A shortcoming in current data quality assessment schemes is that the data quality information is not used systematically to identify the critical data in a life cycle inventory (LCI) model. In addition, existing criteria employed to evaluate representativeness lack relevance to the specific context of a study. A novel framework is proposed herein for the evaluation of the representativeness of LCI data, including an analysis o...

Summary Plastic recycling is promoted in the transition toward a circular economy and a closed plastic loop, typically using mass‐based recycling targets. Plastic from household waste (HHW) is contaminated and heterogeneous, and recycled plastic from HHW often has a limited application range, due to reduced quality. To correctly assess the ability to close plastic loops via recycling, both plastic quantities and qualities need...

Summary To generate meaningful results, life cycle assessments (LCAs) require accurate technology data that are consistent with the goal and scope of the analysis. While literature data are available for many products and processes, finding representative data for highly site‐specific technologies, such as waste treatment processes, remains a challenge. This study investigated representative life cycle inventory (LCI) modeling...

Summary The multifunctional character of resource recovery in waste management systems is commonly addressed through system expansion/substitution in life cycle assessment (LCA). Avoided burdens credited based on expected displacement of other product systems can dominate the overall results, making the underlying assumptions particularly important for the interpretation and recommendations. Substitution modeling, however, is...

Material flow analysis (MFA) is a widely applied tool to investigate resource and recycling systems of metals and minerals. Owing to data limitations and restricted system understanding, MFA results are inherently uncertain. To demonstrate the systematic implementation of uncertainty analysis in MFA, two mathematical concepts for the quantification of uncertainties were applied to Austrian palladium (Pd) resource flows and eva...

Summary Material flow analysis (MFA) is a tool to investigate material flows and stocks in defined systems as a basis for resource management or environmental pollution control. Because of the diverse nature of sources and the varying quality and availability of data, MFA results are inherently uncertain. Uncertainty analyses have received increasing attention in recent MFA studies, but systematic approaches for selection of a...