@article{scholars19615,
         journal = {Environmental Research},
           title = {Environmental impact assessment via life cycle analysis on ultrafiltration membrane fabricated from polyethylene terephthalate waste to treat microalgal cultivation wastewater for reusability},
            note = {cited By 0},
          volume = {251},
            year = {2024},
             doi = {10.1016/j.envres.2024.118687},
          author = {Rawindran, H. and Khoo, K. S. and Ethiraj, B. and Lim, J. W. and Liew, C. S. and Goh, P. S. and Raksasat, R. and Leong, W. H. and Rajarathinam, R. and Ng, H.-S. and Tong, W.-Y. and Alam, M. M.},
             url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85188453889&doi=10.1016\%2fj.envres.2024.118687&partnerID=40&md5=2b1ccac60ebf78e776c8f9cec0cbf19a},
        keywords = {Benchmarking; Bioreactors; Eutrophication; Fabrication; Global warming; Life cycle; Membranes; Plastic bottles; Potable water; Purification; Sustainable development; Ultrafiltration; Wastewater reclamation; Wastewater treatment, 'current; Ecotoxicity; Fresh Water; Integrated membrane bioreactor; Life cycle analysis; Micro-algae; Microalgal cultivations; Re-utilization; Ultra-filtration membranes; Ultrafiltration membranes, Microalgae, polyethylene terephthalate, bioreactor; environmental impact assessment; life cycle analysis; membrane; ultrafiltration; wastewater treatment, Article; comparative study; dewatering; energy consumption; environmental impact; environmental impact assessment; global warming potential; harvesting; key performance indicator; life cycle; life cycle assessment; microalga; nonhuman; species cultivation; ultrafiltration; waste water management; wastewater},
        abstract = {The current study had conducted the life cycle analysis (LCA) to assess the environmental impact of microalgal wastewater treatment via an integrated membrane bioreactor. The functional unit selected for this analysis was 1 kg of treated microalgal wastewater with contaminants eliminated by ultrafiltration membrane fabricated from recycled polyethylene terephthalate waste. Meanwhile, the applied system boundary in this study was distinguished based on two scenarios, namely, cradle-to-gate encompassed wastewater treatment only and cradle-to-cradle which included the reutilization of treated wastewater to cultivate microalgae again. The environmental impacts and hotspots associated with the different stages of the wastewater treatment process had clearly elucidated that membrane treatment had ensued the highest impact, followed by microalgal harvesting, and finally cultivation. Among the environmental impact categories, water-related impact was found to be prominent in the following series: freshwater ecotoxicity, freshwater eutrophication and marine ecotoxicity. Notably, the key performance indicator of all environmental impact, i.e., the global warming potential was found to be very much lower at 2.94 {\~A}? 10{\^a}??4 kg CO2 eq as opposed to other literatures reported on the LCA of wastewater treatments using membranes. Overall, this study had proffered insights into the environmental impact of microalgal wastewater treatment and its stimulus for sustainable wastewater management. The findings of this study can be instrumental in making informed decision for optimizing microalgal wastewater treatment and reutilization assisted by membrane technology with an ultimate goal of enhancing sustainability. {\^A}{\copyright} 2024 Elsevier Inc.}
}