Recycling

Anna Luthin

Chapter 134 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, 2026, pp 500-502 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Recycling refers to the processing of a product after its end of life (EoL) into secondary materials or new products. The original structure of the former product is not maintained during the recycling process. Depending on the quality of the recycled material, it can be used again within the same product system (closed-loop recycling) or in another product system (open-loop recycling). This is usually the case if downcycling occurs and the reduced quality of the recycled material does not allow the same application as before. Recycling needs to be considered carefully when conducting life cycle assessments (LCA). It might be considered with system expansion or EoL allocations. The selected assessment approach highly influences the results of the conducted studies.

Keywords: Allocation; Circular economy; End-of-life; Recycling; System boundaries; Waste (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035309887
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