Environmental Sustainability of Waste-Derived Adsorbent: Insights from Life Cycle Assessment

Md. Sidratul Montaha Hossain; Abdullah  Al Mahmood; M. Bodiul  Islam

doi:10.38032/scse.2026.4.135

Authors

Md. Sidratul Montaha Hossain Department of Ceramic & Metallurgical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET), Rajshahi-6204, Bangladesh
Abdullah Al Mahmood Department of Ceramic & Metallurgical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET), Rajshahi-6204, Bangladesh
M. Bodiul Islam Department of Ceramic & Metallurgical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET), Rajshahi-6204, Bangladesh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.38032/scse.2026.4.135

Keywords:

Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental impact, Adsorbents, Activated Carbon, Waste Recycling

Abstract

Activated carbon has grabbed attention of the researchers. Activated carbon production results in sustainability challenges, as it is heavily dependent on feedstocks which are fossil based. Besides, the steps require high energy. This research carries out a cradle to gate Life Cycle Assessment to compare AC derived from coconut shell with commercial AC. LCA focuses on climate change as well as overall Sustainability outcome. The precursor coconut shells were carbonized at 500-600 ºC. Afterwards; chemical activation was carried out using KOH. Inventory modeling was performed in OpenLCA 1.11 using the Ecoinvent 3.9 database. The results from LCA analysis indicates coconut-shell AC achieves mentionable reduction in environmental impacts. Results include a 66% lower global warming potential and a 70% decrease in particulate matter formation. Reduced energy consumption, renewable feedstock origin are reason for such benefits. Nonetheless, higher ecotoxicity impacts were observed due to the use of chemical activating agents, suggesting the need for more sustainable alternatives. Overall, the study confirms that biomass-derived AC offers a promising low-carbon route. Therefore; alignment with circular economy principles and advancing sustainable material development is found.

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