LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) in Disaster Waste Management: Emilia-Romagna Earthquake, an Italian case study

Purpose As recently discussed in the literature, an overwhelming amount of waste is normally left after a disaster (Brown C. O., 2012). Earthquakes, in particular, generate shock waves and displace the ground along fault lines. These seismic forces can bring down buildings and bridges in a localized area and damage buildings and other structures in a far wider area. The aim of this research is to study a real Italian case that is occurring nowadays. The purpose is to evaluate the reverse network performances in terms of LCA in accordance with different waste management strategies by computing the total waste management cost. Design/methodology/approach This work is mainly based on the data coming from the Earthquake occurred in Northern Italy on May 2012, when two major earthquakes occurred, causing 26 deaths and widespread damage. The Regional officials are currently collecting and managing debris flows and the data reflects the incredible amount of waste generated. Several months have been and will be necessary to manage the debris removal process. This work investigates the management of the most important waste material: the construction and demolition materials. We evaluate by a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) point of view a set of optional strategies based on different options. Originality/value Disaster waste management is a well-recognized problem belonging to the humanitarian logistics research area. Experience shows that disaster waste can’t be managed by standard disposal options but often requires an ad hoc manner. However, by a logistic flow management point of view, a substantial improvement can be made in future response efforts. Moreover reducing and recycling these materials permit to conserve landfill space, reduce the environmental impact of producing new materials, create jobs, and can reduce overall building project expenses through avoiding purchase/disposal costs. Based on our knowledge this approach has never been faced before in the literature in order to evaluate different solutions in a post disaster situation. LCA approach usually does not consider a sudden-high level of flow materials, typically post disaster issue; moreover the study presents an Italian case in order to fix the research with a real example.