Life cycle analysis of the wastewater treatment system in Zabol Industrial Town: Environmental impacts, energy demand, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Use of effective environmental remediation facilities represents a crucial strategy for water reclamation and addressing the challenges of water scarcity. The objective of this study was to assess the wastewater treatment system (WWTS) in Zabol Industrial Town using the life cycle assessment method. Primary data, collected annually for a functional unit of 1 m3 of wastewater treatment, were subjected to analysis using the ReCiPe, Cumulative Energy Demand, and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methods. Human carcinogenic toxicity (50%), freshwater ecotoxicity (13%), and marine ecotoxicity (10%) were the primary environmental impacts due to the WWTS performance. The discharge of heavy metals during sludge generation, coupled with the consumption of natural gas and oil, especially for electricity production, were pivotal factors contributing to the environmental burdens observed. Furthermore, chemical oxygen demand (COD) (56.34%), electricity consumption (>15.47%), and total phosphorous (>4.49%) significantly threatened human health and ecosystem categories, while fossil fuel consumption had the greatest impact on resources. Nonrenewable fossil fuels, namely, natural gas (47.2%) and oil (38.27%), played a predominant role in the energy provision of the system. The IPCC analysis depicted the emissions of CO2 (86.77%) and CH4 (12.16%) stemming from the process of electricity generation. Based on the outcomes of the sensitivity analysis, implementing a 10% increase in COD yielded an increment in all impacts within the range of 1.40% to 6.83%. Given Iran's geographic location and the unique climatic conditions in Zabul, use of solar and wind energy to energize the WWTS can substantially alleviate its environmental burdens. This study presents a comprehensive framework for evaluating the environmental impact, energy consumption, and carbon footprint of a WWTS. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:1747-1758. © 2024 SETAC.

Assessing the environmental impacts of copper cathode production based on life cycle assessment.

The demand for copper is growing considerably in parallel with economic and technological development. The rate increase in copper consumption in Iran increases pressure on the numerous unexploited mines in southeast Iran and causes the environmental crisis alongside the northern Levar wind in this area. Given this, this study systematically explored the environmental impacts of a one-ton copper cathode processing operation from a cradle-to-gate perspective, using life cycle assessment (LCA). Moreover, the release of greenhouse gases and the energy consumption during the copper cathode production were also assessed. The results indicated that sulfuric acid use in the smelting and extraction stages, metal leaching from tailings, and CO2 dominated more than 50% of contributions to freshwater and marine ecotoxicity, human toxicity, and global warming. The energy analysis revealed 88.92% of crude oil use especially for the electrowinning stage, which should be promoted technologically. For global warming, the indirect CO2 emission from electricity consumption using fossil fuels was the main contributor (94.56%). Therefore, shifting from conventional energy systems to renewable energy systems could alleviate the overall environmental impact. For a 0.57-ton sulfuric acid effluent per one ton of copper cathode production, its treatment and reuse in the process is recommended. Summing up, the results of this study provide the environmental hot spots for copper cathode production for further investigation. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;00:1-11. © 2023 SETAC.

Integration of LCSA and GIS-based MCDM for sustainable landfill site selection: a case study.

The paper aims at developing a framework for decision-support to select a sustainable landfill site in Bardaskan City (Iran) by combining life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) concepts and geographic information system (GIS)-based multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). Overall, 13 criteria were chosen (three constraints and 10 factors) and classified into three main aspects of sustainability (i.e., environmental, social, and economic) to achieve the research goals. Boolean and fuzzy logic were employed to standardize the classified constraints and factors, respectively. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to calculate the factors' weights and then suitability maps were produced using the GIS analysis. The layers were combined using simple additive weighting (SAW). Next, the most sustainable sites were obtained. The results indicated that distance from city backline, groundwater depth, and distance from rural areas were the most significant factors with the weight of 0.338, 0.141, and 0.129, respectively. The final map of suitable sites was created by classifying the SAW layer according to 75, 80, and 85% of suitability to show the high, medium, and low priority areas for landfill site selection, respectively. Therefore, integration of LCSA and GIS-based MCDM to select the sustainable landfill site for municipal solid waste (MSW) is highly important, which can be effectively employed in regional and urban planning to select the location of appropriate and sustainable landfills.