Deposited waste

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The impact assessment method used for calculating the deposited waste is “ecological scarcity 2006 / total deposited waste”. This method takes into account the volume required for storing the generated waste (including the radioactive waste) and the contaminants dumped into the water (river, sea and underground streams). The unit of the obtained value is “UBP”, which is the abbreviation for “Umweltbelastungspunkte” in German, “Ecopoints” in English.

The computation of the deposited waste is based on a life cycle analysis.

In the detailed graph, the deposited waste is disaggregatted under the following labels:

• Elec. Nuclear → Emissions linked to the construction and decommissioning of the nuclear power plants. It also accounts for the emissions related to the nuclear fuel chain.
• Elec. Hydro → Emissions linked to the construction and decommissioning of hydro power plants (run-of-river and hydro large dam.)
• Elec. Other renew → Emissions linked to the construction and decommissioning of wind turbines, photovoltaic panels and geothermal power plants.
• Elec. Thermal → It accounts for the operation and construction/decommissioning emissions of gas and coal power plants.
• Elec. Import → The imported electricity also produces emissions. Besides the emissions take place in the country where the power plants are located, these are accounted in the Swiss balance as the electricity is consumed in Switzerland.
• Combined Heat&Power → It accounts for the operation and construction/decommissioning emissions of cogeneration systems.
• Boiler → It accounts for the operation and construction/decommissioning emissions of boiler.
• Other heat → Emissions linked to the construction and decommissioning of the next systems for heat production or cogeneration: heat pumps, solar thermal panels, direct electric heating systems and geothermal cogeneration systems.
• Transport (fuels) → Emissions linked to the use of fuels in the transport sector (combustion, production and distribution of the fuels are accounted).

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