| Title | Life cycle thinking for the assessment of waste and circular economy policy: status and perspectives from the EU example |
|---|---|
| ID_Doc | 4258 |
| Authors | De Laurentiis, V; Caldeira, C; Sala, S; Tonini, D |
| Title | Life cycle thinking for the assessment of waste and circular economy policy: status and perspectives from the EU example |
| Year | 2024 |
| Published | |
| Abstract | Life cycle thinking methods such as life cycle assessment (LCA) and costing (LCC) were originally developed to assess the performance of products and services (business -making decisions). However, they are increasingly deployed to support policy -making along the entire policy cycle, including via impact assessment (IA) of different policy options. These applications are associated with a number of challenges, mainly related to the dynamic and prospective nature of policy IA, typically forward -looking into 10 -20 years ahead. This requires the application of prospective scenario analyses to develop the baseline scenario, reflecting the 'do nothing ' into the future (business -as -usual), and the alternative scenarios, reflecting the consequences incurred by the implementation of the policy options under study. Such prospective and broadened boundary nature of policy IA challenges traditional LCA/LCC practices mostly based on retrospective, static scenarios and datasets. The present study provides an overview of recent IA studies supporting waste policy to show the state-of-the-art and the main challenges associated with the application of life cycle methods in IA, focusing on the most recent EU waste and circular economy policies. Moreover, since specific and transparent guidance on how to implement consistently these methods in policy IA is lacking, the study provides an initial guidance for application of life cycle thinking in IA drawing upon the knowledge obtained conducting waste policy IA studies. Key challenges in the field are still to be addressed, and might inspire further research to improve the application of life cycle thinking to policy assessment. |
| https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2024.02.037 |
Similar Articles
| ID | Score | Article |
|---|---|---|
65019
|
Sala, S; Amadei, AM; Beylot, A; Ardente, F The evolution of life cycle assessment in European policies over three decades(2021)International Journal Of Life Cycle Assessment, 26.0, 12 | |
| 24387
|
Bassi, SA; Tonini, D; Ekvall, T; Astrup, TF A life cycle assessment framework for large-scale changes in material circularity(2021) | |
| 69734
|
Del Borghi, A; Gallo, M; Del Borghi, M A survey of life cycle approaches in waste management(2009)International Journal Of Life Cycle Assessment, 14.0, 7 | |
| 23611
|
Albizzati, PF; Foster, G; Gaudillat, P; Manfredi, S; Tonini, D A model to assess the environmental and economic impacts of municipal waste management in Europe(2024) | |
| 63256
|
Sanyé-Mengual, E; Sala, S Life Cycle Assessment support to environmental ambitions of EU policies and the Sustainable Development Goals(2022)Integrated Environmental Assessment And Management, 18, 5 | |
| 6577
|
Arushanyan, Y; Björklund, A; Eriksson, O; Finnveden, G; Ljunggren Söderman, M; Sundqvist, JO; Stenmarck, Å Environmental Assessment of Possible Future Waste Management Scenarios(2017)Energies, 10, 2 | |
| 4761
|
Barkhausen, R; Rostek, L; Miao, ZC; Zeller, V Combinations of material flow analysis and life cycle assessment and their applicability to assess circular economy requirements in EU product regulations. A systematic literature review(2023) | |
| 3039
|
Camana, D; Manzardo, A; Toniolo, S; Gallo, F; Scipioni, A Assessing environmental sustainability of local waste management policies in Italy from a circular economy perspective. An overview of existing tools(2021) | |
| 19874
|
Camana, D; Toniolo, S; Manzardo, A; Piron, M; Scipioni, A Life cycle assessment applied to waste management in Italy: A mini-review of characteristics and methodological perspectives for local assessment(2021)Waste Management & Research, 39.0, 8 | |
| 26383
|
Cecere, G; Bottausci, S; Degli Esposti, A; Magrini, C; Mazzi, A; Camana, D; Cappucci, GM; Demichelis, F; Miranda, G; Carollo, F; Sciarrone, M; Fedele, A; Rigamonti, L The role of life cycle thinking-based methodologies in the development of waste management plans(2024) |