This study assesses greenhouse gas evolution from construction-material manufacturing facilities and estimates the potential reduction of these gases via the future massive sequestration of carbon dioxide. The scope of the evaluation specifically targets the global-warming potential in terms of kg-CO2 equivalent/tonnage industrial waste. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method to quantitatively analyze the input and output of a specific material resource during its life cycle from raw-material acquisition to final disposal as well as its environmental effect(s). LCA comprises four steps: its objective and definition of the scope, the entire life-cycle analysis list, an evaluation of its effects, and life-cycle analysis. The annual inflow of petro-ash reaches 300,000 tons, and this material is transported via screw-driving systems. The composition of the petro-ash is 1.2% volatile compounds, 6.8% fixed carbon and 92% ash contents. A total of 38,181,891 Nm3/yr of carbon dioxide is sequestrated, which is equivalent to 75,000 tons per annum and 304.5 kg/ton of petro-ash waste, with 250 kg/ton of the latter sequestrated as calcium carbonate. The final analysis on the effect of one ton of petro ash in construction materials showed 27.6 kg-CO2 eq emission. According to the final LCA analysis, only 27.6 kg-CO2 eq/ton was emitted by the petro-ash that was used in construction materials if CO2 fixation during carbonate mineralization was considered, where -250 kg-CO2 eq/ton positively contributed to the LCA. In the future, commercial-scale process modification via the realization of continuous processes and the more efficient reduction of carbon dioxide is anticipated.

National statistics of solid waste indicate that, although the amount of combustible wastes from household sectors is decreasing, the amount of waste that is buried in landfills increases each year. And the increasing rate of combustible wastes from industrial sectors is higher than the decreasing rate of combustible wastes from household sectors. Combustible waste, once screened, can be used as a potential energy resource contributing to resource circulation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to predict the amount of waste materials to be recovered and recycled by landfill mining and reclamation (LFMR), based on material flow analysis for four existing landfills. In this study, the landfills analyzed by material flow analysis were classified into types 1 to 4 by considering the status of the landfill and incineration situation. In order to perform material flow analysis, volume increase rate and bulk density were applied to the methodology employed in previous studies. In addition, material flow analysis software ‘STAN 2.0’ was used for the analysis. As a result of analyzing the average value of four landfills, the landfilled waste was classified as 93.9 m3 (73.7%) of combustible waste, 9.2 m3 (7.3%) of incombustible waste, and 24.3 m3 (19.1%) of soil matter. So, 73.7% can be incinerated or recovered by energy, 7.3% can be recycled as materials and reclaimed, and 19.1% can be recycled as landfill cover materials based on weight. The results of the material flow analysis carried out in this study are expected to be used to predict the amount of waste materials landfilled to be recovered by the material flow analysis during landfill mining processes.

In order to promote the resource circulation and upcycling of waste refrigerators, it is necessary to analyze the material flow of recovered valuable resources and low-value residues after they are discharged. This study divided the flow of waste refrigerators into the five steps of discharge, collection, pretreatment, resource recovery, and sale/export/disposal and conducted material flow analysis (MFA) in each step. Waste refrigerators are treated via official (formal sectors, 65.6% of total amount) and unofficial (informal sectors, 34.4% of total amount) channels. Officially, waste refrigerators are collected through free collection by national and local governments, recovery by product producers and distributors, and waste collection·transportation·recycling companies and are recycled at public and private recycling centers. Unofficially, waste refrigerators are collected through junk shops and individual collectors. Waste refrigerators recycled in the formal sectors undergo pretreatment processes such as the disassembly, shredding, and separation and recovery of resources such as scrap irons, plastics, PCB (printed circuit board), cables, glasses, waste refrigerants, urethane, etc. Waste refrigerators recycled in informal sector treated through disassembly of the exterior, the shredding process by the excavators in illegal facilities and recovered waste refrigerants, plastics, glasses, scrap irons, copper, nickel silver, PCB, urethane, etc. MFA results show that in 2015, the amount of waste refrigerators collected from formal sectors reached 121,642 ton/year, the amount of recycling was 107,684 ton/year, and the amount of residues was 13,955 ton/year respectively. Thus, actual recycling rate per a waste refrigerator was estimated 88.15% in 2015. To promote the resource circulation and upcycling of waste refrigerators, it is necessary to find a way to improve the recycling of urethane, which accounts for 10.8% of the total weight of a refrigerator.

The most common types of refrigerants used in automobiles today usually include HCFCs and HFCs, which have the potential of ozone depletion or the greenhouse effect. Although environmentally friendly refrigerants are being developed, there is still a lack of safety and high-cost problems for new refrigerants. This study was conducted to determine the flow of refrigerants from automotive air conditioners and examine their potential problems and a proper management plan. The number of automobiles manufactured, the number of automobiles in use, and end-of-vehicle flow were examined through available statistics and reports. The material flow of refrigerants has been determined by the life cycle of automobiles and the unit requirements of the refrigerants used in automobiles. Based on the results, in 2014, there were approximately 1,017 tons of refrigerants introduced from the manufacturing stage of automobiles, and about 395 tons of refrigerants leaked from the use stage. After the use stage, only 13 tons of refrigerants were delivered to treatment facilities and 195 tons were emitted into the atmosphere during the dismantling process. As a result, in South Korea in 2014, a large amount of refrigerants (590 tons) was estimated to have been leaked into the atmosphere from automotive air conditioners during the use and dismantlement stage. Several preventive measures for refrigerants should be properly enforced by introducing economic incentives as well as a monitoring system with strengthened laws and policies.

The flow of products containing valuable metal resources after discharging to waste means that it is necessary to form a plan to improve resource circulation to enhance the circulation of metal resources. In this study, waste resource circulation flow analysis of products containing cobalt and palladium after disposal was performed by classifying five stages: (1) discharge/import, (2) collection/discarding, (3) pretreatment, (4) resource recovery, and (5) product production/export. The mobile phone was one of products which were the most generating cobalt. Discharged cobalt was kept for processing or was produced as pure cobalt, cobalt oxide, or cobalt sulfate, and was used as a raw material for locks, speakers, AlNiCo magnets, tire, batteries, etc. The total amount of cobalt in the waste products was 994 tons and the recycling rate was 53.7%, indicating that 543 ton of cobalt was recycled. Palladium was discharged from waste electrical and electronic products, precious metals, petrochemical catalysts, vehicles catalysts at the end of their life, and medical equipment (dental). The palladium recovered by pre-treatment and resource recovery was recycled as a metal resource or exported. The amount of palladium recycled was 2.412 tons, of which a total of 2.512 or 96% tons is estimated to be recycled. Future research may be necessary to suggest institutional improvements, including the waste resource classification and market expansion for the recycling in the five steps based on the results of this study.

In recent years, waste-to-energy conversion using municipal solid waste (MSW) has been gaining attention in municipalities. Such conversion can reduce the dependency of non-renewable energy such as fossil fuels by generating solid refuse fuel (SRF) and diverting landfilling of the waste, although there is debate over the efficiency and economic aspect of the practice. With a growing interest in the conversion, D city is trying to adopt all possible measures towards achieving a material-cycle society by constructing a waste-to-energy town by 2018. The waste-to-energy town will be comprised of energy recovery facilities such as a mechanical treatment facility for fluff-type SRF with a power generation plant, and anaerobic digestion of food waste for biogas recovery. In this paper, we focus on estimating the energy recovery potentials and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction of MSW by waste-to-energy conversion under three different scenarios. The data required for this study were obtained from available national statistics and reports, a literature review, and interviews with local authorities and industry experts. The lower heating value was calculated using the modified Dulong equation. Based on the results of this study, the energy recovery potential of MSW was calculated to be approximately 14,201-51,122 TOE/y, 12,426-44,732 TOE/y, and 8,520-30,673 TOE/y for Scenarios 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The reduction of GHG by such conversion was estimated to range from 10,074-36,938 tonCO2eq/y, depending on scenario. This study would help determine the production rate of fluff-type SRF to be converted into a form of energy. In addition, this study would aid waste management decision-makers to clarify the effectiveness of recycling of MSW and their corresponding energy recovery potentials, as well as to understand GHG reduction by the conversion.

This paper presents the estimation of actual recyclable amounts and the evaluation of waste oil recycling processes atrecycling facilities using material flow analysis (MFA). The estimation of actual recycling rates through the processes ofwaste lubricating oils is a very important subject not only in the point of view oil recycling efficiency by energy conversionprocesses but also in the perspective of the recycling technology level. In this study, the recycling processes and recyclingrates of waste lubricating oil recycling facilities were evaluated by using a MFA approach, a total of 10 site visits anda total of 30 site questionnaires in Korea. The MFA methodology based on mass balance approach applied to identifythe inputs and outputs of waste oils during the recycling processes at waste oil recycling facilities. It is necessary todetermine the composition and flows of the input materials to be recycled and foreign substances in a waste recyclingfacility. A complete understanding of the waste flows in the processes along with the site visit and data surveys for therecycling facilities was required to develop a material flow for the processes and determine the process yield by differenttreatment methods (chemical distillation, vacuum distillation and high temperature pyrolysis). The results show that onaverage the process yields for chemical distillation, vacuum distillation, and high temperature pyrolysis were 89.9±7.7%,77.9±16.1%, and 57.9±9.3%, respectively. During the chemical distillation method, water in waste oils was a majorfraction (>50%), while the vacuum distillation method resulted oil large amounts of oil sludge produced during therecycling process. The process yields for different treatment methods depended upon several factors including the qualityof incoming waste oils, the type and operating conditions of recycling processes that are applied to. Based on the materialflow analysis in this study, the actual recycled amount of waste oil was estimated to be approximately 260,809 ton in 2011.

Korea Ministry of Environment (Korea MOE) enacted the “Greenhouse Gas and Energy Target Management System (GETMS), which requires annual GHG reporting to establish GHG reduction targets for large-scale business places (458) emitting large amount of greenhouse gases (60% of total amount in Korea). The waste sector has higher potential for reduction of greenhouse gases compared to other sectors. Thus, this paper reviewed the methodologies modified based on national guidelines and estimated the greenhouse gas emissions for three categories of the waste sector in Daejeon Metropolitan City (DMC), South Korea. Further analysis for basic unit, i.e., greenhouse gas emissions per ton of solid waste, wastewater, and purified water in the waste sector was conducted to figure out main contributors for GHG emissions. Direct emissions (Scope 1) and indirect emissions (Scope 2) of 11 environmental infrastructures managed by DMC were selected for quantifying and managing of regional GHG emissions. The annual estimation for greenhouse gas emissions in the waste sector in DMC with a population of 1.52 million people was 254,235 tons CO₂ equiv. per year, which includes the main contributor of wastewater treatment 78,063 tons CO2 equiv., waste incineration 76,186 tons CO₂ equiv., and managed waste disposal sites 70,455 tons CO₂ equiv. Basic unit showed that most contributors were waste incineration, followed by the waste disposal site, biological treatment of solid waste, wastewater treatment, and public water supplies. Solid waste treatment/ disposal has best potential role in reducing GHG emissions. In general, therefore, it seems that reduction strategies for the main contributor should be prior to other categories and lead to best practice for managing GHG emissions, especially considering annual budgets.

This paper presents the actual recycling rates and recycling processes of waste plastic recycling facilities using material flow analysis. Determination of actual recycling rates through the processes of waste plastics is a very important subject not only from the point of plastic recycling efficiency energy conversion but also from the perspective of the recycling technology level. In this study, the recycling processes and recycling rates of waste plastic recycling facilities were evaluated by the MFA analysis based on 14 site visits and 25 questionnaires. The MFA methodology based on mass balance approach applied to identify the inputs and outputs of recyclable plastic materials in the recycling processes at recycling facilities. It is necessary to determine the composition and flows of the input materials to be recycled in a recycling facility. A complete understanding of the waste flows in the processes along with the site visit and data surveys for the recycling facilities was required to develop a material flow for the processes and determine the actual recycling rate. The results show that the average actual recycling rates for the recycling facilities by the site visit and the questionnaire was found to be approximately 87.5 ± 7.1% and 84.3 ± 14.5%, respectively. The recycling rates depended upon several factors including the quality of incoming waste plastics, the type and operating conditions of recycling processes, and the type of final products. According to the national statistics, the recycling rate of waste plastics was about 53.7%, while the actual recycling rate at national level was estimated to be approximately 45.1% by considering the recycling performance evaluated as well as the type of recycling process applied. The results of MFA for the recycling processes served as a tool to evaluate the performance of recycling efficiency with regard to the composition of the products during recycling. They may also support the development of the strategy of improvement of recycling processes to maximize resource recovery out of the waste plastic materials.