EPA/600/A-93/278
"LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS:
ITS PLACE IN WASTE MANAGEMENT"
James S. Bridges
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory
Cincinnati, Ohio 45268
Introduction
For the last thirty years in the United States, waste generation rates have risen
each year. With the use and disposal of consumer products representing 80% of
the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream, it would seem logical for decision makers
to target consumer product wastes as an area of concern and opportunity to reduce
waste generation rates. Solid waste management decision makers have recognized
Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) as a concept combining several
techniques to manage distinct elements of the waste stream and encourages an ISWM
plan to assist the decision maker in taking a systems approach to the problem.
The components of the waste management "hierarchy" - source reduction, recycling,
treatment and disposal, all complement each other as the decision maker prepares
a strategic plan. Unfortunately, decision makers are making costly decisions
about waste streams with only limited information. Consumers.demand information
about products before comparing features and values, and making choices, and
producers have a good knowledge of what is happening within the firm to produce
consumer products, yet MSW decision makers look only at the waste stream and
select where it is to go in the "hierarchy." MSW decision makers do not have the
data necessary to make an informed choice. This paper describes a systems
concept known as life cycle analysis, and its place in waste management. Much
of the input for this presentation is a result of an invitation by the
International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) to submit an article for the ISWA
Yearbook on LCA and MSW management, along with twenty-six years experience
working with EPA's Solid Waste Program and Pollution Prevention Research Program.
Product systems should be for the entire life of the product including disposal.
ISWM should include the entire system to determine the real environmental
impacts. Without considering the entire system, a decision to increase recycling
as part of the ISWM plan may appear to be a long-term solution, only to discover
after capital expenditures that certain recyclables in a waste stream may be
eliminated through source reduction. With producers looking at consumer products
in a broader view, it would be prudent for MSW decision makers to follow the
trends that will change the waste stream and adjust their strategic plan
accordingly. One trend is volume-based fees on MSW which provide the generators
with incentive to reduce waste at the source or through increased recycling
efforts. Another trend is that of producers and consumers becoming more informed
about source reduction which will bring about changes in the waste stream. The
emergence of regulations that makes it more difficult to site a treatment or
disposal facility or indicates bans on certain wastes such as yard waste is a
trend that will affect the waste stream. Waste management decision makers need
dynamic tools to manage a changing population's waste stream. Bold new
initiatives are being implemented to reduce waste and bold new thinking is needed
to look beyond the immediate environmental impact to all environmental impacts.

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When the waste management hierarchy is fully understood by waste management
decision makers, there seems to be agreement that reducing waste is one of the
correct objectives. Reducing waste at the source requires analyzing the waste
stream and making appropriate adjustments such as a process change, material
change and/or operational change. There is a management gap between these
adjustments to reduce waste by the producer and consumer and the actual
management of the generated wastes by the waste management professional. The LCA
concept supports the producer, consumer, and waste management professional in
taking a systems approach in determining and understanding the waste stream.
With the use of LCA the product (which is a combination of resources) can be
analyzed to determine how changes to these resources can favorably improve the
product to have the least negative impact on the environment. Waste management
has been an evolutionary rather than revolutionary process in the United States
which has found a niche within the existing social -economic-pol itical structures.
There are a number of difficult environmentally related issues when considering
product differentiation and product development, and what appeals to the consumer
in the marketplace. In brief, product development and product differentiation
will enhance consumer satisfaction over time (evolutionary), and consumers who
are informed and act rationally will seek quality products at low prices.
Eventually the economics of the allocation of resources through products will
provide the consumer with what is wanted and what is good for the environment.
With a price system as a means for allocating resources within our framework of
American capitalism, we will have some difficulty with the operation and
efficiency of incorporating environmental issues with resource issues. This
difficulty will expand as we work together on global environmental problems and
economics will be the driving force and language of environmental issues for the
third millennium.
Integrated Solid Waste Management and Life Cycle Analysis
When looking at a product's cradle-to-grave life, ISWM comes near the end of the
cycle when the decision maker is determining which of several alternative waste
management techniques to manage and dispose of specific components of the waste
stream. At this point it is difficult to take advantage of source reduction, the
most preferred technique in the hierarchy, because a waste already exists. The
waste management decision maker is more likely to consider recycling, composting,
energy recovery, and landfill ing because of a missed opportunity to consider
source reduction. The waste management decision maker can encourage source
reduction and can even provide incentives for source reduction, but the producer
and consumer controls the potential waste stream. The waste management decision
maker can be an effective member of a product systems team that tracks the
product from its inception to disposal.
When it comes to MSW, current thinking tends to be focussed strictly on the
waste rather than on the consumer product. To offset the landfill capacity
crisis (as in parts of the US), MSW professionals generally think that the
solution is to divert material going to the landfill. If a product that is being
manufactured cannot easily be recycled, re-design is encouraged to make it
recyclable. What is missing is thinking about the secondary impacts that these
changes have on the product system as a whole. This thinking is "Life Cycle
Analysis (LCA)." In Europe, the term "ecobalance" is used more frequently. LCA
consists of looking at a product, production process, packaging, or activity from
its inception to its completion. The basic stages included in a life cycle are

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raw materials acquisition, manufacturing, use/reuse/maintenance, and
recycle/waste management.
LCA addresses the realization that solving one problem almost always creates
others. For example, a manufacturer may substitute a toxic, chlorinated solvent
with an aqueous cleaner. However, the effects of the production and disposal of
the new cleaner must be taken into account as well as the fact that more aqueous
cleaner may be required than the original solvent to do the same job in some
cases. The tradeoff here is increased quantities for decreased toxicity.
A complete LCA can be viewed as consisting of three complementary components:
Inventory Analysis - identification and quantification of energy and
resource use and waste emissions;
Impact Analysis - the assessment of the consequences that identified
wastes have on the environment; and
Improvement Analysis - the evaluation and implementation of opportunities
to effect environmental improvement.
A properly conducted life cycle inventory analysis will account for total
energy and resource requirements, atmospheric emissions, waterborne effluents,
and solid wastes for a specific system. The system boundary is drawn around
parts or all of the life cycle stages and then the LCA technique is applied
within the constraints of the system boundary. This system flow diagram for the
life cycle stages is illustrated in Figure 1. To date, there has been little
documentation which addresses a systems approach for evaluating environmental
impact. To begin filling this systems approach gap, the EPA recently completed
a guidance manual which provides impartial guidelines for conducting the
inventory analysis component of an LCA. While inventory analysis is a fairly
straightforward, basic engineering approach to quantifying environmental
releases, the approach to translating the potential, broad impacts to human and
ecological health and welfare is much more difficult. The US EPA continues to
study the impact analysis component within the LCA research program. The
improvement analysis component requires research which builds upon what is being
learned through applying inventory and impact analysis. Currently there is
limited RD&D activity for this component.
It is argued that a modern company that produces any consumer product can
only claim to be a good steward of the earth if it practices LCA. One example
of ISWM and LCA working together is the encouragement of improved,
environmentally conscious packaging. Today, about one-third of all MSW by weight
is product packaging. Better packaging design can reduce the quantity of wastes
generated and make a tremendous impact on the quantity and characteristics of the
MSW stream. Packaging for the MSW decision maker is usually seen first with
waste collection, however it would be to the consumer's advantage to have the MSW
professional be part of the producer's design team. LCA is the approach that
producers can use to consider the total impact on the environment. The producer
listens to the consumer with the use of marketing surveys, toll-free numbers, and
demand for the product. The producer will also listen to the consumer regarding
environmental concerns, particularly when it wi11 increase the consumer's costs.
With the trend for stricter and more expensive MSW management, it would be wise

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for the producer to seek the advice of the MSW decision maker to serve the
consumer better. This partnership with the producer, consumer, government and
waste professional truly reflects ISWM and encourages the acceptance of LCA
principles.
Life-Cycle Stages
Inputs
Raw
Materials
Energy
Raw Materials Acquisition |
1
r-'
Manufacturing J-
"J

Use/Reuse/Maintenance h
*
r
Recycle/Waste Management p
Outputs
Atmospheric
Emissions
Waterborne
Wastes
Solid
Wastes
Coproducts
Other
Releases
System Boundar/
| Figure 1
; Defining system boundaries
Figure 1. Life Cycle Stages
Interpretation and Application of LCA Principles
There appears to be a lack of clarity in interpreting the actual environmental
impacts that has lead to confusion when presenting the results of a life cycle
study to the public. LCA results can enlighten consumers and manufacturers when
faced with the choice between different products which serve a similar function.
One well known, and highly debated, example is reusable, cloth diapers versus
disposable diapers. The solid waste professional would, no doubt, opt for the
use of reusable cloth diapers reducing the impact on the MSW system, however the
local government environmental authority must consider other environmental
impacts regarding water and energy.

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A life cycle study conducted by Franklin Assoc. Ltd. in 1990 compares the two
diaper systems. The report, which provides only inventory data and does not
attempt impact analysis, gi ves results for water use, environmental emi ssions
(atmospheric, waterborne, and solids), and energy use. For example, the data
include industrial and postconsumer solid waste generation (volume) of the total
solid waste of individual diaper systems among single use diapers, commercial
laundering of cloth diapers, and home laundering of cloth diapers. Most of the
solid waste from the single use diaper system is in the form of postconsumer
waste, while the solid waste for the cloth diaper is primarily in the form of
industrial waste. The single largest category of solid waste for both the
commercial and home systems is wastewater treatment sludges. The data show that
the single use diaper system produces about two times the volume of total solid
waste produced by the composite cloth diaper. For total waterborne wastes, the
reusable, composite cloth diaper produces over seven times as much wastes as the
single use diaper system when the weights of all contaminated water are summed.
While the debate will continue ever how data like these are generated, what
assumptions are used, how the boundaries are drawn, etc., the point of the
i11ustration is that difficult decisions may have to be made about resulting
tradeoffs. In the diaper example, increased water and energy use and the
resulting environmental emissions are the tradeoffs for decreased solid waste
generation. This may also hold true for life cycle data collected on a single
product where improvements are identified within the system. Tradeoffs may be
found between the original product or process and the modified version which
incorporates pollution prevention.
Because it can be costly to gather the quantitative and qualitative data needed
to conduct an LCA, EPA's Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory is developing
methodologies and technical criteria which will result in less costly screening
tools for evaluating or identifying pollution prevention alternatives. There may
always be interpretation issues ana controversy surrounding the use of LCA due
to the need for judgements by the decision maker. This does not mean that the
LCA concept should not be used due to an inability to collect all the available
data or to assure complete confidence in the results. The LCA concept is a sound
approach to gather and interpret data, and invoke sound judgement to make a
decision. The more LCA is perfected for waste management issues, the more
precise tool it will become.
Summary and Conclusions
Consumers, producers, government and waste professionals are the decision makers
around the world who must work together to reduce the generation of MSW at the
local level. The products produced in South America or Asia may have resources
from Africa and Australia, and be consumed in North America or Europe. Generally,
the product is disposed near the point of consumption. In this global economy,
there is no assurance that the product produced in a country will be consumed in
that same country. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a tool to evaluate the
environmental consequences of a product or activity hoiistically, across its
entire life. For decision makers to choose environmentally sound products and
for producers to encourage the practice of pollution prevention through the
design, manufacture, use and disposal of their products, LCA can identify and
evaluate opportunities to reduce environmental impacts. ISWM with LCA is a
combination that requires the waste professional to cooperate with the producer

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and consumer in determining the best options for waste management at the local
level. At the local level, elected officials face a myriad of politically
unpopular decisions about MSW. LCA will provide the information to discuss
tradeoffs and build cooperation among decision makers throughout the life of
every product from "cradle to grave."
A combined LCA and ISWM systems approach to managing solid waste may seem
theoretical and unrealistic, particularly to local jurisdictions where local
elected officials are attempting to site a facility or increase
collection/disposal rates. LCA is a powerful tool to assess the total waste
stream and determine tradeoffs, and it will take patience and agreement from
waste generating producers and consumers who have not traditionally considered
environmental impacts. Like children, we stand on one foot and then on the
other, waiting impatiently for technological solutions, so eager for the arrival
that we miss the approach. Waste management decision makers must view themselves
as a crucial part of the overall solution working with others up and down the
life cycle stages which lead to the MSW stream.

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TECHNICAL REPORT DATA
(Please read Instructions on the reverse before com pie l
EEPA/6QN0°;A-93/278 2"
3,
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
Life Cycle Analysis: Its Place in Waste
Management
S. REPORT DATE
April 1993
6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION CODE
7. AUTHORISE
James S. Bridges
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NO.
9, PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS
US EPA
Pollution Prevention Research Branch
10. PROGRAM ELEMENT NO.
11. CONTRACT/GRANT NO.
12.SPONSORING AG.ENCV NAME AND ADDRESS
Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory
Office of Research and Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, OH 45268
13. TYPE OF REPORT AND PERIOD COVERED
Proceedinqs
14, SPONSORING AGENCY COOE
EPA/600/14
15-SUPPLEMENTARY,NOTES
Conference Proceedings: 11th Annual Virginia Waste Management Conference,
Richmond Virginia, April 27, 1993, p:i_7
16. ABSTRACT
When the waste management hierarchy is fully understood by waste management
decision makers, there seems to be agreement that reducing waste is one of the
correct objectives. Reducing waste at the source required analyzing the waste
stream and making appropriate adjustments such as a process change, material
change and/or operational change. There is a management gap between these
adjustments to reduce waste by the producer and consumer and the actual
management of the generated wastes by the waste management professional. The LCA
concept supports the producer, consumer, and waste management professional in
a systems approach in determining and understanding the waste stream.
With the use of LCA the product (which is a combination of resources) can be
analyzed to determine how changes to these resources can favorably improve the
product to have the least negative impact on the environment. The purpose of the
paper is to discuss how LCA can be the tool to assist waste management decision
maKers.
17. KEY WORDS AND DOCUMENT ANALYSIS
a. DESCRIPTORS
b. IDENTIFIERS/OPEN ENDED TERMS
c. COSATI Field/Group
Pollution prevention
Waste minimization
source reduction
Life cycle analysis
integrated solid waste management systems


18. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT
RELEASE TO PUBLIC
19. SECURITY CLASS (This Report)
niMri flft'TrTrn
21. NO. OF PAGES
9
2(rsr
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