A methodology is proposed for taking recycling, an essential activity
of the developed economies, into account within LCA tools. The
reasoning for choosing the methodology is exposed step by step.
The final proposal is centered on the multiple-recycling model, which
best describes the practical way that materials are actually recycled
in the economy.
From a practical standpoint, the results obtained are attributed to
steel on the basis of a specific value (e.g. t of CO2 per t of steel),
which amounts to averaging the impact over the various steps of the
recycling process on a weighted average basis, depending on the
amount of material recycled at each step.