How to start an LCA study

Raw material extraction Manufacturing

Distribution

Use

Disposal/Recycling

Resources

Resources

Resources

Resources

Resources

Resources

Emissions

Emissions

Emissions

Emissions

Emissions

Emissions

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.

What is LCA?

Steps of an LCA

recall

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Raw material extraction Manufacturing

Distribution

Use

Disposal/Recycling

Exercise – Where are the impacts?

Where do you think the main impacts are in the labelling 

supply chain?

Starting up an LCA study

How?

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Goal & Scope

Goal“The goal of an LCA states the intended application, the reasons for carrying out the study, the intended audience, and  whether the results are intended to be used in 

comparative assertions to be disclosed to the public.”

• Examples:– Compare impact of different self‐adhesive labels to be used in marketing– Identify hotspots and improvement opportunities for a  self‐adhesive labels 

considering the complete life cycle, for internal communication.

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ScopeThis is what you need to specify in a ISO compliant LCA study: • The product system to be studied• The functions of the product system(s)• The functional unit and respective reference flow(s)• The system boundaries• Allocation procedures• Impact categories selected and LCIA method• Data requirements• Assumptions• Limitations• Initial data quality requirements• Type of critical review, if any• Type and format of the report required for the study

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Cradle-to gate printer-convertor

Cradle-to-gate Printer-convertor

Cradle-to-gate label stock producerCradle-to grave

Life cycle self‐adhesive label

distance(km) distance

(km)distance(km)

amount(kWh)

waste

amount(kWh)

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Label stock production

Pinter‐converterpreprocessing

Raw material

Application

amount(kWh)

amount(kWh)

distance(km)

Function, functional unit and reference flow

• When comparing two or more products it is essential that they have the same function

• A measure of this function is defined as functional unit (FU)• For example: 20 m2 wall completely covered with paint for a period of 30 years

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Functional unitCradle‐to‐gate label stock manufacturer

‘1 m² of ready‐made self‐adhesive label stock material leaving gate at the label stock manufacturer’

Cradle to gate printer‐converter

‘1 m² ready‐made printed label leaving gate at the printer‐converter’

Cradle‐to‐grave ‘1 m² ready‐made printed label applied on package’

Exercise: Calculate reference flow 

The amount of a product needed to fulfil the FU is the reference flow

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area weight percentageLabel stock production 1m2 80 grams Production losses 6%

Matrix waste  15%

How much Input needed for 1 m2 ready‐made label on package

End of life allocation

• Material or energy recovery resulting from recycling orincineration:– Production of virgin material or electricity is avoided

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LC1 Recycling

Waste

LC2 WasteVirgin

Virgin

Who gets the benefit and the burden???

Example of 0‐100 allocation:

End‐of‐life allocation: 100‐0 approach

wasterecycling

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bottlePET

additives

floor tiles

100‐0 upstream allocation – it allocates the recycling activities and the avoided virgin material to the life cycle using the recycled material

• Also called “cut‐off approach” or “recycled content method”• If you use recycled content as an input for production (LC2), you

account for both benefits and burdens of recycling

Example of 0‐100 allocation:

End‐of‐life allocation: 0‐100 approach

wasterecycling

Gol14

bottlePET

additives

floor tiles

0‐100 downstream allocation – it allocates the recycling activities and the avoided virgin material to the life cycle using the recycled material

• Also called “closed loop approximation method”• If you send a material to recycling (LC1), you account for the burdens

of recycling activities and for the credit of avoiding virgin materialproduction

Harmonized sector approach: 0‐100 approach

• Limited recycling in  self‐adhesive industry• There is great potential for recycling• Therefore 0‐100 approach to demonstrate potential

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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1

Recycled_0:100

Recycled_100‐0

Incinineration_0 100

Incinineration_100‐0

Data inventory

Build a flowchart

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weaving distance(km)

12% householdwaste 

scenario

88% reuse ascleaningcloths

laundering

cotton rollyarn

seedscotton

fiber

waste

reuse

China the Netherlands

distance(km)

distance(km)

amount(kWh)

amount(kWh)

Collecting data

• Start with a quick and rough screening– Use estimates, data of the wrong plastic if you don’t have the proper 

plastic data, etc.– Use input‐output data if no proxy can be found

• Data collection is needed for all relevant issues

• Types of data:– Foreground data– Background data

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Foreground data

weaving distance(km)

12% householdwaste 

scenario

88% reuse ascleaningcloths

laundering

cotton rollyarn

seedscotton

fiber

waste

reuse

China the Netherlands

distance(km)

distance(km)

amount(kWh)

amount(kWh)

Data collection Adapting data19

FlowchartFirst steps

Collecting foreground data

• Foreground data is the data of the system itself and thus needs to be specific

• Approach:– Establish a communication channel with your factories, suppliers, etc.– Ask for a flowchart– Understand the terminology and the way data is normally collected– Develop a questionnaire that is concise and understandable

• Do not ask for background data• Build in questions for consistency check

– Process your data with care• Check if the answers make sense• Ask for clarifications• Document the processing steps

Data collection Adapting data20

FlowchartFirst steps

Foreground data‐ self‐adhesive label 

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Label stock production Type of inputs and amounts, e.g. adhesive, siliconeLaminating production processEnergy consumptionWater useNatural heat useEmissionsWaste streams Transport distance raw‐materials/to printer

Printer –converter Type of inputs, amounts, e.g. inks, varnishProduction processEnergy consumption Water use Natural heat use Emissions Waste streamsTransport distance to brand owner

Application  Amount of electricity application Destination liner waste 

China the Netherlands

Background data

distance(km)

distance(km)

distance(km)

12% householdwaste 

scenario

88% reuse ascleaningcloths

amount(kWh)

amount(kWh)

laundering

cotton rollyarn

seedscotton

fiber

waste

reuse

weaving

Data collection Adapting data22

FlowchartFirst steps

Collecting background data

• Use LCA database supplied with your software  & literature 

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Raw materials Type of materialRecycled material content) Raw materials extractionEnergy consumption for pre‐processing 

Label stock production/ Printer –converter

Electricity gridNatural heat production Water production Waste treatment processes

Application  Electricity gridWaste treatment processes

End of life Waste treatment  process & percentages

Default data

• Application and drying label • Transport distances and  modes • Default waste percentages and routes 

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Impact assessment

Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Results

• LCI results is a long list with inputs from and outputs to nature• Not easy to draw conclusions from this

China the Netherlands

LandWaterOilCu

CFC

Pb

P

N2O

PM2.5

…

LCI result

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Steps of LCIA

Classification Characterization Normalization Weighting

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1. Classification

Land use

Water depletion

Resource depletion

Climate change

Ozone layer depletion

Human toxicity

Particulate matter formation

Eutrophication

Impacts

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Land

Water

Oil

Cu

CFC

Pb

P

CO2

PM2.5

…

LCI result

IAM selection ReCiPeSteps of LCIAWhy LCIA

Cause‐effect pathway shows the causal relationship between the intervention and its potential effects

• Example: climate change Emissions into the atmosphere

Time integrated concentration

Radiative forcing

Climate change

Net primaryproduction

Changingbiomes

Wild fires

Other impacts

Mal‐nutrition Flooding Infectious

diseasesHeat stress

Decreasingbiodiversity

Effects onecosystems

Effects onhumans

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• Next step is to quantify how much impact a product or service has in each impact category

• All interventions are multiplied by a factor (characterization factor) which reflects their relative contribution to the environmental impact

2. Characterization

IAM selection ReCiPeSteps of LCIAWhy LCIA

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=  1000

= 1490

= 13.1

= 3.7

= 0.61

= 0.036

= 4

2. Characterization

LCI results Climate change

x 1

x 298

Acidification

x 1.31

x 0.74

Particulate matter

x 0.061

x 0.0072

x 1

Characterized results kg CO2‐eq. mol H+‐eq. kg PM2.5‐eq.2.49 0.0168 0.0046

CO21000 g

10 g

N2O5 g

PM2.54 g

SO2

+ + +

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IAM selection ReCiPeSteps of LCIAWhy LCIA

Characterization     

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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

CC OD Htox POF PMF IR TA FE Ttox Ftox Mtox ALO ULO NLT MD FD

Application

Inks supply

End of Life

Printing

Manufacturing label

Transport

Material Supply

3. Normalization

• Characterized results have different units• One way to make interpreting such scores easier is to 

normalize them: dividing your scores by a reference situation’s scores

• This reference situation could be one person’s (“average Joe”) resource use and emissions released in the world during one year

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3. Normalization

Climate change

x 1

x 298

Acidification

x 1.31

x 0.74

Particulate matter

x 0.061

=  1000

= 1490

= 13.1

= 3.7

= 0.61

= 0.036

= 4x 1

Characterized results

Normalization factor

Normalized results person*year0.000366 person*year0.00034 person*year0.00169

kg CO2‐eq.person*year

6803mol H+‐eq.

person*year49.44

kg PM2.5‐eq.person*year

2.746

kg CO2‐eq.2.49 mol H+‐eq.0.0168 kg PM2.5‐eq.0.0046

+ + +

LCI results

CO21000 g

10 g

N2O5 g

PM2.54 g

SO2

x 0.0072

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Normalisation

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‐5,00E‐05

0,00E+00

5,00E‐05

1,00E‐04

1,50E‐04

2,00E‐04

matrix

Ink supply

Liner

Application

End of Life

printing‐converter

Label stock producion

transport

Label stock supply

4. Weighting

• Optional fourth and final step – most debated step!

Applying a value judgment to your LCA results• Multiplying the normalised results of each of the impact categories with a 

weighting factor that expresses the relative importance of the impact category

• The weighted results can be summed to create a single score

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= 0.036

4. WeightingClimate change

x 1

x 298

Acidification

x 1.31

x 0.74

Particulate matter

x 0.061

x 0.0072

=  1000

= 1490

= 13.1

= 3.7

= 0.61

= 4x 1

Characterized results

Normalized results

Weighting factor

Weighted results

x 23 x 4.2 x 6.6

0.021 pt

person*year0.000366 person*year0.00034 person*year0.00169

kg CO2‐eq.2.49 mol H+‐eq.0.0168 kg PM2.5‐eq.0.0046

+

+ + +

LCI results

CO21000 g

10 g

N2O5 g

PM2.54 g

SO2

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Weighting 

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‐10

0

10

20

30

40

50

mPt

Fossil depletion

Metal depletion

Natural land transformation

Urban land occupation

Agricultural land occupation

Marine ecotoxicity

Freshwater ecotoxicity

Terrestrial ecotoxicity

Freshwater eutrophication

Terrestrial acidification

Climate change Ecosystems

Ionising radiation

Particulate matter formation

Photochemical oxidant formation

Human toxicity

Ozone depletion

Climate change Human Health

Harmonized sector approach 

• Recommended method: ReCiPe & IPPC 2013

• Impact categories – Fossil depletion– Climate change– Water resources– Land use– Human toxicity

• Emissions of (VOC) and (HAP) to air. • Total  solid waste production Total energy consumption. • Recycled content in product. 

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