scholarly journals Visualization of the Sustainability Level of Crude Palm Oil Production: A Life Cycle Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1607
Author(s):  
Najat Omran ◽  
Amir Hamzah Sharaai ◽  
Ahmad Hariza Hashim
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Palm Oil ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Oil Production ◽  
Life Cycle Costing ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle Approach ◽  
Crude Palm Oil

The Malaysian palm oil is an important source of social development and economic growth in the country. Nevertheless, it has been accused of conducting unsustainable practices that may affect the sustainability of this industry. Thus, this study aims to identify the level of sustainability of crude palm oil (CPO) production. Environmental impacts were assessed using the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standardized life cycle assessment (LCA). Economic impacts were evaluated using life cycle costing (LCC). Social impact assessment was identified based on the UNEP/SETAC Guidelines for social life cycle assessment (S-LCA). Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) was used to combine three methods: LCA, life cycle costing (LCC) and S-LCA using the scoring system method. Finally, a presentation technique was developed to visualize the LCSA results. The results show that crude palm oil production requires more improvement to be a sustainable product. The study feasibly enables the decision-makers to understand the significant environmental, economic, and social hotspots during the crude palm oil production process in order to promote palm oil production.

scholarly journals Social Life Cycle Assessment of Crude Palm Oil Production in Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zainal Haryati ◽  
Vijaya Subramaniam ◽  
Zainura Zainon Noor ◽  
Zulkifli Hashim ◽  
Soh Kheang Loh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Palm Oil ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Oil Production ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Crude Palm Oil

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.

scholarly journals Analysis of Worker Category Social Impacts in Different Types of Concrete Plant Operations: A Case Study in South Korea

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seungjun Roh ◽  
Sungho Tae ◽  
Rakhyun Kim ◽  
Daniela Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Social Impacts ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment

As sustainable development has emerged as a priority on the international agenda, increasing emphasis has been placed on “Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA),” wherein environmental, economic, and social performance are comprehensively integrated. This study, as part of an LCSA approach, uses Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) to analyze the worker category social impact for concrete plants in South Korea. For the analysis, three types of concrete plant with different operating systems were selected and evaluated: Direct operation, operated by dedicated concrete manufacturers, and operated by cement suppliers. Eleven major social topics, which were mentioned in the international standards and international institutes, were selected as the subjects of evaluation; the social impacts were evaluated by applying the evaluative criteria for social topics presented in the Handbook for Product Social Life Cycle Assessment of PRé Sustainability. We determined that the highest social impact was found in concrete plants operated by cement suppliers (0.77), followed by plants operated by dedicated concrete manufacturers (0.50), and finally by plants with direct operations (0.09). These results can be applied by concrete plants to improve worker category areas in which they are lacking and by future researchers to evaluate the sustainable development of a variety of industries.

scholarly journals Comprehensive Evaluation of the Sustainable Development of Battery Electric Vehicles in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang ◽  
Zhou ◽  
Li ◽  
Wei
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Battery Electric Vehicles ◽  
The Social

Due to the rapid growth in the total number of vehicles in China, energy consumption and environmental pollution are serious problems. The development of electric vehicles (EVs) has become one of the important measures for solving these problems. As EVs are in a period of rapid development, sustainability research on them is conducive to the timely discovery of—and solution to—problems in the development process, but current research on the sustainability of EVs is still scarce. Based on the strategic development direction of EVs in China, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were chosen as the research object of this study. The theory and method of the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) were used to study the sustainability of BEVs. Specifically, the indicators of the life cycle assessment (LCA) were constructed, and the GaBi software was used to assess the environmental dimensions. The framework of life cycle costing (LCC) was used to assess the economic dimensions from the perspective of consumers. The indicators of the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) of stakeholders were constructed to assess the social dimension. Then, the method of the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was selected for multicriteria decision-making in order to integrate the three dimensions. A specific conclusion was drawn from a comparison of BEVs and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). The study found that the life cycle sustainability of ICEVs in China was better than that of BEVs. This result might be unexpected, but there were reasons for it. Through sensitivity analysis, it was concluded that the current power structure and energy consumption in the operation phase of BEVs had a higher environmental impact, and the high cost of batteries and the government subsidy policy had a higher impact on the cost of BEVs. Corresponding suggestions are put forward at the end of the article.

scholarly journals A Reflection of the Use of the Life Cycle Assessment Tool for Agri-Food Sustainability

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oriana Gava ◽  
Fabio Bartolini ◽  
Francesca Venturi ◽  
Gianluca Brunori ◽  
Angela Zinnai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Consumer Information ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Security Research ◽  
Business To Consumer ◽  
Development Goals

In pursuit of agricultural sustainability and food security, research should contribute to policy-making by providing scientifically robust evidence. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an excellent candidate for generating that evidence, thereby helping the selection of interventions towards more sustainable agri-food. The purpose of this article is proposing a basis for discussion on the use of the LCA tool for targeting and monitoring of environmental policy interventions in agri-food. The problem of reducing the environmental burden in agri-food can be tackled by acting on the supply and/or demand sides and may benefit from the collaboration of supply chain stakeholders. Agri-food policies that most benefit from LCA-based data concern cross-border pollution, transaction costs following the adoption of environmental standards, adoption of less polluting practices and/or technologies, and business-to-consumer information asymmetry. The choice between the methodological options available for LCA studies (attributional, consequential, or hybrid models) depends on the purpose and scope of the study. The possibility of integrating the LCA with economic and social impact assessments—e.g., under the life cycle sustainability assessment framework—makes LCA an excellent tool for monitoring business or sectoral-level achievements with respect to UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Life cycle assessment of two palm oil production systems

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 3976-3984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heinz Stichnothe ◽  
Frank Schuchardt
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Palm Oil ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Oil Production
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