Life cycle assessment of organic waste composting

Abstract

Organic waste represents an issue that needs to be solved in order to achieve sustainable development. In Romania, organic waste (biodegradable) represents almost half from the household waste composition. The waste management in Romania is characterized by the continued growth of waste quantities and landfilling continues to be the main elimination method for solid waste. Composting and anaerobic digestion are two solutions for reducing of organic waste landfilled. In this paper life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was applied to determine and evaluate the environmental impact of composting system. All LCA phases were performed: goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation. Two LCA tools were used for the evaluation: GaBi software and Life Cycle Assessment - Integrated Waste Management Assessment Tool. The results reveal that the quantity of waste composted and the type of waste are influencing the environmental impacts values.