Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
Waste Manag Res. 2009 Nov;27(8):754-62. doi: 10.1177/0734242X09342148. Epub 2009 Aug 26.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to recycling of glass waste were assessed from a waste management perspective. Focus was on the material recovery facility (MRF) where the initial sorting of glass waste takes place. The MRF delivers products like cullet and whole bottles to other industries. Two possible uses of reprocessed glass waste were considered: (i) remelting of cullet added to glass production; and (ii) re-use of whole bottles. The GHG emission accounting included indirect upstream emissions (provision of energy, fuels and auxiliaries), direct activities at the MRF and bottle-wash facility (combustion of fuels) as well as indirect downstream activities in terms of using the recovered glass waste in other industries and, thereby, avoiding emissions from conventional production. The GHG accounting was presented as aggregated global warming factors (GWFs) for the direct and indirect upstream and downstream processes, respectively. The range of GWFs was estimated to 0-70 kg CO(2)eq. tonne( -1) of glass waste for the upstream activities and the direct emissions from the waste management system. The GWF for the downstream effect showed some significant variation between the two cases. It was estimated to approximately -500 kg CO(2)-eq. tonne(- 1) of glass waste for the remelting technology and -1500 to -600 kg CO(2)-eq. tonne(-1) of glass waste for bottle re-use. Including the downstream process, large savings of GHG emissions can be attributed to the waste management system. The results showed that, in GHG emission accounting, attention should be drawn to thorough analysis of energy sources, especially electricity, and the downstream savings caused by material substitution.
从废物管理的角度评估了与回收玻璃废物相关的温室气体 (GHG) 排放。重点是材料回收设施 (MRF)，在那里对玻璃废物进行初步分类。MRF 将产品如碎玻璃和整瓶送到其他行业。考虑了两种再加工玻璃废物的可能用途：(i) 将碎玻璃添加到玻璃生产中进行再熔化；和 (ii) 再利用整瓶。温室气体排放核算包括间接上游排放（能源、燃料和助剂的供应）、MRF 和洗瓶设施的直接活动（燃料燃烧）以及在其他行业使用回收玻璃废物的间接下游活动，从而避免来自传统生产的排放。温室气体核算分别呈现为直接和间接上游及下游过程的综合全球变暖因素 (GWF)。上游活动和废物管理系统的直接排放的 GWF 范围估计为 0-70 kg CO(2)eq. 吨(-1)的玻璃废物。两种情况下，下游影响的 GWF 存在显著差异。对于再熔化技术，估计约为-500 kg CO(2)eq. 吨(-1)的玻璃废物，对于瓶再利用，估计约为-1500 至-600 kg CO(2)eq. 吨(-1)的玻璃废物。包括下游过程，废物管理系统可大大节省温室气体排放。结果表明，在温室气体排放核算中，应注意彻底分析能源，特别是电力，以及材料替代带来的下游节省。
