Post on 22-Jan-2015
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INDUS Enviro© Confidential
ISO 14044
Environmental Management - Life Cycle Assessment - Requirements
and Guidelines
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ISO 14044
ISO 14044:2006 is designed for the preparation of, conduct of, and critical review of life cycle inventory analysis (LCIA). It also provides guidance on the impact assessment phase of LCA and on the interpretation of LCA results, as well as the nature and quality of the data collected.
ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006 replace the previous standards (ISO 14040:1997, ISO 14041:1999, ISO 14042:2000 and ISO 14043:2000).
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ISO 14044 specifies requirements and provides guidelines for life cycle assessment (LCA) including :
• the goal and scope definition of the LCA,
• the life cycle inventory analysis (LCI) phase,
• the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) phase,
• the life cycle interpretation phase,
• reporting and critical review of the LCA,
• limitations of the LCA,
• relationship between the LCA phases, and
• conditions for use of value choices and optional elements.
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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a structured, comprehensive and internationally standardised method. It quantifies all relevant emissions and resources consumed and the related environmental and health impacts and resource depletion issues that are associated with any goods or services (“products”).
LCA can assist in –
⎯ identifying opportunities to improve the environmental performance of products at various points in their life cycle,
⎯ informing decision-makers in industry, government or non-government organizations (e.g. for the purpose of strategic planning, priority setting, product or process design or redesign),
⎯ the selection of relevant indicators of environmental performance, including measurement techniques, and
⎯ marketing (e.g. implementing an ecolabelling scheme, making an environmental claim, or producing an environmental product declaration).
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There are four phases in an Life Cycle Assessment Study:
• the goal and scope definition phase,
The scope, including system boundary and level of detail, of an LCA depends on the subject and the intended use of the study.
• the inventory analysis phase,
It involves the collection of the data necessary to meet the goals of the defined study.
• the impact assessment phase, and
The purpose of LCIA is to provide additional information to help assess a product system’s LCI results so as to better understand their environmental significance.
• the interpretation phase.The results of an LCI or an LCIA, or both, are summarized and discussed as a basis for conclusions, recommendations and decision-making.
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ISO 14044:2006 Standard covers two types of studies: • Life cycle Assessment studies (LCA studies) • Life Cycle Inventory studies (LCI studies)
LCI studies are similar to LCA studies but exclude the LCIA phase. LCI are not to be confused with the LCI phase of an LCA study.
The information developed in an LCA or LCI study can be used as part of a much more comprehensive decision process
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Interpretation
Goal definition
Scope definition
Inventory analysis
Impact assessment
Direct applications:
•Product development and improvement
•Strategic planning•Public policy making•Marketing•Other
From ISO 14044:2006Including Documentation, Review
Life Cycle Assessment Framework
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Life Cycle Assessment process
Goal and Scope• Definition of the objectives of the study• Choice of the functional unit• Delimitation of the system boundaries• Data quality requirements
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• Life Cycle Inventory Analysis• The system : construction of the life cycle tree• Data collection• Use of data• Application of cut-off rules, taking into account of co-
products• Computation of the inventory• Identification of the contribution of flows to the different
life cycle stages, and identification of the most represented stages
• Exclusion of life Cycle Stages, where lack of significance
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Procedure for Inventory Analysis
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Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)
Inventory analysis is followed by impact assessment. This phase of LCA is aimed at evaluating the significance of potential environmental impacts based on the LCI flow results.• selection of impact categories, category indicators, and
characterization models;• Determination of contribution to the impacts;• the classification stage, where the inventory parameters are
sorted and assigned to specific impact categories; and• impact measurement, where the categorized LCI flows are
characterized
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Interpretation Life Cycle Interpretation is a systematic technique to identify,
quantify, check, and evaluate information from the results of the life cycle inventory and/or the life cycle impact assessment.
The results from the inventory analysis and impact assessment are summarized during the interpretation phase. It includes• Identification of the strong and the weak points based on the results of
the LCI and LCIA phases• Meeting the goals set during the first stage• evaluation of the study considering completeness, sensitivity and
consistency checks• conclusions, limitations and recommendations.
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Relationships between elements within the Interpretation Phase with the other phases of LCA
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Definitions
• life cycle
consecutive and interlinked stages of a product system, from raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources to final disposal
• system boundary
set of criteria specifying which unit processes are part of a product system
• consistency check
process of verifying that the assumptions, methods and data are consistently applied throughout the study and are in accordance with the goal and scope definition performed before conclusions are reached
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• completeness check
process of verifying whether information from the phases of a life cycle assessment is sufficient for reaching conclusions in accordance with the goal and scope definition
• sensitivity check process of verifying that the information obtained from a sensitivity analysis is relevant for reaching the conclusions and giving reco
• evaluation
element within the life cycle interpretation phase intended
to establish confidence in the results of the life cycle assessment mmendations
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Examples: Volvo• Volvo Company has focused its Life Cycle Analysis work on reducing
GHG Emissions, and opened the first carbon neutral auto plant in Belgium in 2007.
• CO2 emission were reduced by 14,000 ton annually. In Belgium,70% of heating is supplied by a new biomass facility powered by pellets. The remaining 30% is provided by gas fired boiler converted to run on boifuel. The win turbine were installed on the site, proving 50% of the electricity needed.
• As per Volvo 2008 Sustainability Report, Volvo gained knowledge for a product’s environmental impact over its entire life by conducting Life Cycle Analysis.
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Examples: Unilever• Unilever uses LCA in three ways:
– Product innovation( to compare new and existing projects)– Product Category Analysis (Studied environment footprint of Brands)– Strategic Studies (understand the impact of their Business Activity)
• LCA has been crucial to support Unilever’s commitment to manage to reduce their environment impact in the areas of GHG Emissions, water, waste and sustainable sourcing, which led to launch the Unilever sustainable living plan in November 2010
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Thank you !
For More Details Contact –
Rubal SaxenaSenior Executive - Regulatory & Sustainability Services
INDUS Environmental Services Pvt LtdA-8, C R Park, New Delhi - 110 019
INDIA. T : +91 11 2627 1433 (Ext- 17)www.indusenviro.com
rubal@indusenviro.com