LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis

1. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT A product-oriented methodfor sustainability analysis Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

2. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT • Life cycle assessment (LCA) • product from cradle to grave (vertical integration) • total picture; avoidance of problem shifting • all types of impact (horizontal integration) • role of functional unit • for comparability of different product systems • integration over space and time • standardised in ISO (14040 series) Now, we come to focus on LCA. First some general features. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

3. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT Here, we see the ISO framework for LCA. It comprises the LCA procedure itself, as well as its relation with the direct applications. The four main phases of LCA are concerned with different types of data, assumptions, procedures or calculations. The phases are mutually connected with arrows. These represent flows of information from one phase to another phase. The bidirectional flows stress that LCA is not a sequential process, starting with goal and scope definition and ending with interpretation. Rather, LCA is an iterative process, in which the goal and scope may be refined after inventory analysis, impact assessment or interpretation, and likewise the inventory analysis may be refined after impact assessment or interpretation. The direct applications are not formally part of the LCA, as LCA is a tool for decision-support. However, they are worth mentioning in relation to the LCA framework itself. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

4. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT • Final result can be in terms of: • LCI results (extractions and emissions) • LCIA results (for separate impact categories) • weighted results (one index) • Weighting (subjective!) possible on basis of: • distance to target (policy reference) • economic values (various possibilities, incl. collectively revealed preferences) • social preferences (panel process) Without discussing the machinery inside the LCA tool, the type of its results it yields are important to know. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

5. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT • Example of the results of a comparative LCA An example of a table with category indicator results. Some people refer to this as the environmental profile (or ecoprofile), the characterisation table, or the impact table. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

6. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT • Main applications • product comparisons • product improvement, design and development • strategy and policy development • LCA as a process Product comparisons is the most obvious and striking application of LCA. However, product improvement, design and development are by far the most frequent applications. Many of these LCAs are never made public: they are for internal use only. Larger companies and authorities use LCA for strategy and policy development, e.g. on the design of logistics, waste policies, etc. LCA as a process, finally, means that doing an LCA implies learning: learning about the product, learning about the processes that are involved, learning about the ideas of other stakeholders, etc. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

7. APLIKASI LCA • Product comparisons • by industry, government, NGOs • also for ecolabeling (type I, type III) • Note: • need for authorized procedure and peer review • “comparative assertions disclosed to the public” (ISO) Here are some uses of product comparisons. ISO stresses the importance of “comparative assertions disclosed to the public”, where qualiity requirements and procedures are extremely important. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

8. APLIKASI LCA This gives an illustration of some ecolabeling criteria. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

9. APLIKASI LCA • Product improvement, design and development • by industry • also on the basis of adapted LCA-tools • Learning curve: • LCA suggests rules of thumb • rules of thumb further validated and improved by LCA The use of LCA for improvement, design and development. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

10. APLIKASI LCA • This graph illustrates that different types of improvements are of interest in different decision situations. As an example, we see three innovations for cars: • the catalyser • the hybrid Toyota Prius • the full hydrogen-based GM HydroGen3 Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

11. APLIKASI LCA Here, we see an example of simple visual LCA-based rules of thumb that are used by product designers. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

12. APLIKASI LCA • Policy and policy development • by government, sometimes together with industries or NGOs • examples: • waste management • packaging • EU's Integrated Product Policy (IPP) • energy policy • green building The strategic use of LCA: some examples. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

13. APLIKASI LCA D r a f t This shows the classical waste treatment hierarchy. LCA can be used to validate it, or to add some nuances for particular materials or products. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

14. D r a f t APLIKASI LCA . This is an LCA application for total consumption patterns: which activities contribute to most to environmental problems? To the right, we see activities that contribute largely per euro of product. The width indicates how much a household spends on that activity. Thus the area indicates the total impact of that activity. Car driving is the activity with the highest impact. This study has been done for the Integrated Product Policy of the EU. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

15. APLIKASI LCA LCA as a process • LCA as a vehicle of discussion for various stakeholders • producer • supply chain • competitors • purchasers • government • NGOs Finally, LCA as a process of learning and getting to understand the problems and one another. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

16. KETERBATSAN LCA LCA in practice obstructed by: • data requirements • methodological inconsistencies • technical characteristics LCA sounds nice. But now, we move to some of the problems in doing LCA. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

17. KETERBATSAN LCA • Data requirements • only general, no specific data • obsolete data • only data from industrialized countries • different data formats • databases not connected • Role for ISO 14048 and UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative • Role for input-output analysis (and hybrids of IOA and LCA) LCA is very data intensive. General purpose databases are emerging, but there is still much to do. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

18. KETERBATSAN LCA • Methodological inconsistencies and debates: • main issues in LCI: • system boundaries • multiple processes/allocation • attribution versus change oriented • main issues in LCIA • midpoint versus damage level • heterogeneous mechanisms (e.g., toxicity) • regionalisation Although the basic principles of LCA have been described in the ISO standards, many issues are still under debate, especially within academic circles. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

19. KARAKTERISTIK TEKNIS LCA • Some specific details: • global/regional, not local • steady state, not dynamic, no one-time transitions • quantitative, not pass/fail criteria • risk approach, not prevention approach Some explanations: LCA does not address the impact of a product for a specific user at a well-defined place. It focuses on the impacts of a product as it is available and used in a certain country, continent, or even the world. LCA studies products in a well-established situation, not the transition to that situation LCA is primarily a quantitative tool, it does not address issues as “contains hardwood” or “is recyclable” LCA does not look at risks in the sense of pollutants exceeding threshold; it focuses on the load Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

20. KARAKTERISTIK TEKNIS LCA • Usual impact categories: • depletion of fossil fuels and minerals • climate change • ozone depletion • photo-oxidant formation • acidification • eutrophication • human toxicity and ecotoxicity Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

21. KARAKTERISTIK TEKNIS LCA • Potential impact categories: • land occupation (area) • water use • salination • soil erosion • leakage of nutrients • noise This is an additional list of impacts that are typically not included, but that are sometimes included, and that are certainly of interest in special cases. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

22. KARAKTERISTIK TEKNIS LCA • Not fitting impact categories: • land use quality (forest, coral reefs) • depletion of wildlife and fish stocks • desiccation; desertification • biodiversity • contained toxics There are some environmental issues that may be of interest as such, but that are difficult to fit into the overall LCA perspectives in a satisfactory way. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support

23. KARAKTERISTIK TEKNIS LCA • Need to make LCA • broader (more impacts, also covering economic and social aspects) • deeper (more precise, more mechanisms) • How to make LCA broader and deeper • three major options: • extension of LCA • hybrid LCA • use of toolbox (with additional quantitative tools, or using pass-fail criteria) LCA is not perfect. Important directions for improvement are indicated here, making it broader and deeper. Three strategies to achieve this are listed as well. More on the last strategy in the next few slides. Sumber: Life Cycle Assessment. A product-oriented method for sustainability analysis. UNEP LCA Training Kit. Module a –LCA and decision support