IntermediateTopic 62 of 100Materials & Chemical
Recycling and life-cycle assessment
Evaluate environmental impact of materials over life.
In depth
LCA assesses environmental impacts from raw material extraction, production, use to disposal (ISO 14040). Recycling saves energy: aluminium re-melting uses ~5% of primary energy. Considerations: embodied energy, carbon footprint, downcycling, design for disassembly, circular economy.
Key points
- Cradle-to-grave
- Functional unit
- Recyclability by material
ExampleUsing recycled aluminium cans cuts CO₂ emissions by about 90%.
What is Recycling and life-cycle assessment?
Evaluate environmental impact of materials over life.
Why is it important to understand recycling and life-cycle assessment?
Recycling and life-cycle assessment show the environmental cost of materials, which is increasingly required in design decisions.
Why is recycling aluminium attractive?
Recycling uses only a small fraction of the energy needed for primary production, so the saving in energy and emissions is large.
What is embodied energy?
The total energy used to produce a material, including mining, processing and transport, which is part of life-cycle assessment.
How is Recycling and life-cycle assessment used in practice?
Typical applications include comparing the carbon footprint of recycled aluminium and new aluminium, choosing a plastic that can be recycled at end of life and assessing the total impact of a steel structure from production to disposal.
What should I learn before Recycling and life-cycle assessment?
Study "Material characterisation" first (topic 61 of 100 in Materials & Chemical). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
What are the key points of Recycling and life-cycle assessment?
Cradle-to-grave. Functional unit. Recyclability by material.
Can you give an example of Recycling and life-cycle assessment?
Using recycled aluminium cans cuts CO₂ emissions by about 90%.
What comes after Recycling and life-cycle assessment?
The next topic is "Introduction to chemical engineering", which builds directly on this one.
How difficult is Recycling and life-cycle assessment?
It is classed as Intermediate in Materials & Chemical (topic 62 of 100). It is an intermediate topic. Work through the beginner topics in Materials & Chemical first.