Developing and testing sustainability assessment tools for chemical processes and products. Case study on critical rare earth elements

The goal of this thesis is to develop sustainability assessment methods for chemical processes, unit operations, catalysts and products and to test the methods in the assessment of products containing critical rare earth elements (REE). To carry out a successful sustainability assessment, it is important to define the sustainability indicators/assessment criteria needed for the assessment. This is a very critical step in an assessment as it will determine its success or failure. Sustainability indicators are used to convert sustainability-related issues into quantitative measures; they capture the essential ideas related to sustainability and transform them into workable information for decision-making. Therefore, the selection of an appropriate set of sustainability indicators covering all aspects of sustainability is crucial as it enables the sustainability assessment to be holistic and helps communicate sustainability-related issues to decision-makers, policymakers, stakeholders and individuals.