“Green Material and System for

Kuliah Tamu Sustainable Environment”

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for Sustainable

Palm Oil Industry Toward Circular Economy

Prof. Sri Suhartini, STP., M.Env.Mgt., PhD, PGCert, IPM

Department of Agro-industrial Technology
Faculty of Agricultural Technology
Universitas Brawijaya
Indonesia
Originally: Cirebon

Bachelor:
Universitas Brawijaya (Teknologi Industri Pertanian) (1999-2003)

Master:
The University of Queensland (Environmental Management) (2006-2007)

Doctoral:
University of Southampton (Civil and Environmental Engineering) (2010-2014)

Post-Doctoral:
- University of Southampton (2014)
- Birmingham City University (2014-2017)

PG Certification
- Birmingham City University (2016) - PGCert Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

Email: ssuhartini@ub.ac.id
Work experiences:
- Academic staff at UB
- Competencies Assessor at LSP TLIP (Jakarta): POPAL dan PPPA
- Assisting industries with waste treatment and management
2
Sustainable Palm Oil Plantation and Industry is Critical
- Palm Oil is a major commodity in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand

Production of palm oil worldwide and in Indonesia from 2012 to 2020 (in million tons)
(Suhartini et al., 2022)
2023 4
Distribution of Palm Oil Plantation in Indonesia

2023 5
 https://mpoc.or
g.my/palm-oil-
fractions-and-
their-uses/

presentation title 20XX 6

Palm oil products and residues (Kaniapan et al., 2021)
2023 7
 Pict sources: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-
3417/9/18/3721/htm

OIL PALM INDUSTRY

it can be estimated 20,4%

that the possibility of
1 ton of fresh fruit
OPEFB in 2020 is ±11 33,5% 44,2%
million tons.
bunches

22,5%
OPEFBs
• BIOGAS
the most solid waste produced from • XYLITOL
• BIOETHANOL
palm oil production process • MULCH • ETC.
• ACTIVATED CARBON
• ETC.
Individuals’ beliefs about palm oil (Borrello et al., 2019)
20XX 9
 Product life cycle
[Stachowicz, 2001; Walz, 2000].

presentation title 20XX 10

https://www.goldenagri.com.
sg/palm-oil-refining-process/

2023 11
(a) Palm oil value chain and (b) the material flow in palm oil mills (Suhartini et al., 2022)
2023 12
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) - Introduction

presentation title 20XX 13

 1. Goal and Scope Definition

The purpose of the LCA study,

ending with the definition of the
functional unit

Figure 3. The boundary systems in LCA (adapted from Smil (1999))

14
 2. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Analysis

- inventory of the inputs (i.e., raw materials,

water, and energy), outputs (i.e., products,
by-products, wastes, and emissions)
- activity flows during the life-cycle in the
system
- data analysis
- create a database
(Aziz & Hanafiah, 2021)
Waste Waste
Treatment Treatment
Database:
- EcoInvent (Mu et al., 2020),
- GaBi professional,
- USLCI database (U.S. Life Cycle Inventory),
- NREL (National Residential Efficiency),
Source: Suhartini et al. (2023-inpress)
- the International reference Life Cycle Database (ILCD)
15
LCIA Methods Summary
with the Impacts
Available in Simapro 5

16
3. Life-Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)

a. Classification,

b. Characterization,
Classification
c. Normalization,

d. Weighting is aimed to rank

17
 Characterization
Level Impact Categories
End-
Damage to human health Damage to ecosystem quality Damage to resources
Point
Mid- - Climate change - Climate change - Land use
Point - Ozone depletion - Ozone depletion - Depletion of water resources
- Ionizing radiation, ecosystem- Ionizing radiation, - Depletion of mineral, fossil
ecosystem fuels, and renewable sources
- Formation of photochemical - Formation of photochemical
ozone ozone
- Human toxicity, cancer - Acidification
- Human toxicity, non-cancer - Terrestrial eutrophication
- Respiratory inorganics - Aquatic eutrophication
- Ionizing radiation, humans - Ecotoxicity
- Land use
- Depletion of water resources
- Depletion of mineral, fossil
and renewable sources
 4. Interpretation Phase

a. Identification of significant issues

b. Evaluation
– completeness check
– sensitivity check
– consistency check
c. Conclusions, recommendations and reporting
– critical review

19
Benefits of doing LCA

Environmental impact
reduction
Resource
preservation

Cost savings

Risk management

Improved stakeholder
relationships

20
Principal
Flow Chart
of the
Whole Life
Cycle of
Palm Oil
Production
in
Indonesia

2023 21
 Phase in the Boundary System Activities Potential Environmental Impacts Impact Categories

Palm Oil Plantation Land clearing by forest fire and by Air pollution (particulate matter, Climate change,
logging CO2, smoke, and haze) Acidification, Human toxicity
Deforestation Land use, Resource depletion

Loss of wildlife (biodiversity) Decreased diversity

Palm Oil Harvesting
Transportation 1
Palm Oil Processing (Milling)
On-site waste management
Energy use at plantation
Fertilizer/pesticide use during Soil pollution
plantation
Fossil fuels use and emissions Air pollution (CO2 and SOx)
Harvesting
Diesel use and emissions
High use of fresh water
Use of FFB
Fossil fuels and emissions
solid waste fuels and emission
(biogas)
Dumping untreated palm oil
effluent
Soil erosion Resource depletion
Air pollution Climate change, Acidification
Ecotoxicity, eutrophication
Water pollution Ecotoxicity, Eutrophication
Human health Human toxicity
Climate change,
Acidification, Human toxicity
Soil pollution Ecotoxicity
Air pollution (CO2 and SOx) Climate change,
Acidification, Human toxicity
Wastewater generation (water Ecotoxicity, Eutrophication
pollution)
Solid waste generation (Soil Ecotoxicity
pollution)
Air pollution (CO2 and SOx) Climate change,
Acidification, Human toxicity
Air pollution (particulate matter, Climate change,
CO2, NOX and CO) Acidification, Human toxicity
Water pollution Ecotoxicity, Eutrophication
Negative effect on aquatic wildlife Ecotoxicity, Eutrophication

2023 22
 Sustainable Palm Oil Industry
Sustainable Palm Oil Industry

• Input Process • Pollution

minimization minimization/
• Manufacturing • Product/Servi
• Renewable • Transportation ce elimination
• Energy
resources and Distribution • Wastewater • Waste disposal
• Water • Waste
• Renewable • Solid waste minimization/
• Raw Treatment and • Emissions
energy elimination
material valorisation

Eliminate toxic
Toxicity product and waste
control

Source: Suhartini (2020)

Conversion technology
- Pathways Physical Pressing/
Compression
• Briquettes
• Solid Fuels
Conversion

Composting Compost

Anaerobic • Methane
Biological Digestion • Biofertiliser
conversion • Bioethanol
Fermentation • Biohydrogen
• High-value products
Biomass/
Wastes MFC Electricity

Chemical Transesterificatio
Biodiesel
n
conversion
Combustion Heat, Electricity

Biochar, Gas, Bio-

Thermo- Pyrolysis oil,
chemical
conversion Gasification Syngas

Liquefaction Bio-oil, methanol

Torrefaction Torrefied pellets

 How it works: Zero
waste in palm oil
production

https://www.goldenagr
i.com.sg/how-it-works-
zero-waste-in-palm-oil-
production/

presentation title 20XX 25

Oil palm mat Organic Mulch
Activated Carbon

Biopelet
Wastewater treatment
26 - bioadsorbent
Futami et al. (2021)
27
 Waste Valorisation –
Biological Routes

Applications of agro-industrial wastes

(Sadh et al., 2018)
Circular Economy A circular economy can be loosely defined as “one
which balances economic development with
environmental and resource protection” (UNEP
2006)
Circular economy refers to an “industrial economy that is
restorative by design, and which mirrors nature in
actively enhancing and optimizing the systems through
which it operates”

The fundamental idea of the concept is to optimize

resource use (energy and other materials) and to
minimize waste generation by the closed-loop system
ofSource:
materials flow.
Roy (2020)

Human economic activities that are consistent with

the three Rs principles: Reduce, reuse, and recycle
Valuing waste with Integrated Biorefinery
(Circular Economy)
Sugar Industry in UK

Source: Suhartini et al. (2022)

2023 32
Thank you
References

Ayompe, L.M., Schaafsma, M. and Egoh, B.N., 2021. Towards sustainable palm oil production: The positive and negative impacts on
ecosystem services and human wellbeing. Journal of cleaner production, 278, p.123914.
Borrello, M.; Annunziata, A.; Vecchio, R. Sustainability of Palm Oil: Drivers of Consumers’ Preferences. Sustainability 2019, 11, 4818.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su11184818

Kaniapan, S.; Hassan, S.; Ya, H.; Patma Nesan, K.; Azeem, M. The Utilisation of Palm Oil and Oil Palm Residues and the Related
Challenges as a Sustainable Alternative in Biofuel, Bioenergy, and Transportation Sector: A Review. Sustainability 2021, 13, 3110.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063110

Suhartini, S., Hidayat, N., Rohma, N.A., Paul, R., Pangestuti, M.B., Utami, R.N., Nurika, I. and Melville, L., 2022. Sustainable strategies for
anaerobic digestion of oil palm empty fruit bunches in Indonesia: a review. International Journal of Sustainable Energy, 41(11), pp.2044-2096.