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A data engineering approach for sustainable chemical end-of-life management
Citation:
Hernandez-Betancur, J., M. Martin, AND Gerardo J. Ruiz-Mercado. A data engineering approach for sustainable chemical end-of-life management. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. Elsevier Science BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 178:106040, (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.106040
Impact/Purpose:
Chemical risk evaluation is a support tool for alternative assessment via a strategy of informed substitution to select chemicals and materials with safer profiles. Moreover, the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) instructs the USEPA to conduct risk evaluations of existing high priority chemicals. Risk evaluation aids in determining if a chemical substance in the U.S. market may pose an unreasonable risk of harming the environment or human health across its life cycle stages. However, the presence of chemicals causing significant adverse human health and environmental effects during end-of-life (EoL) stages is a challenge for a safer transition towards a circular economy of chemicals. Chemical risk evaluation and exposure assessment of potential EoL scenarios can help understand the chemical EoL management chain for its safer use in a circular economy environment. This work proposed a data engineering framework that connects the EoL stage (e.g., recycling and recovery facilities) recycled material flows at upstream chemical life cycle stages (e.g., manufacturing) using publicly available information. The approach aims at finding potential circular economy scenarios for recycled chemicals. These post-recycling scenarios consider whether the recycled chemical might end up in industrial, commercial, and consumer uses and processing operations. Additionally, the framework can find if the recycling activities are targeting the chemical under analysis besides the other chemicals constituting the EoL flow transfers. A case study demonstrates how the data engineering framework provides the interconnectivity between industry sectors at the EoL stage (e.g., recycling and recovery facilities) with industry sectors at upstream chemical life cycle stages (e.g., manufacturing). Also, the novel approach considers regulatory constraints on closing the recycling loop operations. Furthermore, the framework can provide ranges of values for the flow distributed to post-recycling uses associated with near-field exposure and fugitive air releases from EoL operations related to occupational exposure. Finally, the developed approach advances using publicly-data to determine potential safer chemical circular economy loops in future developments. The framework automatizes the identification and evaluation of current chemical EoL management chains and their recycling circular economy loops. This approach reduces the need for extensive stakeholder input and hands-on knowledge when conducting generic risk evaluations of existing high priority chemicals to determine their unreasonable risk of harming the environment or human health during EoL and post-recycling activities. Moreover, this contribution describes the estimation of material flows for further near-field and occupational exposure assessment models, including EoL performance indicators and release estimations. The TRI Program, the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), the Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM), and the general public can use the novel framework to identify potential exposure scenarios, material flows, and unintended recycling of toxic substances at post-recycling activities (circular economy loops).
Description:
The presence of chemicals causing significant adverse human health and environmental effects during end-of-life (EoL) stages is a challenge for implementing sustainable management efforts and transitioning towards a safer circular life cycle. Conducting chemical risk evaluation and exposure assessment of potential EoL scenarios can help understand the chemical EoL management chain for its safer utilization in a circular life-cycle environment. However, the first step is to track the chemical flows, estimate releases, and potential exposure pathways. Hence, this work proposes an EoL data engineering approach to perform chemical flow analysis and screening to support risk evaluation and exposure assessment for designing a safer circular life cycle of chemicals.
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: A data engineering approach for sustainable chemical end-of-life management
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