scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in Business. An overview on drivers, applications, issues and future perspectives.

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-194
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Cultural Approach ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
Business Departments ◽  
A Company

In recent years, a considerable research effort has been devoted to Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA). However, most of the work has been focusing on improving the methodology as such and providing guidelines for carrying out LCA studies. Much less effort has been dedicated to the exploration and analysis of the applications of LCA within the actual context of business. Which are the drivers for starting LCA activities in a company? Which are the main applications? Which business departments are involved? This is the kind of questions addressed by the present paper. The paper reports the results of a survey about the use of LCA in business in four selected European Countries, namely Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland. 1600 questionnaires have been sent out to selected companies in the four countries. As expected, there are considerable differences between countries because of a different level of environmental awareness. However, there are some main common results. The first one is that the cultural approach of Life-Cycle-Thinking is spreading out, but not yet the tool. LCA is not yet used as a routine tool for assessing environmental aspects of product innovation and it is still rather employed in a retrospective way than in a prospective one. Benefits of LCA are considered to be rather long-term ones. On the other hand, the large majority of firms is optimistic about the future use of LCA, most likely linked together with other instruments.

Long-term Piloting Of Osmotic MBR For Potable Reuse: Performance, Life-Cycle Assessment, and Lessons Learned

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (14) ◽  
pp. 830-854
Author(s):  
Tzahi Y Cath ◽  
Ryan W Holloway ◽  
Leslie Miller-Robbie ◽  
Mehul Patel ◽  
Jennifer R Stokes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Potable Reuse

scholarly journals The evolution of life cycle assessment in European policies over three decades

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serenella Sala ◽  
Andrea Martino Amadei ◽  
Antoine Beylot ◽  
Fulvio Ardente
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
General Concept ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking ◽  
Environmental Footprint ◽  
Science And Policy ◽  
Policy Domain ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Eu

Abstract Purpose Life cycle thinking (LCT) and life cycle assessment (LCA) are increasingly considered pivotal concept and method for supporting sustainable transitions. LCA plays a relevant role in decision support, for the ambition of a holistic coverage of environmental dimensions and for the identification of hotspots, possible trade-offs, and burden shifting among life cycle stages or impact categories. These features are also relevant when the decision support is needed in policy domain. With a focus on EU policies, the present study explores the evolution and implementation of life cycle concepts and approaches over three decades. Methods Adopting an historical perspective, a review of current European Union (EU) legal acts and communications explicitly mentioning LCT, LCA, life cycle costing (LCC), and environmental footprint (the European Product and Organisation Environmental Footprint PEF/OEF) is performed, considering the timeframe from 1990 to 2020. The documents are categorised by year and according to their types (e.g. regulations, directives, communications) and based on the covered sectors (e.g. waste, energy, buildings). Documents for which life cycle concepts and approaches had a crucial role are identified, and a shortlist of these legal acts and communications is derived. Results and discussion Over the years, LCT and life cycle approaches have been increasingly mentioned in policy. From the Ecolabel Regulation of 1992, to the Green Deal in 2019, life cycle considerations are of particular interest in the EU. The present work analysed a total of 159 policies and 167 communications. While in some sectors (e.g. products, vehicles, and waste) life cycle concepts and approaches have been adopted with higher levels of prescriptiveness, implementation in other sectors (e.g. food and agriculture) is only at a preliminary stage. Moreover, life cycle (especially LCT) is frequently addressed and cited only as a general concept and in a rather generic manner. Additionally, more stringent and rigorous methods (LCA, PEF/OEF) are commonly cited only in view of future policy developments, even if a more mature interest in lifecycle is evident in recent policies. Conclusion The EU has been a frontrunner in the implementation of LCT/LCA in policies. However, despite a growing trend in this implementation, the development of new stringent and mandatory requirements related to life cycle is still relatively limited. In fact, there are still issues to be solved in the interface between science and policy making (such as verification and market surveillance) to ensure a wider implementation of LCT and LCA.

scholarly journals Application of Plastic Wastes in Construction Materials: A Review Using the Concept of Life-Cycle Assessment in the Context of Recent Research for Future Perspectives

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3549
Author(s):  
Tulane Rodrigues da Silva ◽  
Afonso Rangel Garcez de Azevedo ◽  
Daiane Cecchin ◽  
Markssuel Teixeira Marvila ◽  
Mugahed Amran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Plastic Wastes ◽  
Solid Waste Generation ◽  
Alternative Processes

The urbanization process contributes to the growth of solid waste generation and causes an increase in environmental impacts and failures in the management of solid waste. The number of dumps is a concern due to the limited implementation and safe disposal of this waste. The interest in sustainable techniques has been growing in relation to waste management, which is largely absorbed by the civil construction sector. This work aimed to review plastic waste, especially polyethylene terephthalate (PET), that can be incorporated with construction materials, such as concrete, mortars, asphalt mixtures, and paving. The use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) is related, as a tool that allows the sustainability of products and processes to be enhanced in the long term. After analyzing the recent literature, it was identified that studies related to plastic wastes in construction materials concentrate sustainability around the alternative destination of waste. Since the plastic waste from different production chains are obtained, it was possible to affirm the need for a broader assessment, such as the LCA, providing greater quantification of data making the alternative processes and products more sustainable. The study contributes to enhance sustainability in alternative building materials through LCA.

scholarly journals DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENGINEERING CLASS PROJECT INCORPORATING A PERSONAL VISION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TEACHING

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariane Pinsonnault ◽  
Stéphanie Muller ◽  
Annie Levasseur ◽  
Réjean Samson
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Environmental Design ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Engineering Programs ◽  
Class Project ◽  
Development Of Attitudes ◽  
A Company

The decade 2005-2014 has been set by UNESCO as the United Nations decade of Education forSustainable Development (SD) [1]. As graduate studentsof this decade, our vision of SD teaching targets inengineering concerns the development of attitudes to assess projects and related impacts in a systemic way, the development of transversal skills, and the collaboration between experts from different fields to facilitate sustainable decisions. These assumptions can be linked tothe qualities required by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board [2].What kind of student exercises relies on all these assumptions? As teaching assistants (TA) in the class Environmental Design and Life Cycle Thinking (GCH2220-Polytechnique Montreal), we propose a possible answer. The main goals of this class are to familiarize students with the concepts of environmental design and life cycle thinking, as well as with different existing tools to apply these concepts. As TAs, we are in charge of a project that aims at providing students an opportunity to acquire practical aspects.The subject of the project presented is the environmental redesign of coated paper production, andits main objectives are: to improve teamwork skills, todevelop critical thinking when analyzing the results of an environmental assessment, and to develop skills to convince people within a company to adopt environmental solutions. In order to achieve these goals, the project was built on four main steps and students are evaluated through two reports and a poster presentation. Teams of four students were formed in order to mix students with different backgrounds (types of engineering programs, amount of credits completed) and obtain multidisciplinary teams. The project, the way it is presented in class, and its relevance for the students as future engineers are assessed through a survey in order to improve the exercise for the following classes.

scholarly journals Promoting Life Cycle Thinking, Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Management Within Business in Brazil

2015 ◽  
pp. 257-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Santa Rosa Rocha ◽  
Luiz Gustavo Ortega ◽  
Yuki Hamilton Onda Kabe ◽  
Maria da Graça C.B. Popi ◽  
Felipe Duarte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Life Cycle Management ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking

Life cycle analysis of mortars and its environmental impact

2005 ◽  
Vol 895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Moropoulou ◽  
Christopher Koroneos ◽  
Maria Karoglou ◽  
Eleni Aggelakopoulou ◽  
Asterios Bakolas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Life Cycle Analysis ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
Cement Binder ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Lca Results

AbstractOver the years considerable research has been conducted on masonry mortars regarding their compatibility with under restoration structures. The environmental dimension of these materials may sometimes be a prohibitive factor in the selection of these materials. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool that can be used to assess the environmental impact of the materials. LCA can be a very useful tool in the decision making for the selection of appropriate restoration structural material. In this work, a comparison between traditional type of mortars and modern ones (cement-based) is attempted. Two mortars of traditional type are investigated: with aerial lime binder, with aerial lime and artificial pozzolanic additive and one with cement binder. The LCA results indicate that the traditional types of mortars are more sustainable compared to cementbased mortars. For the impact assessment, the method used is Eco-indicator 95

The Application of the Life-Cycle Assessment in the Building Sector: An Italian Case Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-108
Author(s):  
Maurizio Cellura ◽  
Francesco Guarino ◽  
Sonia Longo
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Life Cycle Thinking ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Building Sector ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment Methodology ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

The building sector is one of the most relevant in terms of generation of wealth and occupation, but it is also responsible for significant consumption of natural resources and the generation of environmental impacts, mainly greenhouse gas emissions. In order to improve the eco profile of buildings during their life-cycle, the reduction of the use of resources and the minimization of environmental impacts have become, in the last years, some of the main objectives to achieve in the design of sustainable buildings. The application of the life-cycle thinking approach, looking at the whole life cycle of buildings, is of paramount importance for a real decarbonization and reduction of the environmental impacts of the building sector. This paper presents an application of the life-cycle assessment methodology for assessing the energy and environmental life-cycle impacts of a single-family house located in the Mediterranean area in order to identify the building components and life-cycle steps that are responsible of the higher burdens. The assessment showed that the largest impacts are located in the use stage; energy for heating is significant but not dominant, while the contribution of electricity utilized for households and other equipment resulted very relevant. High environmental impacts are also due to manufacture and transport of building materials and components.

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