Page 337 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

L1644_C08.fm Page 305 Tuesday, October 21, 2003 3:03 PM

8 Applications of

Environmental Impact

Analysis in Industrial

Process Chains

With the contributions of
Julio Rodrigo, Montserrat Meneses,
and Haydée Andrea Yrigoyen

8.1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, the methodologies explained previously will be applied in three other
cases. These examples are pilot studies to further show the potential for integration of
the tools for the life-cycle and site-specific impact assessment described in the book.
We note the academic character of the projects, but we wanted to include them to
demonstrate the strategy outlined in Chapter 6 for cases other than waste incineration.
In the first example, life-cycle assessment (LCA) and risk assessment are applied
to the case of the landfill activity of mixed household solid waste. The use of the
WISARD (waste integrated systems assessment for recovery and disposal) software
model (Ecobalance, 1999) and database made it possible to perform the inventory
analysis and impact assessment phases of the LCA. In the risk assessment, the
ISCST-3 Gaussian dispersion model (U.S. EPA, 1995) was used for the calculation
of the considered substance concentrations in the region; the CalTOX multimedia
exposure model (DTSC, 2002) was used as well to evaluate the human health risk.
The second case shows the life-cycle assessment of a universal remote for
television and video using the EIME (environmental information and management
explorer) software model (Ecobalance, 1998) for the inventory analysis and impact
assessment phases. The limits of site-specific studies are discussed in the context of
this case study.
In the third case, an environmental impact analysis of an industrial separation
process including life-cycle assessment, environmental risk assessment and impact
pathway analysis is carried out. In this case, TEAM (tool for environmental

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