Research paper
End-of-life best approach for allocating recycling benefits in LCAs of metal packaging
Publication date: February 4, 2013
Organisation: CE Delft
With life cycle assessments (LCA) the environmental impact of product packaging combinations can be determined, based on available data.In this report multiple methods for allocating processes are discussed by CE Delft.
In life cycle assessments (LCA) involving materials recycling a method must be chosen for allocating processes and avoided emissions that is in line with the LCA’s goal and scope definition. This choice has a major influence on the results of the LCA for the product(s) in question. It is also a value choice, as there are no guidelines from the natural sciences. In this report, several arguments for opting for one of two approaches are discussed and applied to the case of metal packaging.