Cradle to cradle c2c is an innovation framework used since the 1990s in order to design products and services which are beneficial in economic, health and environmental terms. Authors of different sustainability journals, including authors of articles in past issues of the international journal of life cycle assessment have acknowledged the rising interest and the pressing need for a social and socioeconomic life cycle assessment methodology and identified challenges in its development and implementation. Lca provides an adequate instrument for environmental decision support. Usability of life cycle assessment for cradle to cradle. Life cycle assessment department of environmental affairs.
Life cycle assessment it is a technique that tries to identify, measure and characterize di erent potential environmental impacts associated to each one of the stages of the life cycle of a product 10. An evaluative process of assessing the effects of the environmental findings identified in the inventory component. Life cycle assessment lca is the calculation and evaluation. The case study was conducted in jambi province of indonesia and involved several stakeholders, such as value chain actors, employees, local community members, government, and nongovernmental organization representatives related in palm oil industry. S lca methods can be found in reference documents like the social lca guidelines. Coupling the assessment of environmental and socioeconomic issues may support more comprehensive sustainability assessment of impacts, benefits, and related tradeoffs. The lcia also provides information for the interpretation phase. Overview, recent results, possible future di i john harvey university of california pavement research center directions 54th annual illinois bituminous paving conference december 11, 20 outline overview of life cycle assessment ll ca some recent results of application of lca to pavement. For example, it measures impact from raw material extraction to materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling. This recent approach towards tracking the environmental impact of a specific product or process has been manipulated to better suit each and every need. In the last year, we have created a new model to quantify the life cycle carbon emissions of pavements from manufacturing to disposal. Social impacts over the life cycle are relatively new, with fewer data sources available. A second paper focuses on life cycle impact assessment lcia, the subsequent phase of an lca for assessing the inventory data in terms of contributions to environmental impacts life cycle impact assessment pennington et al.
In fact, sustainability assessment requires that environmental, social and economic impacts and benefit are taken into account. Social life cycle assessment slca integrates traditional life cycle assessment by having social aspects as focus. At the european level, the parliament has suggested that the commission develop a framework for an integrated lifecycleoriented. Life cycle assessment lca is emerging as one of the most. To mention but a few, sustainability analysis, technology assessment, life cycle costing, life cycle assessment, green chemistry, and ecoefficiency attempt to provide an answer to questions regarding the sustainability of chemistry, of industry in general, and of the productionconsumption system in an even more general sense. Abstract a comparative life cycle assessment lca is a tool that can be used to compare two functionally equivalent products environmental impacts. Life tires angela farina1, mariachiara zanett1, ezio santagata1, gianandrea blengini1 and michele lanotte1 1 department of environment, land and infrastructure engineering, politecnico di torino corso duca degli abruzzi, 24, 10129 torino, italy. Course objectives understand the key concepts in lca and be able to solve simple lca problems. Unlike the majority of previous life cycle assessment lca studies on pavements, our work includes a detailed analysis of the operating, or use, phase of the life cycle. Executive summary the guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products provides a map, a skeleton and a. Life cycle assessment also known as life cycle analysis, or cradletograve analysis is a method of assessing environmental impacts associated with all stages of a products life.
The rest of the lifecycle stages are responsible for only a quarter of the carbon footprint combined. It is important to be cognizant of this time dependence. American center for life cycle assessment life cycle assessment lca is a methodtool for the estimation of the environmental and human health impacts that are connected with a product with a service with a process with a technology over the whole life cycle from cradle to grave. The guidelines for social life cycle assessment of. Life cycle assessment lca approach in order to have an overall environmental effects evaluation as a comparison base and to optimise the design criteria. In the life cycle impact assessment lcia, the product or production system is examined from an environmental perspective using category indicators. A white paper 2 executive summary in most industries worldwide, including the forest products sector, there is an increasing focus on the environmental, social and economic sustainability credentials of companies and products. Life cycle assessment 1 life cycle assessment lca is a tool for the systematic evaluation of the environmental impacts of a product through all stages of its life cycle. Pdf social life cycle assessment revisited researchgate. Social life cycle assessment slca life cycle initiative.
Social life cycle assessment and life cycle sustainability. Life cycle assessment lca philipp schepelmann philipp. Life cycle assessment is a process to evaluate the environmental burdens associated with a product, process, or activity by identifying and quantifying energy and materials used and wastes released to the environment. Lifecycle assessment lca a guide to approaches, experiences and information sources there are great expectations for lca. Life cycle assessment and sustainability analysis of. Standardizing and curating lca data will allow for better modeling and in turn for better policy and investment decisions. Life cycle assessment lca is a measurement tool that has been used since the 1970s as a means of assessing the environmental impact of products or services. Reliable lca performance is crucial to achieve a lifecycle economy. Final report life cycle assessment of example packaging systems for milk retail distribution system a life cycle assessment covering the potential environmental impact of different example milk containers for pasteurised milk available on the uk market, distributed via a retail system. Global guidance principles for life cycle assessment databases. Research open access life cycle approach to sustainability. As a systematic tool, lca analyses and assesses environmental impacts. The components that are assumed the same and omitted must be explicitly and.
Life cycle assessment lca considers mainly environmental impacts along supply chains, from extraction of raw materials to endof life of products. According to the definition of the society of environmental toxicology and chemistry 2. Public training for groups public training can be provided for openlca users from different academic or professional backgrounds. Article pdf available in the international journal of life cycle assessment 152. Completing a life cycle assessment inhouse may require more technical expertise or time commitment than your business can provide. Pdf the awareness of considering social impacts of a product supply chain is.
Schau, marzia traverso and matthias finkbeiner abstract sustainability is an international issue with increasing concern and becomes a crucial driver for the industry in international competition. Pavement life cycle assessment workshop ucprctm201003 5 been identified in a pavement system need to be included. The purpose of the social life cycle assessment lca method is to predict the social impacts on people caused by the changes in the functioning of one product chain throughout its life cycle. Environmental and socioeconomic life cycle assessment of. Psilca a product social impact life cycle assessment database. Social life cycle assessment is a technique available to account for stories. The advantages of impact assessment and life cycle assessment lca have been highly documented based on the amount of published academia in the recent years. Pdf the guidelines for social life cycle assessment of. Social life cycle assessment revisited article pdf available in sustainability 67. Note on life cycle analysis university of michigan. The site is intended as an open resource for students and the novice lca practitioner. What is a life cycle assessment lca life cycle thinking means taking account of the environmental, social and economic impacts of a product over its entire. Other topics in the series of overview information documents on the concepts of, and. Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products 5 executive summary the guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products provides a map, a skeleton and a.
Slca documents the product utility but does not have the ability nor the. Life cycle assessmentit does not consider economic issues, neither social 11. The future of building life cycle assessment in practice summary as the architectural and construction industries increasingly emphasize sustainability, more comprehensive methods are being developed to evaluate and reduce environmental impacts by buildings. Lifecycle analysis of geothermal technologies author. The lifecycle analysis \lca\ approach is taken to address these effects. This document describes the three components of a lifecycle assessment inventory analysis, impact analysis, and improvement analysis as well as scoping activities, presents a brief over view of the development of the lifecycle assessment process, and develops guidelines and prin ciples for implementation of a product lifecycle assessment. Nonetheless, the research field is highly interesting since investigation of social aspects allows to detect potential social risks in product life cycles, but can also reveal positive social impacts hidden in product supply chains. Social life cycle assessment of palm oil biodiesel. Evaluation of environmental impacts in life cycle assessment, division of technology, industry and economics dtie, production and consumption unit, paris. With this in mind, social life cycle assessment focuses on studying the social impacts of life. Life cycle assessment lca, within an iso standard framework, is an internationally recognized approach that evaluates the potential environmental and human health impact associated with products and services throughout their life cycle, from raw material extraction, including transportation, production, use, and endoflife treatment. This is a collection of examples illustrating how to model consequential product systems in life cycle assessment lca as it is recommended in the iso 14040 series.
The results and tools from this project will help gtp and stakeholders determine and communicate gt energy and ghg benefits and water impacts. The improvement of a quantitative implementation of slca and its interpretation step is the aim of traverso et al. Similarly, social life cycle assessment slca integrates traditional life cycle assessment methodological steps while having social impacts as focus. The latter situation allows the reasonable elimination of some components that are identical among systems, thus reducing the studys complexity. In this instance, you may decide to hire a consulting company to assist you with conducting a life cycle assessment. Catherine zimmer, ms, bsmt psc healthcare services, houston, tx. Psilca a product social impact life cycle assessment. First, the slca guidelines provides a map, which describes the context, the key concepts, the broader. In the data collection, 25 documents were found and analyzed, including academic. Social life cycle assessment slca integrates traditional life cycle. This looks at the extraction and processing of raw materials, manufacturing, distribution, use, reuse, maintenance, recycling and. Deat 2004 life cycle assessment, integrated environmental management, information. A social life cycle assessment slca is a method that can be used to assess the social and sociological aspects of products, their actual and potential positive as well as negative impacts along the life cycle. Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products.
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