Abstract: A better understanding of the drivers of the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of emerging (biobased) technologies and products in early development phases can help decision-makers to identify sustainability hurdles and opportunities. Furthermore, it guides additional research and development efforts and investment decisions, that will, ultimately, lead to more sustainable products and technologies entering a market. To this end, this study developed a novel techno-sustainability assessment (TSA) framework with a demonstration on a biobased chemical application. The integrated TSA compares the potential sustainability performance of different (technology) scenarios and helps to make better-informed decisions by evaluating and trading-off sustainability impacts in one holistic framework. The TSA combines methods for comprehensive indicator selection and integration of technological and country-specific data with environmental, economic, and social data. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is used to address data uncertainty and to enable scenario comparison if indicators are expressed in different units. A hierarchical, stochastic outranking approach is followed that compares different weighting schemes and preference structures to check for the robustness of the results. The integrated TSA framework is demonstrated on an application for which the sustainability of a production and harvesting plant of microalgae-based food colorants is assessed. For a set of scenarios that vary with regard to the algae feedstock, production technology, and location, the sustainability performance is quantified and compared, and the underlying reasons for this performance are explored.

Abstract: Companies dealing with chemical products have to cope with large amounts of waste and environmental risk due to the use and production of toxic substances. Against this background, increasing attention is being paid to green chemistry and the translation of this concept into biobased chemicals. Given the multitude of economic, environmental and societal impacts that the production and use of biobased chemicals have on sustainability, assessment approaches need to be developed that allow for measurement and comparison of these impacts. To evaluate sustainability in the context of policy and decision-making, indicators are generally accepted means. However, sustainability indicators currently predominantly exist for low-value applications in the bioeconomy, like bioenergy and biofuels. In this paper, a review of the state-of-the-art sustainability indicators for biobased chemicals is conducted and a gap analysis is performed to identify indicator development needs. Based on the analysis, a clear hierarchy within the concept of sustainability is found where the environmental aspect dominates over economic and social indicators. All one-dimensional indicator-sets account for environmental impacts (50%), whereas two-dimensional sets complement the environmental issues with economic indicators (34%). Moreover, even the sets encompassing all three sustainability dimensions (16%) do not account for the dynamics and interlinkages between the environment, economy and society. Using results from the literature review, an indicator list is presented that captures all indicators currently used within sustainability assessment of biobased chemicals. Finally, a framework is proposed for future indicator selection using a stakeholder survey to obtain a prioritized list of sustainability indicators for biobased chemicals.