Comparative life cycle assessment of kerbside collection methods for waste glass cullet for asphalt production

Rapid urbanization along with population growth have led to a problem of excessive waste production world-wide. Australia is not an exception, where waste management and recycling are urgently required. The use of waste glass as a replacement for virgin aggregates can be one of the solutions. Many studies have focused on experiments and developing new materials with waste glass. However, those studies mostly ignored the embodied energies of the waste glass collection and sorting processes, which can significantly influence the environmental impact and thus demand further investigation. This research applies the life cycle assessment (LCA) technique to evaluate the environmental impacts of recovering glass material from two kerbside open-loop recycling models (early-stage separation) for asphalt production. The two kerbside recycling models belong, one with separating glass via a traditional mixed kerbside recycling bin model (MKRB model) and the other with collecting glass only through a separate kerbside glass recycling bin model (SKGRB model). It shows that the SKGRB is the most environmentally friendly model, which can lower environmental impacts by around 40-60% per ton of asphalt production compared to the MKRB model.

Automated summary

Rapid urbanization and population growth have caused excessive waste production worldwide, and Australia is in a similar situation. This study applies life cycle assessment (LCA) technique to evaluate the environmental impacts of recovering glass material from two kerbside open-loop recycling models for asphalt production. The results show that the SKGRB model is the most environmentally friendly, reducing environmental impacts by around 40-60% per ton of asphalt production compared to the MKRB model.