What is a Life Cycle Assessment study?

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study evaluates all environmental aspects of a specific choice. It could be the choice between recycling of old newspapers and burning of the same newspapers in a waste incineration plant. Or it could be the collection of old wine bottles compared with the disposing of them through the normal waste system.

In the Genan LCA study the choice to be investigated is:

1. Either to recycle the scrap tyres in a Genan plant and use the textile for incineration, the steel for remelting and the rubber granulate for asphalt and bitumen modification (Road+)
2. Or to incinerate the scrap tyres in cement kilns.
3. Or to use the scrap tyres for civil engineering applications.

This choice is a very good reflection of the practical situation in the EU where recycling and incineration are the two most common ways of disposal.



Comparative life cycle assessment of different options for waste tyre treatment: recycling in asphalt, incineration in cement kilns or civil engineering applications