as recycling rates, are often used to set circular economy targets to achieve higher resource efficiency and lower environmental impact. The aim of this study was to identify material efficiency indicators suitable to reflect the environmental performance of waste and recycling systems using PET bottle waste management in three European countries with diverse waste management structures and recycling performance levels. Material flow analysis and life cycle assessment were performed to assess the material efficiency and environmental impacts of each system as a basis to analyze the relation between these two dimensions. PET bottle waste generation was 5.4 kg/person and year (pa) in Austria in 2013, 6.0 kg/pa in Germany in 2017 and 6.9 kg/pa in Serbia in 2015. Out of this waste flow 41%, 91%, and 11% were directed into PET recyclate in Austria, Germany and Serbia, respectively. For all systems, higher material efficiency translated into lower environmental impact and vice versa. However, linear regression analysis between different material efficiency indicators and environmental impacts showed that indicators targeted at actual recycling, specifically at closed loop, were better suited to reflect environmental performance than input-based indicators. Therefore, whenever data are available, output-based quality-related indicators should be used to measure the material efficiency of waste and resource systems because they correlate best with the goals of increasing resource efficiency and decreasing environmental impacts. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Indexed keywords
| Engineering controlled terms: | BottlesEfficiencyEnvironmental managementLife cyclePlastic recyclingRegression analysisWaste management |
|---|---|
| Engineering uncontrolled terms | Environmental performanceEuropean CountriesLife Cycle Assessment (LCA)Management structureMaterial efficiencyMaterial flow analysisResource efficienciesWaste management systems |
| Engineering main heading: | Environmental impact |
| GEOBASE Subject Index: | environmental impactlife cycle analysisplastic wasterecyclingregression analysiswaste management |
| EMTREE medical terms: | adultarticleAustriaenvironmental impactflow measurementGermanyhumanlife cycle assessmentlinear regression analysisrecyclingSerbiaAustriaGermanypositron emission tomographySerbiawaste management |
| Regional Index: | AustriaGermanySerbia |
| MeSH: | AustriaGermanyPositron-Emission TomographyRecyclingSerbiaWaste Management |
- ISSN: 0956053X
- CODEN: WAMAE
- Source Type: Journal
- Original language: English
- DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2020.05.011
- PubMed ID: 32460107
- Document Type: Article
- Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
Schmidt, S.; Research Center for Resource Management and Solid Waste Engineering, University of Kassel, Mönchebergstraße 7, Kassel, Germany;
© Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
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