When implementing a bridge design proposal, it is common that several alternatives be considered, each with a different material of construction. Traditional building materials used for the construction of bridges have mainly been concrete, steel, timber or aluminium. With all these materials options, maintenance and replacement costs throughout the lifespan of a bridge make up for a large proportion of their total life cycle costs. Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) provides a new viable construction material, which can be implemented in bridge construction. This plastic based material has favourable material properties such a very high strength to weight ratio, high corrosion resistance and durability, as well as very low maintenance costs over its lifetime. In the feasibility analysis, a case study of an existing FRP deck bridge was taken and examined in three aspects: structural, economic and environmental. The bridge was also redesigned with a concrete deck solution, to provide a comparison to a conventional construction material. The results were found, in general to be favourable towards the FRP solution. From the structural analysis savings on deflection, support reactions and superstructure stresses were outputted. Economically, the composite material was found to have a substantial higher initial cost but much lower periodic maintenance costs than the concrete option. Finally the FRP bridge option displayed a lower construction time for the superstructure, at one third of that of concrete and an overall lower environmental impact, based on material production and the overall bridge construction process.

The growing industry of Information and Communication Technology requires higher computing capacity of data centers. The air conditioning in data centers is a key to assure a sustainable computing environment. However, the traditional cooling systems cost large environmental footprints especially on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, a green innovation of data center cooling solutions is taking place. The telecommunication company Teliasonera is developing a high density data center cooling system - the “Green Room” and has been studying the environmental performance of this system using a Life Cycle approach. As an extension of the previous study, more aspects of the project i.e. the location of the data center, life span, alternative cooling solutions, energy recovery possibilities and uncertainty analysis is explored using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The comparison of locations of the Green Room indicates that the local temperature and electricity production sources are essential factors for the environmental performance of the Green Room. The analysis of the Green Room’s life span reveals that the utilization phase may not always cause the most significant impact during the whole life cycle of the Green Room. If the life span changes, the manufacture phase may predominate the life cycle of the Green Room. The comparative result of alternative cooling technologies addresses that utilizing “natural coolant” (e.g. geo cooling) is a key for sustainable cooling innovation as it could significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the cooling system. Besides, heating a single building (partly) by the waste heat generated from the Green Room could save 30% of cumulative energy input and could reduce more than half of the total environmental impact. Additionally, results uncertainties caused by the choice of different LCIA methods are discussed in the end of the study. / Teliasonera's Green Room concept

The growing industry of Information and Communication Technology requires higher computing capacity of data centers. The air conditioning in data centers is a key to assure a sustainable computing environment. However, the traditional cooling systems cost large environmental footprints especially on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, a green innovation of data center cooling solutions is taking place. The telecommunication company Teliasonera is developing a high density data center cooling system - the “Green Room” and has been studying the environmental performance of this system using a Life Cycle approach. As an extension of the previous study, more aspects of the project i.e. the location of the data center, life span, alternative cooling solutions, energy recovery possibilities and uncertainty analysis is explored using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The comparison of locations of the Green Room indicates that the local temperature and electricity production sources are essential factors for the environmental performance of the Green Room. The analysis of the Green Room’s life span reveals that the utilization phase may not always cause the most significant impact during the whole life cycle of the Green Room. If the life span changes, the manufacture phase may predominate the life cycle of the Green Room. The comparative result of alternative cooling technologies addresses that utilizing “natural coolant” (e.g. geo cooling) is a key for sustainable cooling innovation as it could significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the cooling system. Besides, heating a single building (partly) by the waste heat generated from the Green Room could save 30% of cumulative energy input and could reduce more than half of the total environmental impact. Additionally, results uncertainties caused by the choice of different LCIA methods are discussed in the end of the study. / Teliasonera's Green Room concept

Roads are assets to the society and an integral component in the development of a nation’s infrastructure. To build and maintain roads; considerable amounts of materials are required which consume quite an amount of electrical and thermal energy for production, processing and laying. The resources (materials and the sources of energy) should be utilized efficiently to avoid wastes and higher costs in terms of the currency and the environment. In order to enable quantification of the potential environmental impacts due to the construction, maintenance and disposal of roads, an open life cycle assessment (LCA) framework for asphalt pavements was developed. Emphasis was given on the calculation and allocation of energy used for the binder and the additives. Asphalt mixtures properties can be enhanced against rutting and cracking by modifying the binder with additives. Even though the immediate benefits of using additives such as polymers and waxes to modify the binder properties are rather well documented, the effects of such modification over the lifetime of a road are seldom considered. A method for calculating energy allocation in additives was suggested. The different choices regarding both the framework design and the case specific system boundaries were done in cooperation with the asphalt industry and the construction companies in order to increase the relevance and the quality of the assessment. Case-studies were performed to demonstrate the use of the LCA framework. The suggested LCA framework was demonstrated in a limited case study (A) of a typical Swedish asphalt pavement. Sensitivity analyses were also done to show the effect and the importance of the transport distances and the use of efficiently produced electricity mix. It was concluded that the asphalt production and materials transportation were the two most energy consuming processes that also emit the most GreenHouse Gases (GHG’s). The GHG’s, however, are largely depending on the fuel type and the electricity mix. It was also concluded that when progressing from LCA to its corresponding life cycle cost (LCC) the feedstock energy of the binder becomes highly relevant as the cost of the binder will be reflected in its alternative value as fuel. LCA studies can help to develop the long term perspective, linking performance to minimizing the overall energy consumption, use of resources and emissions. To demonstrate this, the newly developed open LCA framework was used for an unmodified and polymer modified asphalt pavement (Case study B). It was shown how polymer modification for improved performance affects the energy consumption and emissions during the life cycle of a road. From the case study (C) it was concluded that using bitumen with self-healing capacity can lead to a significant reduction in the GHG emissions and the energy usage.  Furthermore, it was concluded that better understanding of the binder would lead to better optimized pavement design and thereby to reduced energy consumption and emissions. Production energy limits for the wax and polymer were determined which can assist the additives manufacturers to modify their production procedures and help road authorities in setting ‘green’ limits to get a real benefit from the additives over the lifetime of a road. / <p>QC 20120926</p>

There is an urgency within the building sector to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. An increased proportion of biobased building materials in construction is a potential measure to reduce these emissions. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has often been applied to compare the climate impact from biobased materials with that from e.g. mineral based materials, mostly favouring biobased materials. Contradicting results have however been reported due to differences in methodology, as there is not yet consensus regarding certain aspects. The aim of this thesis is to study the implications from non-traditional practices in climate impact assessment of timber buildings, and to discuss the shortcomings of current practices when assessing such products and comparing them with non-renewable alternatives. The traditional practices for climate impact assessment of biobased materials have been identified, and then applied to a case study of a building with different timber frame designs and an alternative building with a concrete frame. Then, non-traditional practices were explored by calculating climate impact results using alternative methods to handle certain methodological aspects, which have been found relevant for forest products in previous research such as the timing of emissions, biogenic emissions, carbon storage in the products, end-of-life substitution credits, soil carbon disturbances and change in albedo. These alternative practices and their implications were also studied for low-carbon buildings. The use of non-traditional practices can affect the climate impact assessment results of timber buildings, and to some extent the comparison with buildings with lower content of biobased building materials. This effect is especially evident for energy-efficient buildings. Current normal practices tend to account separately for forest-related carbon flows and aspects such as biogenic carbon emissions and sequestration or effects from carbon storage in the products, missing to capture the forest carbon cycle as a whole. Climate neutrality of wood-based construction materials seems like a valid assumption for studies which require methodological simplification, while other aspects such as end-of-life substitution credits, soil carbon disturbances or changes in albedo should be studied carefully due to their potentially high implications and the uncertainties around the methods used to account for them. If forest phenomena are to be included in LCA studies, a robust and complete model of the forest carbon cycle should be used. Another shortcoming is the lack of clear communication of the way some important aspects were handled. / <p>QC 20150310</p>

The majority of low income households in South Africa have limited access to electricity, and typically cook on stoves fuelled by paraffin. Paraffin represents a fossil fuel. It is a relatively cheap fuel in South Africa. Another fuel that can also be used for cooking is wood pellets, which is a renewable fuel. It can be used in a similar way to that of paraffin and is relatively cheap compared to other renewable energy sources. To investigate if living conditions among low income households can be improved the focus of the study was to evaluate the sustainability of cooking on paraffin and wood pellets. This was done by comparing social, environmental and economic aspects associated with the two cooking fuels. The social aspects were investigated through an interview study, the environmental aspect through a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) and the economic aspects through a partial life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) focusing on the user phase. The interview study showed that paraffin users considered four aspects as the most important when cooking, namely safety, health, affordability and quality. The study also found that the majority were willing to change to another cooking fuel if these aspects were fulfilled. The LCA showed that both systems score the highest on 9 out of 18 environmental impact categories over a 16-year perspective. The economic analysis showed that the user phase of the wood pellet system is more economically beneficial during the 16-year time period than the paraffin system. It was concluded that wood pellets could be used as an option to paraffin for cooking and would most likely increase living conditions for low income households. / Majoriteten av låginkomsthushåll i Sydafrika har begränsad tillgång till elektricitet och vanligtvis sker matlagningen på paraffinspisar. Paraffin är ett fossilt bränsle. Det är ett relativt billigt bränsle i Sydafrika. Ett annat bränsle som också kan användas för matlagning är träpellets som är ett förnyelsebart bränsle. Det kan användas på liknande sätt som för paraffin och är ganska billigt i jämförelse med andra förnybara energikällor. För att undersöka om levnadsförhållanden för låginkomsthushåll kan förbättras låg fokus för denna studie på att utvärdera hållbarheten för att laga mat på paraffin och träpellets. Detta genomfördes genom att jämföra sociala, ekologiska och ekonomiska aspekter associerade med dessa bränslen för matlagning. De sociala aspekterna undersöktes genom en intervjustudie, de miljömässiga aspekterna genom en jämförande livscykelanalys (LCA) och de ekonomiska aspekterna gjordes genom en livscykelkostnadsanalys (LCCA) för användarfasen. Intervjustudien visade att paraffinanvändare anser att fyra aspekter är de viktigaste vid matlagning, nämligen säkerhet, hälsa, kostnad och kvalitet. Studien visade också att majoriteten var villiga att byta till ett annat bränsle för matlagning om dessa aspekter var uppfyllda. Livscykelanalysen visade att båda systemen hade högst miljöpåverkan i 9 av 18 miljöpåverkanskategorier vardera inom ett 16-årsperspektiv. Den ekonomiska analysen visade att under en 16-årsperiod var användarfasen mer kostnadseffektiv för matlagning på träpellets jämfört med paraffin. Studien visade att träpellets kan användas som ett alternativ för paraffin vid matlagning och kommer troligtvis öka levnadsförhållanden för låginkomsthushåll.

The matter of sustainable thinking today permeates the Western world and is now widely agreed to recognize three aspects; environmental, economic and social sustainability. Due to limitations of resources and knowledge, this concept is considerably less widespread in developing countries. Many sustainable ventures in developing countries aim to unite the three aspects and solve the pressing issue of unsustainable development, but evaluating these projects has proven to be a challenging task and tools for systematic analysis are missing. Furthermore, current frameworks lack in guidance on what tools to use for the assessment of the three sustainability aspects. This research aims to investigate how established models can be applied and what obstacles that occur when evaluating a sustainable venture in a developing country. To do this, a case study is performed on Zanzibar, Tanzania where the Swedish waste management company Zanrec is considering pursuing a sustainable venture of starting up a biodiesel production from used cooking oil. This research therefore also provides Zanrec with an evaluation of the project’s alignment with the sustainability concept. To reach the purpose of this study, two established models for evaluation are chosen; LCA for the environmental aspect and the payback method as capital budgeting tool for the economic aspect. No established evaluation tool is used for the social aspect; instead the social implications of the project are analyzed in a discussion. It is found that the applicability of the chosen tools for evaluating the biodiesel production project is highly affected by the contextual setting of a developing country. The major finding is that these tools have varying flexibility in adapting to the main challenge, which is the lack of documentation and available data. LCA is found to be a complicated and rigid tool to use if fully abiding by its associated ISO standards. Without an existing LCA knowledge base and any guidelines on how to manage missing data, the LCA tool is deemed to not reach its full potential in a developing country at this stage. The payback method is proven to be a more flexible tool that to a higher degree can be adapted to fit the setting and the requirements of the commissioner. The project’s impact areas related to the social aspect are found to be few, but to evaluate the extent of these, further research is required. / Hållbart företagande genomsyrar idag västvärlden och det är nu allmänt vedertaget att konceptet täcker in tre aspekter; miljömässig, ekonomisk och social hållbarhet. På grund av begränsningar i resurser och kunskap är hållbarhetskonceptet långt ifrån lika utbrett i utvecklingsländer. Hållbarhetsprojekt i utvecklingsländer syftar till att förena de tre aspekterna och lösa den rådande frågan om ohållbar utveckling, men det har visat sig vara en utmaning att utvärdera dessa projekt och det saknas verktyg för systematisk analys. Vidare saknar existerande modeller riktlinjer om vilka verktyg som bör användas i utvärderingen av de tre hållbarhetsaspekterna. Studien syftar till att undersöka hur etablerade utvärderingsverktyg kan tillämpas för att utvärdera ett hållbarhetsprojekt i ett utvecklingsland samt vilka hinder som detta innefattar. En fallstudie har därför utförts på Zanzibar i Tanzania, där det svenska  avfallshanteringsföretaget Zanrec överväger att genomföra ett hållbarhetsprojekt som ämnar att upprätta produktion av biodiesel från använd matolja. Därigenom syftar denna undersökning även till att förse Zanrec med en utvärdering av projektet med avseende på de de tre hållbarhetsaspekterna. I denna studie används två etablerade modeller; LCA för miljöaspekten och payback-metoden som investeringskalkylsmodell för den ekonomiska aspekten. Inget etablerat utvärderingsverktyg används för den sociala aspekten vars påverkan av projektet istället analyseras i en diskussion. Det har visat sig att tillämpbarheten av de valda verktygen för utvärdering av  biodieselprojektet i hög grad påverkas av de kontextuella förutsättningarna i ett utvecklingsland. Den viktigaste slutsatsen är att dessa verktyg har varierande flexibilitet i att anpassa sig till bristen på dokumentation och tillgänglig data, vilket är den största svårigheten. LCA har bedömts vara ett komplicerat verktyg med fasta ramar vid användning i enlighet med dess ISO-standarder. Utan en befintlig kunskapsbas kring LCA och riktlinjer för hur man ska hantera avsaknad av data, anses LCA-verktyget i dagsläget inte nå sin fulla potential i ett utvecklingsland. Paybackmetoden har visat sig vara ett mer flexibelt verktyg som i högre grad kan anpassas efter rådande förutsättningar och kraven hos uppdragsgivaren. Endast ett fåtal inverkansområden med anknytning till den sociala aspekten har identifierats som påverkade av detta projekt, men för att utvärdera omfattningen av dess påverkan behövs vidare studier.

Within the healthcare sector, large quantities of different materials and products are consumed on a daily basis. Recurrently growing awareness about humanity’s negative impacts on the environment have initiated for environmental aspects to be considered on several levels within the healthcare sector. Introducing environmental guidelines within procurement is one example of such an initiative. However, in order to take such aspects into consideration, availability of environmental information concerning the products to be procured is necessary. This thesis was conducted to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts, in a life cycle perspective, of a single-use and a multi-use surgical scrub suit. Accordingly, the main purpose has been to give the County Councils of Örebro and Uppsala decision support and thereby enable them to take environmental impact into account in future procurement of surgical scrub suits. The evaluation is based on certain environmental aspects, assessed to be relevant and of interest for the given case. To ensure a methodical structure and high credibility, this LCA has been conducted in accordance with the ISO 14040-standard. The studied products are two types of surgical scrub suits, one reusable for 100 uses, and one disposable. Besides the lifespan, the material composition of the two products differs. Results showed that that the reusable scrubs have considerably lower environmental impact within the studied categories. The main reason for this is the longer lifespan of the reusable garments, which results in substantially decreased environmental impacts per use within all phases of the lifecycle except usage. Further, the results indicated that farming/production of cotton and usage of fossil fuel-based energy are important contributing factors within a majority of the assessed environmental impact categories. Currently available alternatives exist, which could possibly substitute these factors, and thus decrease the total environmental burden of the garments substantially. / Varje dag konsumeras stora mängder material och produkter inom vårdsektorn. Samtidigt har den ständigt växande medvetenheten om mänsklighetens negativa påverkan på miljön medfört ett ökat hänsynstagande inom olika delar av vårdsektorn. Införande av riktlinjer för miljö-anpassad upphandling är ett exempel på ett sådant initiativ. Men för att kunna använda miljömässiga aspekter i upphandling är tillgången till miljödata för produkterna nödvändig. Denna uppsats utfördes för att ur ett livscykelperspektiv utreda och jämföra miljöpåverkan av två typer operationsarbetskläder, en engångs- och en flergångsmodell. Huvudsyftet med studien var att ge landstingen i Örebro och Uppsala län ett beslutsunderlag, och därmed underlätta för dem att ta hänsyn till miljöaspekter i framtida upphandlingar av operations-arbetskläder. Miljöbedömningen av plaggen är baserad på utvalda miljöpåverkanskategorier som bedömts som relevanta och av intresse för denna undersökning. För att försäkra en god metodologisk struktur och hög trovärdighet, har denna Livscykelanalys (LCA) utförts i enighet med riktlinjerna i ISO 14040-standarden. De studerade produkterna är två typer av operationsarbetskläder, en som kan återanvändas 100 gånger, och en för engångsbruk. Utöver plaggens livslängd skiljer även materialsamman-sättningen dem åt. Resultaten visade att de återanvändningsbara kläderna har betydligt lägre miljöpåverkan inom alla studerade kategorier.Den huvudsakliga orsaken till detta är flergångsplaggens betydligt längre livscykel, vilken resulterar i en avsevärd minskning i miljöpåverkan per användning inom alla dess livscykel-faser förutom användningen. Vidare indikerade resultaten att odling och tillverkning av bomull, samt användningen av energi från fossila bränslen, hör till viktiga bidragande faktorer till miljöpåverkan inom flertalet undersökta miljöpåverkanskategorier. Redan idag finns alternativ som skulle kunna ersätta dessa faktorer och därmed minska plaggens totala miljöbelastning avsevärt.

Wood wastes are mainly originated from forestry, wood industry and construction and demolition sites activities. Among them, three types of wood waste can be identified: untreated wood waste (raw wood considered as biomass), slightly treated wood wastes (issued from coating or gluing treatments) and highly treated wood wastes (issued from impregnation treatments with CCA and creosote, and considered as hazardous wastes).  According to the regulation, management of wastes in Europe is oriented towards more recycling and less elimination. However, among the French requirements, three main trends can be observed in regards of wood waste recovery: only treated wood wastes can be recovered in combustion units, no extensive technologies are allowed to recover highly treated wood wastes, which must then be eliminated by incineration, and slightly treated wood wastes can be either recovered as particle boards or eliminated.  However, in this context, the amount of wood wastes from construction and demolition sites reach 7 million of tons in France. Among them, 5% correspond to raw wood, and 25% are slightly treated. The high combustion potential of wood wastes is moreover an opportunity to replace conventional fuel used in combustion units.  The four main methods used to treat wood wastes are recycling as particleboards, combustion, incineration and land filling. Due to the various typologies of wood wastes, a conditioning step is needed before recovery. Then, if combustion seems to present advantages because of its neutral carbon impact, life cycle analysis demonstrates that emissions of other pollutants are observed. In addition, it is proved that controlled elimination methods are less impacting than unequipped recovery ones. Recycling is then not always the best practice in regards of the impacts considered in the study.  Competition among the different methods treatment and low prices of wood wastes are specific economical aspects that could influence the development of the field. Moreover, the increasing acceptance of people for recovery and local waste treatment methods, as well as the need for energetically independency are factors that can likely promote wood waste derived fuel. These driving forces are evolving in a very rapid way. Regulation is moving towards implementation of standards to promote the development of slightly treated wood waste derived fuel. Technological and social improvement such as sorting at source, and the development of end of pipe treatment methods are also likely to have positive effects.  An integrated solution to develop wood waste derived fuel would be to implement strong financial incentives in favour of clean technologies for wood wastes recovery methods. This enhancement could then be the mean to answer the double challenge of wood waste treatment and fossil fuel replacement.  Wood wastes are mainly originated from forestry, wood industry and construction and demolition sites activities. Among them, three types of wood waste can be identified: untreated wood waste (raw wood considered as biomass), slightly treated wood wastes (issued from coating or gluing treatments) and highly treated wood wastes (issued from impregnation treatments with CCA and creosote, and considered as hazardous wastes).  According to the regulation, management of wastes in Europe is oriented towards more recycling and less elimination. However, among the French requirements, three main trends can be observed in regards of wood waste recovery: only treated wood wastes can be recovered in combustion units, no extensive technologies are allowed to recover highly treated wood wastes, which must then be eliminated by incineration, and slightly treated wood wastes can be either recovered as particle boards or eliminated.  However, in this context, the amount of wood wastes from construction and demolition sites reach 7 million of tons in France. Among them, 5% correspond to raw wood, and 25% are slightly treated. The high combustion potential of wood wastes is moreover an opportunity to replace conventional fuel used in combustion units.  The four main methods used to treat wood wastes are recycling as particleboards, combustion, incineration and land filling. Due to the various typologies of wood wastes, a conditioning step is needed before recovery. Then, if combustion seems to present advantages because of its neutral carbon impact, life cycle analysis demonstrates that emissions of other pollutants are observed. In addition, it is proved that controlled elimination methods are less impacting than unequipped recovery ones. Recycling is then not always the best practice in regards of the impacts considered in the study.  Competition among the different methods treatment and low prices of wood wastes are specific economical aspects that could influence the development of the field. Moreover, the increasing acceptance of people for recovery and local waste treatment methods, as well as the need for energetically independency are factors that can likely promote wood waste derived fuel. These driving forces are evolving in a very rapid way. Regulation is moving towards implementation of standards to promote the development of slightly treated wood waste derived fuel. Technological and social improvement such as sorting at source, and the development of end of pipe treatment methods are also likely to have positive effects.  An integrated solution to develop wood waste derived fuel would be to implement strong financial incentives in favour of clean technologies for wood wastes recovery methods. This enhancement could then be the mean to answer the double challenge of wood waste treatment and fossil fuel replacement. / Träavfall kommer från skogsbruk, trä‐ och byggbranschen och rivningsplatser. Bland dem kan tre typer av träavfall identifieras: obehandlat träavfall (obehandlat trä betraktas som biomassa), lätt behandlat träavfall (från beläggning eller limning) och högbehandlat träavfall (från impregnering med CCA och kreosot, betraktas som farligt avfall). Enligt avfallsförordningen, är hantering av avfall i Europa inriktad mer mot återvinning och mindre mot eliminering. Bland de franska kraven, kan tre huvudsakliga tendenser iakttas för återvinning av träavfall: endast behandlat avfall kan behandlas i förbränningsanläggningar för energiutvinning, högbehandlat träavfall måste elimineras genom förbränning och lätt behandlat avfall kan antingen återvinnas som spånskivor eller elimineras. I detta sammanhang uppgår mängden träavfall från bygg‐ och rivningsplatser till 7 miljoner ton i Frankrike. Bland dem, motsvarar 5% obehandlat trä, och 25% är lätt behandlat. Den höga förbränningspotentialen för träavfall ger dessutom en möjlighet att ersätta konventionellt bränsle som används i förbränningsanläggningar. De fyra huvudsakliga metoder som används för att behandla träavfall är återvinning i spånskivor, förbränning med energiutvinning, förbränning och deponering. På grund av olika typer av träavfall, krävs ett konditioneringsteg innan återvinning. Även om förbränningen är fördelaktigt på grund av sitt neutrala kol, visar livscykelanalyser utsläpp av andra föroreningar. Dessutom visas att kontrollerade elimineringsmetoder har mindre miljöpåverkar än återvinningsmetoder som ej har rätt utrustning. Återvinning är alltså inte alltid att föredra om man beaktar de effekter som gjorts vid denna undersökningen. Konkurrensen mellan olika behandlingsmetoder och låga priser på träavfall är specifika ekonomiska aspekter som skulle kunna påverka utvecklingen inom området. Dessutom, den ökande acceptansen av människor för återvinning och lokala avfallshanteringsmetoder, liksom behovet av inhemska energikällor är faktorer som sannolikt kan främja bränsle från träavfall. Dessa drivkrafter utvecklas på ett mycket snabbt sätt. Avfallsförordningen är på väg mot införandet av standarder för att främja utvecklingen av lätt behandlat träavfalls bränsle. Tekniska och sociala förbättringar, exempelvis källsortering och utveckling av återvinningsmetoder ger också sannolikt positiva effekter. En integrerad lösning för att utveckla bränsle från träavfall skulle vara att genomföra starka ekonomiska incitament till förmån för ren teknik för återvinning av träavfall. Den här förbättringen kan sedan vara ett medel att anta den dubbla utmaningen av hantering av träavfall och ersättning av fossila bränslen.

Waste can be considered as an urban burden or as a valuable resource depending on how it ismanaged. Different waste treatment technologies are available at present to manage municipal solidwaste (MSW). Various actors are involved to develop waste treatment technology for certain area.The aim of this study is to analyze the driving forces in technical development in waste sector inSweden. The study is also done to identify emerging waste management technology in Sweden.Moreover, a comparative study of existing and emerging technologies is done by Life CycleAssessment (LCA) model. An extensive literature review and pilot questionnaire survey among thewaste management professionals’ is done for the study. LCA model is developed by SimaProsoftware CML2 baseline method is used for identifying environmental burden from the wastetechnologies.Dry composting, Pyrolysis-Gasification (P-G), Plasma-Arc are identified as potential emergingtechnologies for waste management system in Sweden. Technical developments of thesetechnologies are influenced by indigenous people’s behavior, waste characteristics, regulations, healthor environmental impact and global climate change. Comparative LCA model of P-G andIncineration shows that, P-G is a favorable waste treatment technology than Incineration for MSW,especially in acidification, global warming and aquatic eco-toxicity impact categories.