{"id":1651,"date":"2020-09-21T17:32:38","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T15:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.2milasrl.it\/?p=1651"},"modified":"2021-03-18T17:31:21","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T16:31:21","slug":"lca-how-to-track-sustainable-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.2milasrl.it\/en\/lca-how-to-track-sustainable-business\/","title":{"rendered":"LCA: HOW TO TRACK IF YOU OR YOUR SUPPLIERS ARE HEADING TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Life cycle assessment (LCA)<\/b> can be used for resource costing and risk assessment<\/b> during the transition from linear to circular economy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Among many other things, LCA is used to identify opportunities to improve the environmental performance of products at various stages in their life cycle, as well as to enlighten decision-makers in industry, both government or non-government organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Life cycle assessment<\/b> supports the selection of relevant indicators of environmental performance and measurement methodologies. <\/span><\/p>\n

LCA<\/strong> can be used for implementing an eco-labelling scheme or making an environmental claim about products, or when the target is to<\/span> produce an environmental product declaration, EPD. <\/span><\/p>\n

LCA methodology<\/b> services its best purpose while conducting an optimization for production process and LCA-derived information is used as a tool to analyze the environmental performance of products. Or when considering the best practices for sustainable manufacturing of items.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Figure below illustrates the framework of life cycle assessment according to ISO 14040<\/b> and how in the continuously changing world LCA itself should not be a \u201cone time per product\u201d static event.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Comparing individual LCAs<\/span><\/h2>\n

When choosing between different products or suppliers, the comparison between individual LCAs has to be conducted with extreme care.\u00a0 <\/span>To remain conformant to ISO<\/b> standards, results from the calculations must undergo independent critical review if they are to be used for comparative assertions to be disclosed to the public. <\/span><\/p>\n

The system boundaries used in assessment and product category rules (PCR) must be acknowledged. Different application areas, whether geographical, sectorial, or related to specific impact categories, may indeed require different kinds of data, specific definitions of functional units to make comparisons fair, and specific impact assessment methods. <\/span><\/p>\n

We are living in a complex world and products are formed from multiple locations with variable parallel processes. <\/span><\/p>\n

For example, how can the final product\u2019s environmental impact be transparently compared if one original equipment manufacturer (OEM)\u00a0 <\/span>buys certain modules or parts from a supplier and the other OEM produces them in-house, how can their end-products be compared against each other? <\/span><\/p>\n

Will all the alternative suppliers provide information on their elemental flows of production and are the final product manufacturers willing to share all the information from their supply chain? <\/span><\/p>\n

The different types of environmental declarations are listed below; the last one, Type III,\u00a0 <\/span>Environmental product declaration, EPD\u00a0 <\/span>exist to harmonize what must be included and communicated when a declaration is made for different product types; furniture, textiles, machinery, plastic in primary form, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Different environmental declarations according to ISO 14020 series:<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nType I<\/b><\/span><\/td>\nType II<\/b><\/span><\/td>\nType III<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Generic Name\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nEco Labelling <\/span><\/td>\nSelf-declared Environmental Claim<\/span><\/td>\nEnvironmental Declaration<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Target Audience<\/span><\/td>\nRetail consumer<\/span><\/td>\nRetail consumer<\/span><\/td>\nRetail \/ Industrial consumer<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Communication Method<\/span><\/td>\nEnvironmental label<\/span><\/td>\nText & symbol<\/span><\/td>\nEnvironmental Profile Data Sheet, EPD\u00ae<\/sup><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Scope<\/span><\/td>\nWhole life cycle<\/span><\/td>\nSingle aspect*<\/span><\/td>\nWhole life cycle<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
USE OF LCA<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Practitioner<\/span><\/td>\nThird party<\/span><\/td>\nFirst Party<\/span><\/td>\nThird\/ First party<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Certification<\/span><\/td>\nYes<\/span><\/td>\nGenerally no<\/span><\/td>\nYes\/No<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Governing Body <\/span><\/td>\nEco-Labelling body<\/span><\/td>\nConsumer bureau<\/span><\/td>\nAccreditation Body<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
* A specific aspect of a life cycle or a single environmental attribute<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Table adapted from: Lee, Kun-Mo and Park, P, \u201cApplication of LCA to type III environmental declaration,\u201dEnvironmental Management, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp.533~546, 2001<\/span><\/p>\n

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Right on track for sustainability<\/span><\/h2>\n

To answer the questions in the title, here are some important signs to check for:<\/span><\/p>\n