Environmental performance of waste management in an Italian region: how LCI modelling framework could influence the results

The constant growth of solid and hazardous waste production is increasing the European concerns about the protection of the environment and natural resources. It is estimated that Europe produces up to 3 billion tons of waste every year. EU is promoting several waste management policies aiming to reduce the environmental impacts of waste and improve Europe’s resource efficiency. In this context, public administration of numerous Italian regions are showing more attention in order to reducing the environmental impacts related to solid and hazardous waste management. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful tool to quantify environmental impacts and determine the potential management strategies to reduce these impacts. Nevertheless, the identification of Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) modelling framework to model multifunctionality could be a very critical point. This study analyzed the environmental performance of the waste management, including municipal solid waste and industrial waste, in the Emilia Romagna region (Italy) adopting attributional and consequential approaches. The influence of LCI modelling frameworks on the environmental results has been investigated.