A protocol for the definition of supply chains in product social life cycle assessment: application to bioelectricity

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 5533-5542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Martín-Gamboa ◽  
Ana Cláudia Dias ◽  
Luis Arroja ◽  
Diego Iribarren
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Definition Of

Social life cycle assessment of a bioelectricity system encompassing more than 400 processes within seven tiers of the supply chain.

scholarly journals Social Life Cycle Assessment: Specific Approach and Case Study for Switzerland

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn Lobsiger-Kägi ◽  
Luis López ◽  
Tobias Kuehn ◽  
Raoul Roth ◽  
Vicente Carabias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Relevance Analysis

This article proposes a specific social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) approach, to be applied in a case study on energy production in Switzerland. The aim of the present study is to describe the social conditions along the global supply chains and to compare them with the social situation in Switzerland. Therefore, a specific S-LCA methodology was developed that combines a relevance analysis with a performance reference point (PRP) assessment. The relevance analysis is carried out to identify the most relevant unit processes and S-LCA indicators and the Swiss PRPs (SPRPs) are designed to compare the social issues along the value chain to the situation in Switzerland. The methodology was applied to two life cycle stages of the copper supply chain (resource extraction and wire production), relevant for the production of renewable energy technologies, where it was found that the most critical step is mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) due to the artisanal way of mining. The proposed methodology offers a comprehensive overview for the analysis of supply chains and the comparison of different life cycle phases. Nevertheless, the methodology can result in a very coarse resolution with low validity. However, if the data and the results are treated transparently, they provide meaningful information about the social conditions along the supply chain.

scholarly journals Are Renewables as Friendly to Humans as to the Environment?: A Social Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Electricity

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shutaro Takeda ◽  
Alexander Keeley ◽  
Shigeki Sakurai ◽  
Shunsuke Managi ◽  
Catherine Norris
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
Electricity Mix ◽  
The Impact

The adoption of renewable energy technologies in developing nations is recognized to have positive environmental impacts; however, what are their effects on the electricity supply chain workers? This article provides a quantitative analysis on this question through a relatively new framework called social life cycle assessment, taking Malaysia as a case example. Impact assessments by the authors show that electricity from renewables has greater adverse impacts on supply chain workers than the conventional electricity mix: Electricity production with biomass requires 127% longer labor hours per unit-electricity under the risk of human rights violations, while the solar photovoltaic requires 95% longer labor hours per unit-electricity. However, our assessment also indicates that renewables have less impacts per dollar-spent. In fact, the impact of solar photovoltaic would be 60% less than the conventional mix when it attains grid parity. The answer of “are renewables as friendly to humans as to the environment?” is “not-yet, but eventually.”

scholarly journals A Practical Approach for Social Life Cycle Assessment in the Automotive Industry

Resources ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karlewski ◽  
Lehmann ◽  
Ruhland ◽  
Finkbeiner
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Automotive Industry ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Social Data ◽  
First Case ◽  
Process Level

Identifying social impacts along the life cycle of their products is becoming increasingly important for companies. Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) as a possible tool has not been conducted so far within industries with complex international supply chains using mainly company-specific data. As a novelty, this work presents a practical SLCA approach along with the first case studies for the automotive industry, based on a previously developed indicator set and an extensive data collection. Social data was collected from companies along the life cycle of two specific car components, while analyzing data availability, validity and comparability. To obtain product references, both a top-down and a bottom-up approach for quantitative indicators based on time effort and data availability on the process level were devised. Also, two options were developed for how qualitative indicators (e.g., written principles for Corruption) can be applied together with quantitative performance indicators (e.g., number of accidents). The general practical applicability of the approach could be demonstrated by four quantitative and seven qualitative indicators. It is a first step towards analyzing the social performance of products with complex supply chains on a company level. Remaining challenges/limitations include social data availability and quality and obtaining data at the process level (allocation) and should be addressed in future studies.

scholarly journals Sustainable Agri-Food Processes and Circular Economy Pathways in a Life Cycle Perspective: State of the Art of Applicative Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2472
Author(s):  
Teodora Stillitano ◽  
Emanuele Spada ◽  
Nathalie Iofrida ◽  
Giacomo Falcone ◽  
Anna Irene De Luca
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Qualitative Synthesis

This study aims at providing a systematic and critical review on the state of the art of life cycle applications from the circular economy point of view. In particular, the main objective is to understand how researchers adopt life cycle approaches for the measurement of the empirical circular pathways of agri-food systems along with the overall lifespan. To perform the literature review, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol was considered to conduct a review by qualitative synthesis. Specifically, an evaluation matrix has been set up to gather and synthesize research evidence, by classifying papers according to several integrated criteria. The literature search was carried out employing scientific databases. The findings highlight that 52 case studies out of 84 (62% of the total) use stand-alone life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the benefits/impacts of circular economy (CE) strategies. In contrast, only eight studies (9.5%) deal with the life cycle costing (LCC) approach combined with other analyses while no paper deals with the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) methodology. Global warming potential, eutrophication (for marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems), human toxicity, and ecotoxicity results are the most common LCA indicators applied. Only a few articles deal with the CE assessment through specific indicators. We argue that experts in life cycle methodologies must strive to adopt some key elements to ensure that the results obtained fit perfectly with the measurements of circularity and that these can even be largely based on a common basis.

scholarly journals Sustainability Assessment with Integrated Circular Economy Principles: A Toy Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3856
Author(s):  
Rebeka Kovačič Lukman ◽  
Vasja Omahne ◽  
Damjan Krajnc
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Social Impacts ◽  
Life Cycle Costing ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment

When considering the sustainability of production processes, research studies usually emphasise environmental impacts and do not adequately address economic and social impacts. Toy production is no exception when it comes to assessing sustainability. Previous research on toys has focused solely on assessing environmental aspects and neglected social and economic aspects. This paper presents a sustainability assessment of a toy using environmental life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, and social life cycle assessment. We conducted an inventory analysis and sustainability impact assessment of the toy to identify the hotspots of the system. The main environmental impacts are eutrophication, followed by terrestrial eco-toxicity, acidification, and global warming. The life cycle costing approach examined the economic aspect of the proposed design options for toys, while the social assessment of the alternative designs revealed social impacts along the product life cycle. In addition, different options based on the principles of the circular economy were analysed and proposed in terms of substitution of materials and shortening of transport distances for the toy studied.

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