LCA studies to support a waste treatment company in the context of the circular economy

Starting from 2022, the RMB S.p.A. company has decided to use the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to quantify the environmental impacts associated with its activities. The company is active in the circular economy, since it treats different types of waste (e.g. end-of-life vehicles and bottom ash from waste-to-energy plants) with the main objective of extracting ferrous and non-ferrous metals for their subsequent recycling. The company first requested to analyze its carbon footprint for the years 2022 and 2023 in order to undertake short and long-term greenhouse gases reduction commitments. The assessment was carried out in accordance with the ISO 14064-1:2018 standard, including direct and indirect emissions resulting from imported energy consumption. Some improvement actions were then suggested (i.e. the purchase of certified renewable electricity and an optimization of energy consumption) and their impact reduction in terms of carbon footprint was estimated. The company also requested a product LCA to understand the impacts associated with one of its most representative products, i.e. the so-called Ferro Proler produced from end-of-life vehicles, which is used as a raw material in steel mills. The paper will describe the studies conducted for the company to support its path towards improved circularity and environmental sustainability.