Life cycle assessment of municipal biowaste management services: a comprehensive literature review of trends, methods and good practices
Roberta Salomone, Alice Mondello, Dinh Linh Le, Giovanni Mondello, Giuseppe Saija, Francesco Lanuzza, Daniela BaglieriPurpose
Municipal biowaste is the primary component of global municipal solid waste and can lead to significant environmental impacts. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly used to evaluate various waste management services and practices, but certain challenges may arise due to the diversity of practices and methodological choices for applying the method. While numerous review articles address LCAs for waste management, most present notable limitations. Therefore, this study aims to provide an in-depth examination of the literature in this field to accurately investigate trends, methods and good practices.
Design/methodology/approach
This study examines 308 peer-reviewed articles collected from the Scopus and Web of Science databases, analysed through bibliometric, systematic and content analysis methods.
Findings
Results show an increasing interest in the topic over the last decade, with anaerobic digestion and composting emerging as the most commonly assessed approaches. Their combination has been identified as a good practice due to the associated environmental benefits. However, the analysis also highlights that environmental performance is strongly context-dependent, being influenced by factors such as system scale, logistics and waste composition. Finally, results highlight a predominant use of mass-based functional units and varying system boundaries, with the climate change impact category most frequently assessed.
Originality/value
This study enhances understanding of LCA applications to biowaste management systems and services, offering methodological guidance for future research and practice supporting the design of sustainable waste management services within local circular economy frameworks. Its originality lies in providing a service-oriented perspective that identifies methodological patterns and context-dependent good practices, while also strengthening the decision-making relevance of LCAs for municipal biowaste management and highlighting key areas for improving their comparability and reliability.