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Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT(PART OF THE GREEN SUPPLY
CHAIN SERIES)
Wednesday 12 April 2023
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Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
› Overview of the basic characteristics of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)› Summarise the basic process of an LCA› Introduce what is required from each step of the LCA process› Describe the main limitations of LCA› Briefly introduce the history, purpose and impact of LCA’s ISO
standard: 14040
Wednesday 12 April 2023
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Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
Life Cycle Assessment is an advanced strategy that is becoming mainstream
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…
Business as usual
Supplier managemen
t
Green Purchasing
Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA)
Industrial Ecology
(IE)
Extended Producer
Resp.(EPR)
Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
It is a technique for assessing the environmental aspects of a product
› Assessment counts over a product’s:› Entire life cycle› Entire chain of events and activities to support a process or
product
› Considers all stages of a product’s life as independent from each other
› The LCA process is designed to supports decisions, not make them
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Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
There are four steps in the process:
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1
Goal and scope
definition
2
Lifecycle inventory
3
Lifecycle impact
assessment
4
Interpret
Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
Step 1 is to define the goal and scope
› Factors to consider in goal setting:› How is the LCA going to be applied? › What are the reasons and/or goals for the study?› Who is going to use/observe the study? What is the
audience?
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Knowing the goals help you make sure the assessment is useful and purposeful for your
business.
Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
The most important part in Step 1 is the five factors in scoping
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These constrain how widely and deeply you take your assessment
i.e. quantitative values of inputs and outputs
i.e. set of unit processes linked by flows of intermediate products or waste
Data requirements
Allocation procedures
System boundaries
Identify the functional units to be used
Identify the product system
Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
Including the system boundaries to narrow and focus your LCA
Between system and environment
Identify the types of environmental process that are included and excluded
Between system and related systems
Determine how the environmental load is allocated in a multifunctional process
Between relevant and irrelevant processes
Determine which processes should be included for simplicity’s sake, or if there is a lack of data
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Since different systems are highly interrelated, it can be very difficult to trace everything, so an important part of scoping is to identify the system boundaries. Here are some main types of system boundaries:
Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
Step 2, Life Cycle Inventory, has three simple sub-steps
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Collect all inventory data
Step 2Step 2
Draw a flow diagram consistent with the system’s boundaries› Show the activities in
the system with their input and output flows
Step 1Step 1
Calculate the total resources used, or the pollution or emissions, depending on the scope
Step 3Step 3
Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
After these 2 steps, it is often useful to stop and evaluate your information
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Can the collected data give a good indication of the environmental impacts?
Can the information help decision making?
If the answer is yes, proceed with the rest of the steps
CONTINUE
Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
The third step is the Life Cycle Assessment stage
This stage evaluates the significance of the environmental impacts, and presents it in a convenient way for decision makers.
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Classify LCI (step 2) results› Assign
inventory data to impact categories
Step 2Step 2
Identify and select impact categories› E.g. climate
change, ozone depletion, ocean acidification, etc.
Step 1Step 1
Quantification› Inventory data
is put into a category indicator to quantify it
Step 3Step 3
Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
Finally, Step 4 interprets the assessment results using various tools
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Interpretation
Normal-isation
Uncertainty analysis
ValuationVariation analysis
Weighting
Aggregation
Sensitivity analysis
Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
The process is popular, but it has many limitations
Data requirements: limited, not publicly
available
Limited guidance: what’s available is
usually location-specificScientific basis: LCA has
no scientific basis
Resource & time requirements: requires specific expertise, etc.
Uncertainties over the implementation of
resultsLack of awareness and
perceived need
Lack of appropriate methodologies: ISO has
limited coverageValidity: LCA results can
not be checked!Organisational
structure: LCA staff are disconnected
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Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
A popular industry (minimum) standard is provided by ISO
› 1997: ISO 14040› 1999: ISO 14041› 2000: ISO 14042
ISO 14043› 2006: ISO 14040
ISO 14044
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Revision which cancelled and replaced ISO 14041/2/3
Generated a general acceptance of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
› Addition of LCA principles› Clarification of LCA for comparative
assessments› Clarification of critical review panel› Reduce number of standards› Reduce number of annexes› Aligned all definitions
Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
Since ISO 14040 is only an overview, its practical use is limited
› Purpose: an overview of the practice of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and its:
› Impact: general acceptance of LCA and consolidation of its procedures and methods
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› Applications› Limitations› Reporting› Critical review
› The relationships between stages
› Conditions for use of value choices
Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
REFERENCES
Unit 7 Course Material, Managing Social and Environmental Responsibility, 2011, SOAS CEDEPVogel, 2005, The Market for VirtueChertow, 2007, Uncovering Industrial SymbiosisWelford & Frost, 2006, Corporate social responsibility in Asian supply chains
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Inspired by SOAS CeDEP study programmes.Presentation © 2012 by Darren Willman.
Wednesday 12 April 2023
REFERENCES
Unit 7 Course Material, Environmental Auditing and Environmental Management Systems, 2011, SOAS CEDEPFinkbeiner, Inaba, Tan, Christiansen & Kluppel, 2006, The new international standards for life cycle assessment: ISO 14040 and ISO 14044
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