Hi OpenLCA community!
I am currently performing an LCA study focused on waste management (specifically sanitary landfills) using ecoinvent datasets. I have encountered a significant sensitivity issue regarding the temporal horizon of emissions, and I would like to ask for advice on the current "best practice".
When analyzing the results using ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint (H) of "treatment of municipal solid waste, sanitary landfill | municipal solid waste | Cutoff, U", I observed that the flow "Zinc, ion" categorized as "emission to water, ground-, long-term" appears as a relevant hotspot, dominating the Human Health category.
However, when I switch the method to ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint (H) no LT, this specific contribution disappears completely, drastically changing the overall impact profile.
I understand that the "Long-Term" (LT) sub-compartment in ecoinvent refers to emissions occurring after 100 years, and that the "no LT" version of ReCiPe assigns a characterization factor of zero to these flows to cut off the assessment at the 100-year mark.
For standard sustainability reporting, is there a consensus on which approach is more appropriate? Is it recommended to include these long-term emissions or is it standard practice to exclude them (H, no LT) to focus on the manageable operational timeframe?
I would appreciate any references to guidelines that address this exclusion.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Fernando
