An operational framework for sustainability assessment including local to global impacts: Focus on waste management systems

Assessing the sustainability of waste management systems (WMSs) is key to reduce the impacts incurred by human activities. The article presents the development of an operational sustainability framework for the assessment of WMSs involving stakeholders and experts from different fields. The operational framework presented achieves comprehensiveness by including multidisciplinary impacts (environmental, social, and economic impacts), accounting for spatial differentiation regarding the occurrence and magnitude of the impacts (local to global) and complementing well-established methods in life cycle assessment (LCA) with local impact assessment methods. In this respect, the assessment of social local impacts (e.g., Odour, Landscape Disamenities), which has so far received little attention in the literature, has been included. The procedure for the definition of the operational framework is described in detail, including the selection of the impact categories and associated indicators. Finally, an aggregation method was defined considering the perception of stakeholders, allowing for aggregating the impact in five areas of protection (Prosperity, Human Well-Being, Human Health, Ecosystem Health and Natural Resources).