Life Cycle Analysis of Yard, Food, and Wood Waste Management Options

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Life Cycle Analysis of Yard, Food, and Wood
Waste Management Options

• Dr. Jeffrey Morris
• Sound Resource Management
• jeff.morris_at_zerowaste.com
• BioCycle West Coast Conference March 20, 2006

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Greenhouse Gas Reductions for Yard Debris and
Food Scraps I
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Greenhouse Gas Reductions for Yard Debris and
Food Scraps - II
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Critical Estimates/Assumptions

• Methane capture efficiency rate
• Landfill carbon storage rate
• Compost storage of carbon in soils
• Rate of substitution of compost for synthetic
  fertilizers
• Decrease in usage of pesticides facilitated by
  use of compost
• Type of energy use avoided by generation of
  energy from landfill gas or combustion

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Other Health Ecological Impacts Besides Global
Warming

• SOx, NOx particulates (criteria air pollutants)
  
• Human Toxicity
• Ecological Toxicity
• Acidification
• Eutrophication
• Ozone Depletion
• Smog Formation
• Habitat land and water based

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Estimated Life Cycle Benefits of Compost vs.
Synthetic Fertilizers Pesticides for Lawn and
Garden Care

• Upstream impacts from fertilizer and pesticide
  manufacture
• On site and downstream impacts from release of
  nutrients and chemicals into the atmosphere and
  waterways (i.e., volatilization run-off)
• Assumes no impacts from direct skin contact or
  direct inhalation during application
• Does not include impacts of any associated
  changes in lawn mowing method or frequency
• Impacts are per ton of yard debris material
  composted

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Economic Value Of Pollution Reductions From Lawn
Garden Composting
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Economic Value of Pollution Reductions From Lawn
Garden Composting
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Value of Pollution Decreases from
Pesticide/Fertilizer Gasoline Reductions
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Estimated Life Cycle Benefits of Dimensional
Lumber Reuse or Fuel Use vs. Landfill Disposal

• For reuse includes reduced upstream impacts from
  manufacture of virgin lumber
• For fuel use includes reduced upstream impacts
  from mining of energy equivalent amount of coal
• For fuel use includes reduced/increased impacts
  from combustion of wood in place of coal at
  energy generation facilities
• For reuse includes increased carbon sequestration
  in forests
• Impacts are per ton of dimensional lumber
  recovered from the waste stream

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Economic Value Of Pollution Reductions From
Lumber Reuse Use as Fuel
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Higher Emissions from Fuel Use for Coal
Wood

• fossil carbon dioxide
• methane
• hydrogen chloride
• sulfur oxides
• nitrogen oxides
• particulates
• acetaldehyde
• cadmium
• chromium
• dioxin
• selenium

• nitrous oxide
• antimony
• arsenic
• benzene
• beryllium
• carbon tetrachloride
• formaldehyde
• lead
• manganese
• mercury
• naphthalene
• phenol