The recycling use of MSWI bottom ash as road construction material for carbon emissions reduction based on life cycle Assessment—A case study in China

IF 7.1 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL

Waste management Pub Date : 2025-09-10 DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2025.115122

Xinhao Shen , Chenyi Liu , Yao Zhao , Qiang Li , Jiaqing Wang

{"title":"The recycling use of MSWI bottom ash as road construction material for carbon emissions reduction based on life cycle Assessment—A case study in China","authors":"Xinhao Shen , Chenyi Liu , Yao Zhao , Qiang Li , Jiaqing Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.wasman.2025.115122","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study evaluates the potential of municipal solid waste incineration-bottom ash (MSWI-BA) as a partial substitute for natural aggregates (NAs) in asphalt pavement, focusing on carbon emissions reduction. A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted for a 5.142-km municipal road (Guangying Avenue, Sichuan, China) under two scenarios: a conventional pavement with NAs and a pavement incorporating MSWI-BA aggregates (MAs) at optimised (Alternative <em>A</em>) and maximised (Alternative <em>B</em>) substitution rates. The LCA covered raw-material production, transportation, and construction phases, using carbon emission factors (CEFs) and a Data Quality Indicator-Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis for robust quantification. Results indicate that high substitution of Mas yields significant carbon savings. Under Alternative <em>B</em> (70 % MA in the base layer and 100 % in the subbase/capping layers), the pavement saved approximately 2.78 × 10<sup>4</sup> tonnes of NAs and reduced life-cycle emissions by about 31 %. The greatest reductions occurred in lower layers, with base, subbase, and capping courses achieving 51 %-78 % CE reductions, compared to only 5 % in the surface layer. Transportation emissions partially offset benefits, as MAs were transported 156 km compared to 8 km for NAs. Local processing (Alternative <em>B</em> within 50 km) is recommended to maximise net gains. Despite a modest 7 % increase in construction-phase energy use for MA paving, the overall carbon benefit remains clear. These findings highlight the scalability of MSWI-BA for low-carbon road construction and provide practical insights for engineers and policymakers pursuing sustainable infrastructure solutions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23969,"journal":{"name":"Waste management","volume":"207 ","pages":"Article 115122"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Waste management","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956053X25005331","RegionNum":2,"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

This study evaluates the potential of municipal solid waste incineration-bottom ash (MSWI-BA) as a partial substitute for natural aggregates (NAs) in asphalt pavement, focusing on carbon emissions reduction. A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted for a 5.142-km municipal road (Guangying Avenue, Sichuan, China) under two scenarios: a conventional pavement with NAs and a pavement incorporating MSWI-BA aggregates (MAs) at optimised (Alternative A) and maximised (Alternative B) substitution rates. The LCA covered raw-material production, transportation, and construction phases, using carbon emission factors (CEFs) and a Data Quality Indicator-Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis for robust quantification. Results indicate that high substitution of Mas yields significant carbon savings. Under Alternative B (70 % MA in the base layer and 100 % in the subbase/capping layers), the pavement saved approximately 2.78 × 10⁴ tonnes of NAs and reduced life-cycle emissions by about 31 %. The greatest reductions occurred in lower layers, with base, subbase, and capping courses achieving 51 %-78 % CE reductions, compared to only 5 % in the surface layer. Transportation emissions partially offset benefits, as MAs were transported 156 km compared to 8 km for NAs. Local processing (Alternative B within 50 km) is recommended to maximise net gains. Despite a modest 7 % increase in construction-phase energy use for MA paving, the overall carbon benefit remains clear. These findings highlight the scalability of MSWI-BA for low-carbon road construction and provide practical insights for engineers and policymakers pursuing sustainable infrastructure solutions.

查看原文本刊更多论文

基于生命周期评价的城市生活垃圾底灰筑路材料碳减排回收利用——以中国为例

本研究评估了城市生活垃圾焚烧底灰（MSWI-BA）作为沥青路面天然骨料（NAs）部分替代品的潜力，重点是碳减排。对一条5.142公里的市政道路（中国四川广应大道）在两种情况下进行了比较生命周期评估（LCA）：在优化（替代方案A）和最大化（替代方案B）替代率下，采用NAs的传统路面和采用MSWI-BA骨料（MAs）的路面。LCA涵盖原材料生产、运输和施工阶段，使用碳排放因子（CEFs）和数据质量指标-蒙特卡洛不确定性分析进行稳健量化。结果表明，高替代Mas产生显著的碳节约。在备选方案B（70%的MA在基层，100%的MA在下层/封顶层）下，路面节省了约2.78 × 104吨的NAs，并减少了约31%的生命周期排放。最显著的减量发生在下层，基层、次基层和封顶层的减量达到51% - 78%，而在表层仅为5%。运输排放部分抵消了效益，因为MAs运输了156公里，而NAs运输了8公里。建议在本地处理（50公里范围内的备选方案B），以使净收益最大化。尽管MA铺装的施工阶段能源使用适度增加了7%，但总体碳效益仍然很明显。这些发现突出了MSWI-BA在低碳道路建设中的可扩展性，并为寻求可持续基础设施解决方案的工程师和政策制定者提供了实际见解。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Waste management 环境科学-工程：环境

CiteScore

15.60

自引率

6.20%

发文量

492

审稿时长

39 days

期刊介绍： Waste Management is devoted to the presentation and discussion of information on solid wastes,it covers the entire lifecycle of solid. wastes. Scope: Addresses solid wastes in both industrialized and economically developing countries Covers various types of solid wastes, including: Municipal (e.g., residential, institutional, commercial, light industrial) Agricultural Special (e.g., C and D, healthcare, household hazardous wastes, sewage sludge)