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Sustainability indicators for biobased chemicals

Tijdschriftbijdrage - Tijdschriftartikel

Ondertitel:a Delphi study using multi-criteria decision analysis
Biobased chemistry has gained interest and has the potential to tackle some of the sustainability challenges the chemical industry must endure. Sustainability impacts need to be evaluated and monitored to highlight the advantages and pitfalls of different biobased routes over the entire product life cycle. This study aims for expert consensus concerning indicators needed and preferred for sustainability analysis of biobased chemicals in Europe. Experts are consulted by means of a Delphi method with stakeholders selected from three core groups: the private, public and academic sector. Best-Worst Scaling (BWS) is performed to gather data on the prioritization of the sustainability indicators per respondent. Afterwards, Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) is used to develop a consensus ranking among the experts. The results show that GHG emissions, market potential and acceptance of biobased materials are deemed the most crucial indicators for respectively environmental, economic and social sustainability. Expert consensus is positive in all three sustainability domains, with the strongest consensus measured for environmental sustainability showing a median Kendalls τ of 0.63 (τ ranging from -1 to 1) and the weakest consensus found within social sustainability showing a median Kendalls τ of 0.50. Further research can apply the ranked indicators on specific case studies to evaluate the practicability of the defined indicator set.
Tijdschrift: Resources, conservation and recycling
ISSN: 0921-3449
Volume: 144
Pagina's: 198 - 208
Jaar van publicatie:2019
Trefwoorden:A1 Journal article
BOF-keylabel:ja
BOF-publication weight:2
CSS-citation score:2
Authors from:Government
Toegankelijkheid:Open