Assessment of the Possibility of Implementing a Circular Economy by Environmental Evaluating the Life Cycle of Products Derived from Bulky Municipal Waste

Agnieszka Generowicz (), Anna Gronba-Chyła, Piotr Godula, Joanna Kulczycka, Anna Lewandowska, Aneta Dorosz, Józef Ciuła and Paweł Kwaśnicki
Additional contact information
Agnieszka Generowicz: Cracow University of Technology, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Energy, Warszawska 24, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Anna Gronba-Chyła: Faculty of Natural and Technical Sciences, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Konstantynów 1 H, 20-708 Lublin, Poland
Piotr Godula: Faculty of Natural and Technical Sciences, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Konstantynów 1 H, 20-708 Lublin, Poland
Joanna Kulczycka: Faculty of Management, AGH University of Krakow, Gramatyka 10, 30-067 Cracow, Poland
Anna Lewandowska: Institute of Management, Poznań University of Economics and Business, 61-875 Poznań, Poland
Aneta Dorosz: Cracow University of Technology, Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Energy, Warszawska 24, 31-155 Cracow, Poland
Józef Ciuła: Faculty of Engineering Sciences, State University of Applied Sciences in Nowy Sącz, Zamenhofa 1A, 33-300 Nowy Sącz, Poland
Paweł Kwaśnicki: Faculty of Natural and Technical Sciences, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Konstantynów 1 H, 20-708 Lublin, Poland

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: Current wood waste recycling processes need to be improved to prioritize material recovery over energy recovery by cascading the use of wood waste and limiting as much as possible non-recyclable batches that may contain even partially highly contaminated grade C wood and/or Medium Density Fiberboard. In the presented research, a life cycle assessment has been carried out for a new product recovered from bulky waste. The Environmental Footprint 3.1 (adapted) method has been used to assess the potential environmental impact. The results may support a quality assessment of new products undertaken from the perspective of the circular economy and environmental management in the waste sector. The study aimed at the identification of environmental hotspots in the life cycle of the secondary wooden blocks (from cradle to market analysis). Bulky waste was subjected to recovery and recycling processes (a laboratory scale), and by adding starch and water a new product was obtained. The study has demonstrated that the production of blocks has the greatest impact on the life cycle in the following categories: Resource use, fossils (24%), Climate change (23.9%), Eutrophication, freshwater (13.3%), and Resource use, minerals and metals (11.8%). This is due to the high electricity consumption of electricity by equipment and machinery used for the processing of waste and the fabrication of the blocks.

Keywords: environmental impact; life cycle; management; recycling; wood waste (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3377/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3377/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3377-:d:1631918

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().