{"title":"Sustainability assessment framework for integrated seawater desalination and resource recovery: A participatory approach","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107954","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Valuable and rare materials in seawater brine are often discarded during desalination. However, there is an increasing focus on recovering these resources, due to the economic and environmental opportunities it can bring. Despite this shift, current Sustainability Assessments (SA) in desalination overlook the brine handling and social dimensions, and brine treatment assessments remain centered on techno-economic dimensions. This work proposes a comprehensive framework for the SA of integrated desalination and resource recovery options, focusing on recovering valuable materials from brine. The framework not only evaluates pre-defined systems but supports the identification of system features of interest, such as products to assess and technologies to include, as well as the transparent selection of indicators, considering specific contexts. To develop this framework, a review of the literature on SA in desalination and brine treatment systems was conducted. Looking at the identified gaps, we synthesized the findings and key messages and proposed the integration of Multi-Criteria Analysis and Value-Sensitive Design in the decision-making process. This allows stakeholders to be involved and incorporates their values at different stages of the assessment, making it distinct from traditional SA methods. This framework offers structured guidance to stakeholders on how to carry out qualitative and quantitative assessments while ensuring transparency in the assessment process.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21153,"journal":{"name":"Resources Conservation and Recycling","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":11.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Resources Conservation and Recycling","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344924005457","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Valuable and rare materials in seawater brine are often discarded during desalination. However, there is an increasing focus on recovering these resources, due to the economic and environmental opportunities it can bring. Despite this shift, current Sustainability Assessments (SA) in desalination overlook the brine handling and social dimensions, and brine treatment assessments remain centered on techno-economic dimensions. This work proposes a comprehensive framework for the SA of integrated desalination and resource recovery options, focusing on recovering valuable materials from brine. The framework not only evaluates pre-defined systems but supports the identification of system features of interest, such as products to assess and technologies to include, as well as the transparent selection of indicators, considering specific contexts. To develop this framework, a review of the literature on SA in desalination and brine treatment systems was conducted. Looking at the identified gaps, we synthesized the findings and key messages and proposed the integration of Multi-Criteria Analysis and Value-Sensitive Design in the decision-making process. This allows stakeholders to be involved and incorporates their values at different stages of the assessment, making it distinct from traditional SA methods. This framework offers structured guidance to stakeholders on how to carry out qualitative and quantitative assessments while ensuring transparency in the assessment process.
海水淡化过程中,海水盐水中的珍贵稀有材料通常会被丢弃。然而,由于可带来经济和环境机遇,人们越来越重视回收这些资源。尽管出现了这种转变,但目前的海水淡化可持续性评估(SA)忽略了盐水处理和社会层面,盐水处理评估仍以技术经济层面为中心。这项工作为综合海水淡化和资源回收方案的可持续性评估提出了一个综合框架,重点是从盐水中回收有价值的材料。该框架不仅能评估预先定义的系统,还能支持确定系统的相关特征,如需要评估的产品和包括的技术,以及考虑具体情况透明地选择指标。为了制定这一框架,我们对有关海水淡化和盐水处理系统中的 SA 的文献进行了回顾。针对发现的不足,我们对研究结果和关键信息进行了综合,并提出了在决策过程中整合多重标准分析和价值敏感型设计的建议。这允许利益相关者参与进来,并在评估的不同阶段纳入他们的价值观,使其有别于传统的 SA 方法。该框架为利益相关者如何开展定性和定量评估提供了结构化指导,同时确保了评估过程的透明度。
期刊介绍:
The journal Resources, Conservation & Recycling welcomes contributions from research, which consider sustainable management and conservation of resources. The journal prioritizes understanding the transformation processes crucial for transitioning toward more sustainable production and consumption systems. It highlights technological, economic, institutional, and policy aspects related to specific resource management practices such as conservation, recycling, and resource substitution, as well as broader strategies like improving resource productivity and restructuring production and consumption patterns.
Contributions may address regional, national, or international scales and can range from individual resources or technologies to entire sectors or systems. Authors are encouraged to explore scientific and methodological issues alongside practical, environmental, and economic implications. However, manuscripts focusing solely on laboratory experiments without discussing their broader implications will not be considered for publication in the journal.