Engaging multiple weighting approaches and Conjoint Analysis to extend results acceptance of life cycle assessment in biological wastewater treatment technologies

Shunwen Bai; Xinyue Zhao; Dawei Wang; Xuedong Zhang; Nanqi Ren

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2018.06.032

Engaging multiple weighting approaches and Conjoint Analysis to extend results acceptance of life cycle assessment in biological wastewater treatment technologies

Bioresour Technol. 2018 Oct:265:349-356. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.06.032. Epub 2018 Jun 14.

Authors

Shunwen Bai¹, Xinyue Zhao², Dawei Wang³, Xuedong Zhang⁴, Nanqi Ren⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China; Section of Sanitary Engineering, Department of Water Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft 2628CN, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, 800 E Leigh St, VA23225 Richmond, USA.
⁴ Section of Sanitary Engineering, Department of Water Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft 2628CN, The Netherlands.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China. Electronic address: rnq@hit.edu.cn.

PMID: 29920444
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.06.032

Abstract

Environmental impacts of biological wastewater treatment technologies (BWTTs) can be evaluated by life cycle assessment (LCA). However, very few efforts have been made to expand the ranges of results acceptance and promote stakeholders to participate in the results analysis. To facilitate the evaluation reaching more wide and deep understanding, this study proposed to employ multiple weighting methods and the Conjoint Analysis. To investigate the feasibility, an illustrative case of a bioaugmented constructed wetland was carried out. Weighting results indicated that appropriate improvement strategies could be obtained from synthesizing the similarities and differences of LCA results due to different weighting methods employed. Meanwhile, application of Conjoint Analysis was conducive to the communication between LCA practitioners and BWTTs stakeholders. In a simulated decision-situation, this study found that the decision-making process of stakeholders could be clearly derived to indicate how stakeholders would take trade-offs and make choices based on analyzing LCA outcome.

Keywords: Bioaugmentation; Biological wastewater treatment technologies; Conjoint Analysis; Life cycle assessment; Multiple weighting methods.

MeSH terms

Environment
Technology
Wastewater*
Water Purification*
Wetlands*

Substances

Waste Water