Page 248 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

L1644_C06.fm Page 221 Monday, October 20, 2003 12:06 PM

In this way one or more impact scores are calculated and this information can
be used for a selection process in the form of a three-fold dominance analysis. In
the three phases of the dominance analysis, the main media, processes and pollutants
must be identified in a combination of quantitative and qualitative evaluation. In
principle, such an evaluation should be carried out for each of the selected impact
scores because each considers one particular type of environmental impact or weight-
ing scheme. Then the relevant processes and pollutants obtained are spatially dif-
ferentiated according to the site or region that should be taken into account for the
environmental impact assessment. Finally the eco-technology matrix is elaborated
for the predominant processes and pollutants in the assigned sites and regions.
In a next step, the fate and exposure and consequence analysis are carried out
with different levels of detail for each process identified as relevant. The results of
the fate and exposure and consequence analysis are the input for the damage-
assigning matrices. In the case of global indicators like GWP, it is not necessary to
perform a fate and exposure and consequence analysis with different levels of detail.
Thus, these indicators can be used directly in the damage-assigning matrix. In
particular, the GWP and the ozone depletion potential (ODP) are considered global
indicators. According to Bare et al. (2000) and Udo de Haes and Lindeijer (2001),
these potentials are important for the subarea of protection life support systems,
which belong to the area of protection (AoP) of the natural environment and might
be seen as having intrinsic value in their own right. The life support functions concern
the major regulating functions that enable life on Earth (human and nonhuman) —
particularly, regulation of the Earth’s climate, hydrological cycles, soil fertility and
bio–geo–chemical cycles. In the same way, depletion of the sub-AoP natural
resources (abiotic, biotic and land) can be taken into account if the decision-maker
considers these potentials important.
The flowchart in Figure 6.5 gives an overview of the procedure to generate the
eco-technology and the damage-assigning matrices. The multiplication of the matri-
ces yields the damage profile of each considered alternative, as well as interesting
information for the optimization of process settings. In the case of using different
impact scores, the same damage endpoints considered in the fate and exposure and
consequence analysis related to these scores must be summed up.
The damage profile can be divided into damages to human health (mortality,
cancer and morbidity), manmade environment, natural environment and global indi-
cators (GWP and others). The application of a weighting and aggregation scheme,
determined in the goal and scope definition, avoids a multicriteria analysis for a
huge amount of impact parameters, for instance, emergency room visit, asthma
attack, maintenance surface for paint, and yield loss of wheat, which are results of
site-specific environmental evaluations. Next, each of the steps developed in Figure
6.5 will be explained in more detail to provide the user with a better understanding.

6.5.2 GOAL AND SCOPE DEFINITION
In the goal and scope definition (Figure 6.6) the decision-maker determines the
cornerstones of the environmental damage estimations for industrial process chains
that, in his opinion, are best fit to answer the environmental management problem

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