TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluating the environmental impacts of stabilization and solidification technologies for managing hazardous wastes through life cycle assessment
T2 - A case study of Hong Kong
AU - Hossain, Md Uzzal
AU - Wang, Lei
AU - Chen, Liang
AU - Tsang, Daniel C.W.
AU - Ng, S. Thomas
AU - Poon, Chi Sun
AU - Mechtcherine, Viktor
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - Proper management of hazardous materials arouses widespread environmental concerns due to its enormous ecological and health impacts. The development of green stabilization/solidification (S/S) technology for resourceful utilization of hazardous materials, as well as the immobilization of potentially toxic elements is of great scientific interests. Cement-based S/S is often considered a low-cost and highly efficient technology, but the environmental sustainability of a broad spectrum of S/S technologies has yet to be evaluated. Therefore, this study assessed the environmental sustainability of S/S technologies for managing two common types of hazardous wastes, i.e., contaminated marine sediment and municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MIFA) by using life cycle assessment (LCA). A total of 17 scenarios under three strategies for sediment and two strategies for MIFA S/S technologies were comprehensively evaluated. The LCA results identified the most preferable S/S technology in each strategy. In particular, Scenario 1 (mixture of sediment with a small percentage of ordinary Portland cement and incinerated sewage sludge ash) of Strategy 1 (use as fill materials) would be the preferred option, as it reduces about 54% and 70% global warming potential compared to those of Scenarios 2 and 3, respectively. This is the first initiative for evaluating the environmental impacts of a wide range of recently developed S/S technologies using green/alternative binders for diverting hazardous wastes from disposal. The results can serve as a decision support for the practical application of the environmentally friendly S/S technology for sustainable remediation.
AB - Proper management of hazardous materials arouses widespread environmental concerns due to its enormous ecological and health impacts. The development of green stabilization/solidification (S/S) technology for resourceful utilization of hazardous materials, as well as the immobilization of potentially toxic elements is of great scientific interests. Cement-based S/S is often considered a low-cost and highly efficient technology, but the environmental sustainability of a broad spectrum of S/S technologies has yet to be evaluated. Therefore, this study assessed the environmental sustainability of S/S technologies for managing two common types of hazardous wastes, i.e., contaminated marine sediment and municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MIFA) by using life cycle assessment (LCA). A total of 17 scenarios under three strategies for sediment and two strategies for MIFA S/S technologies were comprehensively evaluated. The LCA results identified the most preferable S/S technology in each strategy. In particular, Scenario 1 (mixture of sediment with a small percentage of ordinary Portland cement and incinerated sewage sludge ash) of Strategy 1 (use as fill materials) would be the preferred option, as it reduces about 54% and 70% global warming potential compared to those of Scenarios 2 and 3, respectively. This is the first initiative for evaluating the environmental impacts of a wide range of recently developed S/S technologies using green/alternative binders for diverting hazardous wastes from disposal. The results can serve as a decision support for the practical application of the environmentally friendly S/S technology for sustainable remediation.
KW - Construction utilization
KW - Contaminated sediment
KW - Green remediation
KW - Life cycle assessment
KW - Stabilization/solidification
KW - Waste incineration fly ash
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091630831&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106139
DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2020.106139
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 32980737
AN - SCOPUS:85091630831
SN - 0160-4120
VL - 145
JO - Environmental International
JF - Environmental International
M1 - 106139
ER -