Resources
Design
Processing
Life Cycle Assessment supports Sustainability Transformations
Recycling
Use
Retail
Disposal
Figure 1. Life cycles of products or services can be complex. © SYKE
Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an established method to simultaneously • Life quantify multiple environmental impacts arising from the whole value chain including all processes related to the life cycle of a product or a service.
increasing adoption of LCA in research, policy, and • The business calls for multi-stakeholder dialogue. Environment Institute SYKE conducts LCA research to • Finnish provide knowledge supporting decision-making towards a sustainability transformation.
SYKE PRESENTS | LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) | DECEMBER 2021
Manufacturing
Life Cycle Assessment Framework From quality inventory data to impact assessment GOAL AND SCOPE functional unit system boundaries data
INPUTS
OUTPUTS
raw materials energy water chemicals etc.
products by-products waste emissions
INVENTORY
IMPACT ASSESSMENT *
climate change
acidification
eutrophication
ozone depletion
toxicity
fine particles
resource use
land use
Figure 2: Environmental impacts assessed from life cycle inventory data. © SYKE * Presented are examples of common impact categories. A complete list of 16 most recent Environmental Footprint impact categories can be found in Zampori and Pant 2019.
SYKE PRESENTS | LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) | DECEMBER 2021
Life Cycle Assessment: A systemic framework to assess environmental impacts Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly used to study complex value chains to understand the potential environmental impacts they cause. It is an important decision-support tool used by policymakers, authorities, business, and research to identify environmental hotspots and aim at relevant actions to mitigate environmental consequences of human activities. LCA is an ISO standardised analytical method to simultaneously quantify multiple environmental impacts arising across the entire life cycle of a product or a service (Figure 1). An LCA consists of four steps: goal and scope definition, data inventory, impact assessment, and interpretation and dissemination of results. By covering the entire life cycle, and considering multiple environmental impacts, LCA helps to avoid problem shifting between different impacts, as well as within the value chain. Data inventory is a crucial part of any LCA study in which all relevant inputs and outputs of the analysed system are collected (Figure 2). Understanding the importance of good quality data among all involved stakeholders is a precondition to provide valuable and relevant insights for various stakeholders (Figure 3).
Mainstreaming LCA An accelerated policy development at the European level to drive a systemic sustainability transformation of consumption and production is under way (e.g., the Single Market for Green Products Initiative) and LCA plays an important role in it. The growing need to implement LCA studies necessitates a systematic and harmonised LCA approach on many levels: national policies, public sector initiatives, education curricula, and businesses. LCA is a unique tool for exploring the consequences of various decisions and which factors affect the potential impacts. However, despite being standardised, the methodology offers a significant level of freedom in its implementation. Specific modelling choices or data can lead to different or even conflicting results, which needs to be considered when applying them to practical decision-making. The LCA-based EU Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method attempts to tackle these challenges by paving the way for a more harmonised LCA-based method that can be used to produce comparable results. Nevertheless, many methodological questions remain open, for example, related to the assessment of biodiversity loss, microplastic pollution or toxic impacts of nanomaterials in the impact assessment. The coherent implementation of new policy-driven methodology developments (e.g., PEF), real life cases, and enhanced skills of future experts drives the mainstreaming of LCA in a way that serves the information needs for a sustainability transformation. An open, cross-sectoral dialogue and cooperation advances a harmonised uptake of LCA methods.
POLICY MAKERS We support policy makers to design policies that deliver true reductions in various environmental impacts of human activities.
CITIZENS We help citizens make more informed consumption choices and to live sustainable lifestyles.
COMPANIES We provide knowledge that helps private sector to transform their business to a more sustainable direction. Figure 3: Sustainability transition is teamwork. We produce science-based knowledge relying on the holistic approach that helps different stakeholders to act. © SYKE
SYKE PRESENTS | LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) | DECEMBER 2021
Research on life cycle methods in SYKE
References European Commission (EC), 2021,Commission Recommendation of 16.12.2021 on the use of the Environmental Footprint methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations. Brussels, 16.12.2021 C(2021) 9332 final.
The holistic approach of life cycle thinking is a core principle of much research carried out in SYKE. To support environmentally conscious decision-making, a combination of research methods is beneficial. SYKE offers a large pool of different methods supporting LCA.
European Commission (EC), 2019. The European Green Deal. Communication from the Commission. COM (2019) 640 final.
LCA and related disciplines directly contribute to tackling many of the objectives of SYKE’s strategy. By quantifying climate impacts of products, services, and systems we enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation. By studying environmental impacts of waste management and recycling, and through holistic assessment of new bio-based solutions, we advance the transition to a sustainable circular economy and bioeconomy. LCT is extensively used to support urban and rural areas on their way to becoming forerunners of sustainability. We also explore new research routes to better account for biodiversity loss in LCA and we consider sustainable use of water resources. SYKE contributes to further methodological development of life cycle methods. In addition to LCA, SYKE develops the national environmentally extended input-output model ENVIMAT, explores hybrid LCA applications, and applies system-level material flow assessment (MFA), among others. SYKE combines deep methodological expertise with a reflexive and critical approach that considers various uses, benefits, uncertainties, and limitations. Thus, SYKE applies LCA in a transparent, unbiased, and reliable way to facilitate decision-making towards a sustainability transformation.
European Commission (EC). 2020. A new Circular Economy Action Plan - For a cleaner and more competitive Europe. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. COM (2020) 98 final. European Commission (EC), 2021. Single Market for Green Products. https://ec.europa.eu/ environment/eussd/smgp (Accessed: 12.11.2021) International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 2006. SFS-EN ISO 14040 Environmental Management. Life Cycle Assessment. Principles and Framework (ISO 14040:2006). International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 2006. SFS-EN ISO 14044 Environmental management. Life Cycle Assessment. Requirements and Guidelines (ISO 14044:2006). Finkbeiner, M., Schau, E.M., Lehmann, A. and Traverso, M., 2010. Towards life cycle sustainability assessment. Sustainability, 2(10), pp.3309-3322. Finnveden, G., Hauschild, M.Z., Ekvall, T., Guinée, J., Heijungs, R., Hellweg, S., Koehler, A., Pennington, D. and Suh, S., 2009. Recent developments in life cycle assessment. Journal of environmental management, 91(1), pp.1-21. Hellweg, S. and i Canals, L.M., 2014. Emerging approaches, challenges and opportunities in life cycle assessment. Science, 344(6188), pp.11091113. Rigamonti, L., Niero, M., Haupt, H., Grosso, M., and Judl, J., 2018. Recycling processes and quality of secondary materials: Food for thought for waste-management-oriented life cycle assessment studies. Waste Management, 76, pp. 261-265. Nissinen, A., Suikkanen, J. and Salo, H., 2019. Product Environmental Information and Product Policies - How Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) changes the situation?, TemaNord 2019:549. Zampori, L. and Pant, R., 2019. Suggestions for updating the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method, EUR 29682 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, ISBN 97892-76- 00654-1, doi:10.2760/424613, JRC115959.
SYKE PRESENTS LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) DECEMBER 2021
Life Cycle Assessment supports Sustainability Transformations Authors: Jáchym Judl, Susanna Horn, Johanna Niemistö, Johanna Suikkanen, David Lazarevic, Katja Lepistö Layout & infographs: Satu Turtiainen Icons: Adobestock
SYKE’s LCA Hub
www.syke.fi/lca provides more information on LCA activities in SYKE
Helsinki, Finland 12/2021 ISBN 978-952-11-5450-8 (PDF) ISBN 978-952-11-5451-5 (print)
Finnish Environment Institute SYKE | syke.fi/en | environment.fi |
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