How to Develop Indicators to Assess the Sustainability of Recycling Processes?

Abstract

The circular economy offers a partial answer to resource depletion. Recycling is inherent in the circular economy strategies that why industrial companies look for stepping recycling rates up. But recycling approaches are often motivated by economic considerations. Yet the recycling paths are multiple and it is important to determine the best path according to different categories of indicators and not only profit. We worked with MTB, an engineering and manufacturing company of recycling equipment. Our work aims to determine which are the most relevant indicators to assess the sustainability performance of recycling processes. We selected 8 indicators in 3 different categories: technical, environmental and economic. The technical indicators are determined based on a common framework established using the Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) protocol. Environmental and economic indicators results are given using a process Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database. Information stored in the database using both variable and invariable unit process. The calculation is respectively done with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost (LCC) methodologies. During the design phases, specific information is provided to establish the unit process performance of each recycling scenario. In this article, we present how the performance indicators were selected and calculated in regard with the decision support methodology build up.