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Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) could become valuable contributors to a circular economy by implementing the 3R principles (reduce, reuse, and recycle). While reducing the pollution load of sewage is the primary objective of a WWTP, this process generates several potentially valuable byproducts including treated effluent, biogas, and sludge. The effluent can be reused in various end use applications and biogas can be reused as a fuel (for electricity generation, transportation, and cooking) or a chemical feedstock. The sludge can either be directly recycled as soil conditioner or via thermochemical/biochemical processing routes to recover material (e.g., hydrochar), energy (e.g., heat, and syngas), and resource value (phosphorus). This work presents a five-layered assessment framework for quantitatively evaluating the sustainable value of municipal WWTPs by using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing assessment (LCCA) tools. In addition, indicators reflecting potential benefits to stakeholders and society arising from investments into municipal WWTPs such as the private return on investment (PROI) and the environmental externality costs to investment ratio (EECIR). The framework is validated in a hypothetical case study where the sustainable value of a circularly managed municipal WWTP is evaluated in situations involving multiple byproduct utilization pathways. Four future circular options (FCOs) are examined for a 50,000 m3/d capacity WWTP treating sewage up to tertiary standards. The FCOs mainly differ in terms of how biogas is reused (to meet the WWTP's internal energy demands, as cooking fuel, or as fuel for city buses after upgrading) and how sludge is recycled (as soil conditioner or by producing hydrochar pellets for electricity generation). The FCO in which treated effluent is reused in industry, biogas is used as cooking fuel, and sludge is used as a soil conditioner provides the greatest sustainable value (i.e., the lowest private costs and environmental externality costs (EEC) together with high revenues), the highest PROI, and the lowest EECIR. The strengths and limitations of the proposed assessment framework are also discussed.

Urbanization is a global phenomenon, happening on a massive scale and at a rapid rate, with 68% of the planet’s population predicted to be living in cities by 2050 (UN-DESA, 2018). The sustainability of a city (Goal 11 of UN SDGs) undergoing rapid urbanization depends on its ability to maintain a low consumption of resources and materials at any given time (referred to as the urban metabolic rate), whilst simultaneously providing essential municipal services to its inhabitants, such as a water supply, wastewater treatment and solid waste management. The latter must comply with circular economy principles, meaning recovery of byproducts, prevention of discharge of toxic pollutants, and avoidance of landfill usage. The appended papers in the thesis (Papers I–V) describe sustainable assessments of wastewater and waste services to increase their degree of circularity, using tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC). Paper I describes the environmental performance of using the biogas from a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and converting it to Liquefied Biomethane (LBM), which can used as fuel in Tractor-Trailers (TT). Overall, the study suggests that changing from diesel to LBM fuel improves the environmental performance of TT. However, the magnitude of environmental benefit depends on an alternate source of electricity required for operation of the WWTP. Paper II evaluates the Social Cost-Benefit Analysis (SCBA) of Compressed Biomethane (CBM) obtained from a food waste digestion plant in Mumbai, India for use as a fuel in transit buses. SCBA results indicate that the food waste-based CBM model can save 6.86 billion Indian rupees (99.4 million USD) annually for Mumbai. Paper III describes the Sustainable Return on Investment (SROI) of lightweight Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) and Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) intensive multi-material Body in White (BIW) for automobiles. The SROI of CFRP BIWs is maximized when carbon fiber production uses energy from a low carbon-intensity electric grid or decentralized sources such as waste-to-energy incineration plants. Paper IV assesses the ecoefficiency of a thermal insulation panel that consists of a Polyurethane (PU) foam core sandwiched between two epoxy composite skins, prepared by reinforcing Glass Fibers (GF) and SFA (Silanized Fly Ash) in epoxy resin. The results revealed that the ecoefficiency of the composite panels is positive (47%) and superior to that of market incumbent alternatives with PU foam or rockwool cores and steel skins. Paper V quantifies the Total Cost to Society (TCS) (sum of private cost and environmental externalities cost) of a centralized urban WWTP, including the operation as well as byproduct utilization stream. The environmental performance and circular compliance are both factored in, when determining the TCS of a WWTP. The results revealed savings of 1.064 million USD, which include direct and indirect revenues to the plant, as well as avoidance costs attributed to environmental externalities. Based on the studies described in4these papers, a five-stage assessment framework for determining the overall sustainability performance of essential treatment services in a city is proposed in this thesis. The framework considers the combined effect of urban metabolic features and initiatives aimed at improving circular compliance of essential services.

Vehicle lightweighting strategies must deliver sustainable returns to customers and society. This work evaluates the sustainable return on investment (SROI) of lightweighted advanced high strength steel (AHSS) and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP)-intensive multimaterial bodies in white (BIWs) for automobiles. The SROI depends on the lightweighted BIW's manufacturing cost and the difference in sustainable cost between a baseline (mild steel) BIW and the lightweighted alternative. The sustainable cost is the sum of the customer's lifetime fuel (or electricity) costs and the costs of environmental externalities. A cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to quantify the environmental impacts of CFRP and AHSS BIWs in gasoline-fueled cars, bioethanol (E85)-fueled cars, and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) driven for a lifetime distance of 200 000 km. For cars fueled with gasoline- or corn-based bioethanol, the CFRP BIW yielded the lowest SROI; the AHSS BIW performed best for BEVs and cars fueled with wood bioethanol. However, the commercial availability of recycled carbon fiber should increase the SROI of the CFRP BIW in the future. Additionally, the SROI of CFRP BIWs is maximized when carbon fiber production is done using energy from a low carbon-intensity electric grid or decentralized sources such as waste-to-energy incineration plants.

The current practice of landfilling fly ash generated by waste incineration is nonsustainable, so alternative ways of using this material are needed. Silanization effectively immobilizes the heavy metal contaminants in the incineration fly ash and enables its circular utilization because silanized fly ash (SFA) has market value as a low-cost filler for polymer composites. This study examines the ecoefficiency of a thermal insulation panel that consists of a polyurethane (PU) foam core sandwiched between two epoxy composite skins prepared by reinforcing glass fibers (GF) and SFA in epoxy resin. The ecoefficiency of such panels was evaluated by comparing their life cycle environmental externality costs (LCEE) to their life cycle costs (LCC). The LCEE was calculated by monetizing the panels' environmental impacts, which were quantified by performing a life cycle assessment (LCA). The results revealed that the ecoefficiency of the composite panels is positive (47%) and superior to that of market incumbent alternatives with PU foam or rockwool cores and steel skins. The two market incumbents have negative ecoefficiencies, primarily due to their high LCEE. The environmental performance of the panel with SFA GF epoxy composite skins can be further improved by using lignin-based epoxy resin or thermoplastic polypropylene as the polymer matrix of composite skins. Overall, application as a filler in fabricating polymer composite skins of sandwich panels is an upcycling pathway of SFA that combines circular economy prospects with sustainability benefits.

The Indian automotive industry is faced with an unenviable challenge of achieving a sustainable growth in one of the largest markets. Adapting to increasingly strict environmental norms by the government committed to reducing the national greenhouse gas emissions, growing concerns amongst the citizens over the deteriorating air quality in the cities are the major environmental sustainability challenges for the auto industry in next decade. In this study, we analyze the potential benefits of vehicle light weighting and introduction of electric vehicles through a cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) of a standard sedan passenger vehicle. Based on the LCA results, five different scenarios are envisioned with different composition of the passenger vehicle fleet in 2030. These scenarios are used to analyze three key enviro-economical goals for India; (1) dependency on crude oil imports, (2) GHG emission reduction targets and (3) improvement in urban air quality. The results indicate that global warming potential (GWP) and fossil depletion impacts of ICEs can be reduced by 17%, while metal depletion reduces by 34% per vehicle with lightweighting. However, increase in freshwater ecotoxicity impact by 57% is one of the trade-offs. The GWP of a compact BEV powered with current (2014) and 2030 electricity grid mixes is 36% and 16% higher than petrol car. The GWP of a sub-compact BEV powered with current grid mix is 9% higher with current grid mix but 14% lower than petrol cars when powered with 2030 electricity grid mix. Crude oil consumption and GHG emissions are reduced by 20% with lightweight ICE fleet. Whereas, up to 45% reduction in crude oil consumption and 65% improvement in urban air quality can be achieved with BEV penetration scenarios. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cities in developing nations have to deal with two significant sustainability challenges amidst rampant urbanization. First, consumer-generated food waste is increasing monumentally since open dumping is still followed as a predominant practice, the negative environmental externalities associated with food waste disposal are growing beyond manageable proportions. Second, the dependency on conventional fuels like diesel to operate transit buses, which is one of the major causes for deteriorating urban air quality. A nexus established between food waste management and operation of transit buses can improve the sustainable performance of cities in developing nations. In this study, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) supported Social Cost-Benefit Analysis (SCBA) is performed by considering a hypothetical scenario of establishing a large food waste treating biomethanation plant in Mumbai, India. The food waste from the city is transported to a biomethanation plant where it is subjected to an anaerobic digestion (AD) process. The biogas produced as a byproduct is upgraded to compressed biomethane (CBM) and used as a vehicle fuel to operate transit buses within the city. The LCA results suggest that CBM buses can reduce greenhouse gas and particulate matter emissions by 60% compared to diesel or compressed natural gas (CNG) buses. Fossil depletion potential of CBM buses is 98% lower than diesel, suggesting CBM’s importance in decoupling developing nations dependency on imported crude oil. The SCBA considers: (a) costs to stakeholders, i.e., fees for open dumping of food waste and cost of fuel for operating transit buses; and (b) social costs incurred by negative environmental externalities (obtained by monetizing LCA results) resulting from both, open dumping as well as fuel combustion. SCBA results indicate that the food waste-based CBM model can save 6.86 billion Indian rupees (USD 99.4 million) annually for Mumbai. The savings are made due to a reduction in stakeholder’s costs (fuel) coupled with societal, i.e., environmental externality costs if entire transit bus fleet operates on CBM fuel instead of conventional fuel mix (33:67 diesel to CNG) currently used. Although the study is performed for Mumbai, the results will be replicable to any city of developing nations facing similar issues.

Many Game Changing Innovations (GCIs) from the academic institutions struggle in the Technology Valley of Death (TVD) and they fail to reach commercialization. The academic researchers often lack motivation to seek entrepreneurial opportunities for their GCIs. They are often discouraged after considering the burden required to convince private investors to finance their GCIs beyond technology readiness level 4. Further, many academic institutions lack a structured framework to bridge the divide between a basic research and viable product. Here we propose a four-pronged approach for developing sustainability performance metrics that can be used by early investors to understand the commercialization prospects of the GCIs: (1) conduct a screening-level LCA of the GCI and simultaneously reduce uncertainties of underlying data and technological readiness; (2) compare the LCA performance of the GCI with similar commercial products in the target market; (3) factor the LCA results into investment evaluation methods; and (4) transform LCA results into indicators that reflect sustainability performance of the innovation. Finally, we present a case study that highlights the use of this approach for developing commercial opportunities for the emerging graphene-composites as corrosion resistant coatings for civil infrastructure applications. The paper also suggests an approach for promoting a sustainability driven innovation culture in academia.

The environmental performance of Liquefied Biomethane (LBM) and Diesel operated Tractor Trailer (TT) is compared using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study. In this study we consider, raw biogas produced from an anaerobic digestion process of a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Umea, Sweden, which is then upgraded and liquefied to LBM and used as a fuel for TTs. Currently, the WWTP in Umea is utilizing biogas, produced onsite for cogeneration of heat and electricity, thereby meeting its energy needs. A system expansion approach is applied where electricity and heat equivalent to amount of biogas displaced for LBM production is supplied from Swedish grid (SE) mix and incineration of wood chips respectively. Correspondingly, the biogas avoided for cogeneration of electricity and heat is accounted in the study. The equivalent functional unit chosen for the LCA study is “16,000,000 ton-km of a TT transporting products and goods”. The study is modelled using SimaPro LCA Software. The ReCiPe Midpoint (H) impact assessment methodology is used to quantify ten selected and relevant midpoint environmental impacts. When compared with Diesel TT system, LBM TT exhibits superior environmental performance in seven out of ten impact categories measured than the Diesel TT system. The highest reduction is seen in Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Fossil Depletion Potential (FDP) impacts thereby suggesting that LBM derived from raw biogas of WWTP an environmentally preferred alternative to diesel for operation of TTs. However, this value proposition can have other trade-offs such as increase in eutrophication and ecotoxicity impacts. Further, replacing diesel with LBM for TT operation may not have any significant environmental benefits when electricity is drawn from carbon intensive grid mixes (e.g. coal).