Environmental Impact of End-of-Life Tires: Life Cycle Assessment Comparison of Three Scenarios from a Case Study in Valle Del Cauca, Colombia

Oscar O. Ortíz-Rodríguez, William Ocampo-Duque and Laura I. Duque-Salazar
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Oscar O. Ortíz-Rodríguez: Departamento de Ingeniería Industrial. Km1, Universidad de Pamplona, vía Bucaramanga, Campus Universitario, Pamplona, Norte de Santander 760032, Colombia
William Ocampo-Duque: Facultad de Ingeniería, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Seccional Cali, Calle 18 # 118-250, Santiago de Cali 760001, Colombia
Laura I. Duque-Salazar: Facultad de Ingeniería, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Seccional Cali, Calle 18 # 118-250, Santiago de Cali 760001, Colombia

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: Life Cycle Assessment methodology has been applied to estimate diverse environmental impacts of different usage alternatives for worn-out tires at the end of their useful life in a case study at the Department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Different real scenarios were compared, which allowed for the assessment of the best environmental option for the management of worn-out tires. A method developed in the Institute of Environmental Sciences at University of Leiden, better known as CML-2001, was used to calculate the environmental impact indicators. The results show that the incineration of whole tires in cement plants, and the activities of grinding and floor manufacturing from granulated rubber, exhibited the best indicators, especially in terms of environmental load avoidance through the recovery of materials. Finally, the categories of depletion of the ozone layer, acidification, global warming potential, depletion of abiotic resources, and photochemical ozone formation revealed that the strongest environmental impacts are associated with retreading and the production of multipart asphalt. This is due to the use of synthetic rubber in the former alternative, and of liquid asphalt, gravel, and diesel consumption in the latter.

Keywords: life cycle assessment; global warming; environmental impact; worn-out tires (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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