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Sustainability
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Life Cycle Assessment, a Tool for Sustainability and Circular Economy
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Life Cycle Assessment, a Tool for Sustainability and Circular Economy

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2021) | Viewed by 10736

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Daniel Elduque

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
i+AITIIP, Department of Mechanical Engineering, EINA, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: life cycle assessment; sustainability; circular economy; mechanical engineering
Dr. Carmelo Pina

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
BSH Electrodomésticos España, S.A., Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: Life Cycle Assessment, Sustainability, Circular Economy, Product Design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

People’s concern about the protection of the environment has been increasing in recent decades, mainly because of problems such as climate change and pollution.

In 2015, the European Union adopted the Circular Economy Action Plan, to help the transition towards a circular economy and increase competitiveness and sustainability.

The efficient use of materials and closing the loop are some of the objectives of a Circular Economy, which has become a popular topic in global research, as a path for sustainable development. As Life Cycle Assessment allows researchers to assess the environmental impact of products, processes or services, it is valuable as a tool to study sustainability and Circular Economy strategies.

This Special Issue aims to collect up-to-date research papers that use life cycle assessment as a tool to reduce environmental impact and, also, as a tool to assess sustainability practices and circular economy strategies. Within the framework described above, this Special Issue invites authors to contribute with original research in the following fields:

  • Life cycle assessment
  • Sustainability
  • Circular Economy
  • Product design
  • Ecodesign
  • Reduce/reuse/repair/remanufacture/recycle
  • Material efficiency
  • Critical raw materials
  • End-of-life and waste treatments

Dr. Daniel Elduque
Dr. Carmelo Pina
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Life cycle assessment
  • Sustainability
  • Circular Economy
  • Product design
  • Ecodesign
  • Reduce/reuse/repair/remanufacture/recycle
  • Material efficiency
  • Critical raw materials
  • End-of-life and waste treatments

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 5238 KiB  
Article
Evaluation and Optimization of the Life Cycle in Maritime Works
by Eduardo Cejuela, Vicente Negro and Jose María del Campo
Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4524; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114524 - 02 Jun 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2928
Abstract
The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals are a necessity. A large number of public actions and activities in many countries go in this direction. Various indicators are used to quantitatively assess the impacts, all of which are included within product life [...] Read more.
The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals are a necessity. A large number of public actions and activities in many countries go in this direction. Various indicators are used to quantitatively assess the impacts, all of which are included within product life cycle assessment. It is essential to study and assess infrastructure, as it is an important factor in emissions, as well as environmental and sustainable construction. In maritime works, the aggressiveness of seawater is an important factor that reduces the life of reinforced concrete structures, and it is necessary to search for solutions that reduce or eliminate maintenance. In this research paper, the aim is to quantitatively verify that the composite materials are viable from an environmental and resistant point of view. Concrete caissons and/or breakwater crowns for vertical breakwaters were constructed as the fundamental elements, calculating the life cycle in comparison with several contrasting examples. The first is the case of a conventional breakwater crown, built in Escombreras, southeast Spain, at the Mediterranean Sea, later simulating the impact with one reinforced with fiberglass bars. The results are encouraging and call for additional measures to further reduce maritime infrastructure indicators with much less polluting, more durable, and more sustainable solutions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Life Cycle Assessment, a Tool for Sustainability and Circular Economy)
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22 pages, 2497 KiB  
Article
Environmental and Economic Prioritization of Building Energy Refurbishment Strategies with Life-Cycle Approach
by Xabat Oregi, Rufino Javier Hernández and Patxi Hernandez
Sustainability 2020, 12(9), 3914; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093914 - 11 May 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2704
Abstract
An increasing number of studies apply life-cycle assessment methodology to assess the impact of a new building or to prioritize between different building refurbishment strategies. Among the different hypotheses to consider during the application of this methodology, the selection of the impact indicator [...] Read more.
An increasing number of studies apply life-cycle assessment methodology to assess the impact of a new building or to prioritize between different building refurbishment strategies. Among the different hypotheses to consider during the application of this methodology, the selection of the impact indicator is critical, as this choice will completely change the interpretation of the results. This article proposes applying four indicators that allow analysing the results of a refurbishment project of a residential building with the life-cycle approach: non-renewable primary energy use reduction (NRPER), net energy ratio (NER), internal rate of return (IRR), and life-cycle payback (LC-PB). The combination of environmental and economic indicators when evaluating the results has allowed to prioritize among the different strategies defined for this case study. Furthermore, an extensive sensitivity assessment reflects the high uncertainty of some of the parameters and their high influence on the final results. To this end, new hypotheses related to the following parameters have been considered: reference service life of the building, estimated service life of material, operational energy use, conversion factor, energy price, and inflation rate. The results show that the NRPE use reduction value could vary up to −44%. The variation of the other indicators is also very relevant, reaching variation rates such as 100% in the NER, 450% in the IRR, and 300% in the LC-PB. Finally, the results allow to define the type of input or hypothesis that influences each indicator the most, which is relevant when calibrating the prioritization process for the refurbishment strategy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Life Cycle Assessment, a Tool for Sustainability and Circular Economy)
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21 pages, 4976 KiB  
Article
An Assessment of the Environmental Sustainability and Circularity of Future Scenarios of the Copper Life Cycle in the U.S.
by Miranda R. Gorman and David A. Dzombak
Sustainability 2019, 11(20), 5624; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205624 - 12 Oct 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4421
Abstract
Assessments of availability and sustainability of metals necessary for economic development into the future are important for planning by producers, consumers, and governments. This work assessed the U.S. copper life cycle and examined six future scenarios by which to assess the circular economy [...] Read more.
Assessments of availability and sustainability of metals necessary for economic development into the future are important for planning by producers, consumers, and governments. This work assessed the U.S. copper life cycle and examined six future scenarios by which to assess the circular economy and sustainability of copper to 2030. Regression analysis methodology was used to identify relationships among seven drivers and eight materials flows. These relationships were used to develop six forecasts of future scenarios for U.S. production, consumption, old scrap collection, new scrap recovery, landfilling, and scrap exports of copper. Flow forecasts were used to quantify circularity and environmental footprint metrics to assess sustainability. Results of the scenario analyses provide insights into the types of behaviors and trends that could be incentivized to allow for increased circularity of copper. One such finding was that slow population growth and high urbanization resulted in the most circular scenario. Major limitations to circularity are import reliance and scrap exports. Analysis of the scenarios leads to the conclusions that population dynamics are critical to the circularity of copper, as well as that both environmental footprint metrics and circularity indicators must be considered when assessing environmental sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Life Cycle Assessment, a Tool for Sustainability and Circular Economy)
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