Evaluating LCA Approaches and Methodologies for Renewable Carbon Sources Report 2 of 3 – Renewable Carbon in Recycling Situations (March 2025) (PDF)

This report focuses on renewable carbon in recycling scenarios and the key challenges in LCA and carbon footprint assessments. It examines system boundaries, allocation methods, and biogenic carbon accounting approaches, highlighting their influence on sustainability evaluations. The report emphasises the cut-off and avoided-burden approaches for recycling while recommending the -1/+1 method for biogenic carbon transparency. However, it also identifies contradictions between LCA results and broader sustainability goals, such as the EU waste hierarchy, which prioritises recycling. To address these inconsistencies, the report suggests integrating LCA with additional sustainability metrics like land use and recyclability. Ultimately, refining these methodologies will enhance the accuracy and reliability of environmental assessments for bio-based and recycled materials.

This report is the second report of a larger RCI project on LCA methodology, which includes two additional publications:

Report 1 of 3 – Renewable Carbon in LCA Guidelines
Report 3 of 3 – Non-technical Summary

Please find these additional reports by following the respective links at the bottom of this page.

Authors

Ferdinand Kähler, Pauline Ruiz, Ángel Puente, Matthias Stratmann (nova-Institute)

Date of publication

Mar 2025

Pages

37

Language

File type

PDF

Downloads

200