Author(s): (Español) Jorge Cristóbal, Ian Vázquez-Rowe, María Margallo, Diana Ita-Nagy, Kurt Ziegler-Rodriguez, Jara Laso, Israel Ruiz-Sálmon, Ramzy Kahhat, Rubén Áldaco
(Español) Waste management is a critical policy towards the reduction of environmental impacts to air, soil and water. Many Latin American countries, however, lack a correct waste management system in many cities and rural areas, leading to the accumulation of unmanaged waste in illegal or unregulated dumpsites. The case of Peru is of interest, as it hosts 5 of the 50 largest dumpsites in the world. An erratic waste management compromises climate actions for Peru to commit with the Paris Agreement, as no correct closure systems are established for these dumpsites. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to assess the contribution of the past and present biodegradable waste produced and disposed of in the most critical open dumpsters to the overall annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Peru using the IPCC model. Thereafter, the climate change mitigation potential of possible dumpsite closure strategies based on a selection of technologies, including economic feasibility, were estimated. Results show that cumulative GHG emissions in 2018 for the 24 crit- ical dumpsites evaluated added up to 704 kt CO2 eq. and a cumulative value of 4.4 Mt CO2 eq. in the period 2019–2028, representing over 40 % of solid waste emissions expected by 2030. Mitigation potentials for these emissions tanged from 91 to 970 kt CO2 eq. in the ten-year period depending on the mitigation strategies adopted. The costs of these strategies are also discussed and are expected to be of utility to complement Peru's waste management commitments in the frame of the Paris Agreement.
Download publication (1.43 MB)Author(s): Red Peruana Ciclo de Vida
Open linkAuthor(s): (Español) Alejandro Parodi, Gianfranco Villamonte-Cuneo, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Deissy Martínez-Barón, Ian Vázquez-Rowe
(Español) Peru is promoting the adoption of agroforestry systems with the aim to halt the deforestation of tropical forests caused by smallholder farmers. However, deficient soil conservation practices and nutrient management are common among the targeted smallholders, hampering the success of this strategy. In this study, we explore the potential of valorizing municipal biowaste as compost to be used as soil amendment in coffee agroforestry systems and in silvopastoral systems. The analysis was concentrated in four Peruvian regions and the most populous city in each of them. For lands with coffee production, it was assumed that 90 kg N ha−1 (i.e., 50% of the N requirements) should come from compost, while for pastures, the requirement was 40 kg P ha−1. We found that composting could lead to large greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions compared with the current waste disposal methods (i.e., deep dumping and landfilling), as it only emits 5–10% of the GHG emissions produced with the other methods. Nonetheless, the area of agroforestry and silvopastoral systems that could be fertilized with compost obtained from the main city of each region is limited and insufficient. If all compost were to be used for the coffee agroforestry system, less than 3% of the coffee agroforestry area could be fertilized, while in the case of pastures, only 4% would be attained. Large amounts of compost could be obtained from Lima, the most populated city; however, its transportation to the agroforestry areas would increase compost GHG emissions by 15–60%. Although composting municipal food waste and loss may bring GHG benefits and should be promoted, its use as a fertilizer requires mixing with N-rich sources to improve its nutrient quality.
Download publication (1.46 MB)Author(s): Úrsula Cárdenas Mamani, Ramzy Kahhat Abedrabbo y (Español) Jose Manuel Magallanes
(Español) Critical infrastructures (CIs) are key for the functionality of urban areas. Their failure due to natural disasters or manmade disruptive events could severely obstruct normal city activities, producing considerable social and economic impacts. Understanding CI performance and interdependence during these events is imperative. This study aims to comprehend the independent and interdependent response of three CIs in a South American megacity: Lima, Peru. Topological indicators were used to study three CIs: potable water distribution, electricity distribution and natural gas distribution; five disruption scenarios were modeled. Results show that, compared to the other CIs, the potable water system has the highest redundancy, while the electricity network has the best capacity to connect among all elements. The structure of the natural gas system makes it fragile and susceptible to failures, generating the lowest values across indicators. Regarding the interdependence analysis, certain elements (e.g., medium- and high-voltage substations, water treatment plant, pressure stations) with a high degree of connectivity influence the entire performance of the systems; the interdependent effect exposes some CIs to damage more than others. Earthquakes have a comparatively more negative impact on the CIs studied than manmade disruptive events. In order to reduce vulnerability factors in the three systems, an important mitigation action would be to reduce the centralization of the systems.
Open linkAuthor(s): (Español) Jara Lasso, Jorge Cristóbal, María Margallo, Rubén Aldaco, Ian Vázquez-Rowe
(Español) The combination of life cycle assessment (LCA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodologies has been employed over the past years to assess the eco-efficiency of a wide spectrum of production systems. This chapter presents a critical review on current practices of the joint application of LCA + DEA, as well as point towards the methodological challenges and opportunities for the future. Considering the growth of the method in the past decade, it is plausible to assume that an increasing number of studies will continue to appear in the literature. The development of guidance or standardisation reports would constitute a step forward in terms of providing advice on how recurrent methodological issues (e.g. uncertainty, selection of impacts categories or DEA models, etc.) should be addressed in LCA + DEA.
Open linkAuthor(s): Matías Gutiérrez Medina, Ramzy Kahhat Abedrabbo
(Español) Urban areas accumulate important quantities of secondary resources that in the future could be part of what are called “Urban mines”. While this stock is growing as population in urban areas increases, different types of constraints could limit its growth, especially with regard to the building stock. Applying the concepts and methods of material stock analysis, this research proposes an approach that helps assess the limits to the growth of building stocks in areas with horizontal growth constraints. These limits are studied on the basis of established zoning, urban and building parameters, and are quantified for two neighboring districts in Metropolitan Lima, whose central location amid multiple districts limits their horizontal growth possibilities. Three scenarios are used to explore the limits, which determined that the ratio of current material stock to the theoretical maximum allowed, ranged between 26-30% and 41–50%. Results show that zoning is a limiting factor for the upward growth of cities, and that while generally there is potential to grow, some areas are closer to their limits than others. Though municipal zoning considerations may change in the future, increasing or decreasing the limit, the study provides an important approach for understanding the limits to the growth of urban stocks.
Open linkAuthor(s): Ramzy Kahhat Abedrabbo, Marco Gusukuma Higa y (Español) T.Reed Miller, Sara Ojeda-Benitez, Samantha E. Cruz-Sotelo, Jorge Jauregui-Sesma.
(Español) Mexicali, a Mexican city located near the US-Mexico border, has faced several challenges related to adopting an
integrated e-waste management system. Thus, the main objective of this work is to propose a new system to be
implemented in phases. The current system is evaluated using several methodological approaches including field
studies, surveys, interviews, and quantitative modeling via material flow analysis. We suggest the need to
properly integrate both the formal and informal sectors to achieve the optimal system that mitigates environmental impacts while preserving the positive social and economic traits of the current system. Thus, without
supplanting the current reuse, refurbishment, repair and maintenance practices, a hybrid system is proposed,
based on a centralized facility that primarily handles those parts or materials that create environmental impacts
and health hazards if mishandled. Furthermore, a decentralized transition phase toward the new system is
recommended.
Author(s): Ian Vázquez Rowe y (Español) Sarah McLaren, Andrew Berardy, Andrew Henderson, Nicholas Holden, Thom Huppertz, Olivier Jolliet, Camillo De Camillis, Marguerite Renouf, Benedetto Rugani, Merja Saarinen, Jolieke van der Pols, Assumpció Antón Vallejo, Marta Bianchi, Abhishek Chaudhary, Canxi Chen, Margot Cooreman-Algoed, Hongmin Dong, Tim Grant, Ashley Green, Elinor Hallström, Hong Minh Hoang, Adrian Leip, John Lynch, Graham McAuliffe, Brad Ridoutt, Sophie Saget, Laura Scherer, Hanna Tuomisto, Peter Tyedmers, Hannah van Zanten.
(Español) Food systems have become increasingly efficient and technologically advanced in providing food
products to meet the needs of the world’s growing population. However, providing healthy diets
within environmental limits remains a key sustainability issue as food systems continue to over use
increasingly scarce natural resources while making a major contribution to environmental impacts
such as climate change, water scarcity and biodiversity loss. At the same time, hundreds of millions
of people suffer from chronic hunger or adult obesity, and healthy diets continue to be more expensive
than energy- and nutrient-sufficient diets.
Many stakeholders are interested in the question of how to assess the environmental impacts of
healthy diets, and in exploring solutions for minimizing trade-offs between nourishing populations
and safeguarding the environment. Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies have an important role in
contributing to solutions because they evaluate the environmental impacts of different practices,
products and systems, and they facilitate the exploration of benefits and trade-offs across multiple
types of impacts. LCA studies of food items increasingly address nutritional as well as environmental
aspects, and this requires consideration of additional methodological aspects.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) initiated a project to identify
opportunities for further developing environmental and nutritional LCA methodology and building
consensus about best practice, and to propose future research needs. The project involved 30
environmental and nutritional LCA researchers from 18 countries and ran between May and November
2021. The project focused on assessing food items as opposed to raw materials, meals and/or diets,
and it is a step towards more comprehensive meal and dietary LCA studies.
A key issue concerns the intended purpose of an LCA study. This requires some consideration of the
reason for the study, the intended application and the audience. Foods may be consumed for a variety
of reasons including for their nutritional value, for enjoyment, and/or as a means of taking part in –
or contributing to – socio-cultural functions. This report defines a nutritional LCA (nLCA) study as an
LCA study where the provision of nutrient(s) is considered as either the main function or one of the
main functions of a food item. nLCA studies should be undertaken by multidisciplinary teams involving
nutritional and health scientists as well as environmental scientists.
At the outset, the goal and scope of an nLCA study should be carefully defined following the
recommendations in this report, including:
• Undertake an nLCA when nutrients are and/or nutrition is relevant to the decision-maker and
decision context (Chapter 3).
• Clearly identify the target audience and the target population for a study because different
populations have different nutritional requirements, and this may influence the assessment of
nutritional value (Chapter 5).
• Report the quantities of as many essential nutrients as possible (Chapters 5 and 6).
• Aim to provide information on the nutritional quality and/or health impacts in addition to
nutrient quantities (Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Section 7.5.4).
• The system boundaries should include all stages of the product life cycle that affect nutritional
value. The final processing, storage and/or preparation of food items may have a notable effect
on their nutritional value, and this should be taken into consideration (including the potential
fortification of foods) (Chapter 5).
• Choose a modelling perspective (typically attributional or consequential) based on the
relevance to the decision situation (Chapter 4).
