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Life cycle approach as a tool for assessing municipal biowaste treatment units: a systematic review

2025Journal article Open access
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datacite.subject.fosCiências Agrárias::Agricultura, Silvicultura e Pescas
datacite.subject.fosEngenharia e Tecnologia::Biotecnologia Ambiental
datacite.subject.sdg03:Saúde de Qualidade
datacite.subject.sdg04:Educação de Qualidade
datacite.subject.sdg06:Água Potável e Saneamento
dc.contributor.authorSerafini, Lais Fabiana
dc.contributor.authorPraça, Paulo
dc.contributor.authorGonzález-Andrés, Fernando
dc.contributor.authorGonçalves, Artur
dc.date.accessioned2025-12-16T17:34:07Z
dc.date.available2025-12-16T17:34:07Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractBiowaste is an increasingly relevant environmental issue worldwide, causing significant environmental, economic and social impacts. Effective strategies are crucial to mitigate impacts, maximising biowaste’s valorisation. This article presents a systematic literature review on using life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate municipal biowaste treatment facilities. The primary objective was to analyse how LCA is applied to assess the environmental efficiency of mechanical and biological treatment involving composting and anaerobic digestion (AD)-based systems. The article addressed the methodological heterogeneity across previous LCA studies, identifying critical gaps and challenges regarding standardisation and result comparability. It underscores the importance of accurately considering environmental indicators and emission factors, as these significantly affect overall LCA outcomes. Results show that most publications focus on Europe and Asia, highlighting a research gap in regions like Africa. The organic fraction municipal solid waste is the predominant feedstock, and 1 tonne of biowaste was the frequently used functional unit, reflecting the upstream impacts of waste. The most recurrent system boundary was the cradle-to-grave, offering a comprehensive analysis as it covers all stages of biowaste treatment from collection to disposal. The studies highlight the environmental benefits of AD-based systems through energy production compensations, particularly in reducing global warming potential, compared with other treatment operations such as landfills. While replacing mineral fertilisers with digestate and compost is very well discussed, it raises concerns about heavy metal content and nutrient availability. Therefore, selective collection of organic waste is crucial to improve compost quality and AD efficiency, though it increases transportation costs.eng
dc.description.sponsorshipThe authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC): CIMO, UIDB/00690/2020 (DOI: 10.54499/UIDB/00690/2020) and UIDP/00690/2020 (DOI: 10.54499/UIDP/00690/2020); and SusTEC, LA/P/0007/2020 (DOI: 10.54499/LA/P/0007/2020). Laís Fabiana Serafini also thanks the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for her PhD grant (2023.00407.BDANA)
dc.identifier.citationSerafini, Lais Fabiana; Praça, Paulo José Gomes Monteiro; González-Andrés, Fernando; Gonçalves, Artur (2025). Life cycle approach as a tool for assessing municipal biowaste treatment units: A systematic review. Waste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy. ISSN 0734-242X. 43:10, p. 1509-1524
dc.identifier.doi10.1177/0734242x251326866
dc.identifier.eissn1096-3669
dc.identifier.issn0734-242X
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10198/35248
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherSAGE Publications
dc.relationMountain Research Center
dc.relationMountain Research Center
dc.relationAssociate Laboratory for Sustainability and Tecnology in Mountain Regions
dc.relation.ispartofWaste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectLife cycle assessment
dc.subjectComposting
dc.subjectAnaerobic digestion
dc.subjectGlobal warming potential
dc.subjectWaste management
dc.subjectImpact categories
dc.titleLife cycle approach as a tool for assessing municipal biowaste treatment units: a systematic revieweng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.awardTitleMountain Research Center
oaire.awardTitleMountain Research Center
oaire.awardTitleAssociate Laboratory for Sustainability and Tecnology in Mountain Regions
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F00690%2F2020/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDP%2F00690%2F2020/PT
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/LA%2FP%2F0007%2F2020/PT
oaire.citation.endPage1524
oaire.citation.issue10
oaire.citation.startPage1509
oaire.citation.titleWaste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy
oaire.citation.volume43
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameSerafini
person.familyNameGonçalves
person.givenNameLais Fabiana
person.givenNameArtur
person.identifier.ciencia-id881A-4737-F643
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-8765-7387
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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