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Interview with Maria Gallego

1.In the task on life cycle assessment (LCA) of the REBIOLUTION value chain, CTA is responsible for defining the methodology and collecting data to assess the environmental impacts of biobased and biodegradable products. How does CTA plan to collect and integrate data from various project partners to conduct a comprehensive cradle-to-grave LCA? What are the key factors that will be considered in the LCA, and how will the results inform decision-making within the project?

For the data collection phase, CTA will meticulously track all inputs and outputs throughout the systems using a customised Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data collection template. This template comprises several tables detailing unit processes, including raw materials, energy, auxiliary inputs or by-products, along with their quantities, waste management routes, as well as comments or clarifications on the data provided. The project partners will fill in the template, with the support of the LCA experts, who will address any questions.

As key factors to be taken into account, the biodegradability, compostability and toxicity results of WP4 will be included to accurately assess end-of-life options such as industrial composting, anaerobic digestion, mechanical recycling and biodegradability in the open environment (soil and aquatic). Additionally, the leakage of microplastics during the final stage of their life cycle will also be assessed. The analysis of the results will help to identify the stages and categories that contribute significantly to the environmental impact and to understand the influence of the selection of final disposal options. This understanding enables the implementation of appropriate measures to mitigate environmental impact, optimise resource use and improve product sustainability.

2. CTA leads the task on life cycle costing (LCC) of the REBIOLUTION value chain, which aims to assess the economic feasibility of project products and compare them to competitors. Could you explain the approach CTA will take to develop LCC models using data from scaled-up processes and industry partners? How will different business models and scenarios be evaluated to determine the economic viability of the project?

The LCC will adopt a similar approach and evaluation stages as the LCA, considering some differences due to the nature of the economic data and cost-related aspects, such as the time dependency of money. The chosen indicators for economic assessment include the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Levelized Cost of Production (LCOP), based on data from WP2 and WP3, as well as official economic statists. 

By considering multiple scenarios, CTA can identify the most economically feasible approach for the project. This may include assessing the costs and benefits of various production methods, distribution channels and end-of-life strategies.  It will also compare the project products with current competitors. This comparison will help stakeholders understand the relative advantages and disadvantages of REBIOLUTION products in the market.

3. As part of the optimization of environmental and economic impacts of pilot plants, CTA will adapt their multi-objective optimization (MOO) algorithm to improve the sustainability performance of the value chain. How does CTA plan to define technical, environmental, and economic objectives for optimization? What role will collaboration with project partners play in refining the MOO algorithm and implementing optimization strategies?

All targets and variables should be agreed with the pilot plant operators, taking into account the extent to which they can be varied, the acceptable ranges for them, etc. The environmental targets will follow the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology and will be broken down into 16 impact categories. For the economic objectives, appropriate indicators such as OPEX or LCOP will be considered.

As for the role of other partners in the optimisation process, collaboration is essential at all stages of the process, before, during and after the optimisation itself. It is a continuous effort, with as many refinement steps as necessary to meet the quality requirements of the final product (in this case, the solutions to be delivered). As already mentioned, the collaboration with the partners in WP2 is of paramount importance for the definition of the operational variables to be modified at the plant stage, as well as their ranges. At later stages, their feedback, as well as that of the partners in WP3, will be crucial to ensure that the solutions proposed by the MOO algorithm are both applicable and of good quality.

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