Abstract
Recycling of a product can lead to the same product or to other products. Within the Inventory Analysis of LCA, the first process is called closed-loop recycling and poses relatively small methodological problems, whereas the second, open-loop recycling, involves major allocation problems. Basically, open-loop recycling creates a new, larger system which should be treated as one system in the inventory analysis from a scientific point of view. Since this is frequently not possible, allocation rules have to be applied in order to treat one of the subsystems separately. In this review, the different allocation rules proposed are presented and discussed with respect to the criteria of mathematical neatness, feasibility and justice/incentive for both producers and users of secondary raw materials.
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Klöpffer, W. Allocation rule for open-loop recycling in life cycle assessment. Int. J. LCA 1, 27–31 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02978629
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02978629