ISDCS

Group 4
PGDM (evening) 13-16
19th December 2013

What is LCA?
Technique for investigating and valuating the
environmental load associated with a product or
service due to its existence

Provides more quantitative and scientific basis for the

sustainability aspect of any process or technology

LCA in life cycle thinking

Life cycle thinking: becoming aware of the effect of
human activities on environment

Social

Environment

Cost

SLCA

LCA

LCC

Why LCA?
Considers the complete life cycle of a product/process
chain thereby avoiding shifting of loads/impacts in the
process chain

Source: Integration of life cycle thinking in the steel industry

by Clare Broadbent, Worldsteel Association

Why LCA?
Environmental impact of product/process chain
Tool for decision making in new product design
Inform customers/product manufacturers/consumers
Environmental product declarations

Why LCA?
Can be used for CO2 calculations
Benchmarking (internally to company, regionally, globally)

Env Impact in terms of global (global warming), regional

(acidification) and local effect (human toxicity)

Emissions hotspot identification
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Life Cycle Assessment

Study based on
ISO: 14040 and
14044
Four stages of LCA
study

Goal and Scope

definition
Life cycle Inventory
(LCI)
Life cycle impact
assessment
Life cycle interpretation

Life Cycle Assessment

Goal of the study
Sr No

Definition

For Example

Intended application

EPD development

Reason for carrying out the study

For marketing communications to cater

to the needs of the growing customer
segment

Intended audience

LP marketing and TG GWL

Comparative assertions

Yes (Benchmarking)

Life Cycle Assessment

Scope of the study
Sr No

Category

Definition

Product system

For example: Rebars

Functions of the product system

For example: Rebars from BF route

Functional unit

For example: 1 ton rebar

Data quality

Data quality parameters

Life Cycle Assessment

Scope of the study
Sr No

Category

Definition

Types of impacts

Allocation

Incase of multiple products

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Global warming potential

Acidification potential
Eutrophication potential
Embodied energy
Embodied water
Photochemical oxidation potential
Resource depletion potential
Soil ecotoxicity

 Scope of the study (system boundary)

Cradle to Grave

Production

Mining
Transport
Coal
mine

Ore
mine

Refinary

Use phase
Process
1

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Process
2

Process
3

End of
Life

 Scope of the study (system boundary)

Cradle to Cradle

Production

Mining
Transport
Coal
mine

Ore
mine

Refinary

Use phase
Process
1

12

Process
2

Process
3

End of
Life

 Scope of the study (system boundary)

Cradle to Gate

Production

Mining
Transport
Coal
mine

Ore
mine

Refinary

Use phase
Process
1

13

Process
2

Process
3

End of
Life

 Scope of the study (system boundary)

Gate to Gate

Production

Mining
Transport
Coal
mine

Ore
mine

Refinary

Use phase
Process
1

14

Process
2

Process
3

End of
Life

 Scope of the study (system boundary)

Gate to Grave

Production

Mining
Transport
Coal
mine

Ore
mine

Refinary

Use phase
Process
1

15

Process
2

Process
3

End of
Life

Life Cycle Assessment

Life cycle inventory
Input/Output data collection
Data sheets will be designed based on the goal and scope of the study
Data can be measured/estimated/calculated/literature

Inputs
1.

Raw Materials

Tonnes

2.

Energy

Gcal

3.

Ancillaries

m3

Outputs
1.

Products

Tonnes

2.

By-products

Gcal

3.

Emissions to air, water & soil

m3

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Life Cycle Assessment

Development of LCA Model
Why do we need a model?
Why a software for modeling?
What value does it add to the study?

Life cycle impact assessment

LCA softwares: GaBi, Sima Pro etc
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Life Cycle Assessment

Life cycle impact assessment
Classifying the inputs and outputs in different environmental

impact categories
Sr
No

Pollutant

Factor

Carbon dioxide

Methane

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R 116 (hexafluoroethane)

12200

Carbon monooxide

Unit

Kg eq. CO2

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Life Cycle Assessment

Typical LCA based product declarations

Source: Environmental product declaration for Trinsul Wall (cladding system) Tata Steel Europe

LCA in Industries
Indian industry is warming up to LCA
Tata Motors: LCA of components (Gate to Gate)
Tata Steel Europe: Environmental product
declarations of most of their products
SABIC have done many LCA studies of their

products and processes

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LCA in Industries: Walmart

Global Responsibility : Thought process.
In response to growing consumer demand for environmentally responsible
products, Walmart examined the life cycle of products to find ways to conserve
natural resources.

As per Walmart : By looking at the supply chain as a whole, we can find ways
to makes products more sustainable -- from farm to shelf and ahead
Walmart Supplier GHG Innovation Program: Ambitious GHG reduction goal
Reduce 20 million metric From 2010 to 2015
tonnes of CO2 Eq.

Walmart initiated a Sustainable Product Index program in early 2009 with the

goal of examining its supply chains and creating

The index that will rank products on multiple measures of environmental
impact.

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LCA in Industries: Walmart

Customers want products that are more efficient, that last longer and perform better, he

said And increasingly they want information about the entire lifecycle of a product so

they can feel good about buying it. They want to know that the materials in the product
are safe, that it was made well and that it was produced in a responsible way.
Wal-Mart initiated a Sustainable Product Index program in early 2009 with the goal of

examining its supply chains and creating an index that will rank products on multiple
measures of environmental impact.
The Index initiative will proceed in three stages,

An initial Supplier
Sustainability
Assessment
program

The creation of a
Lifecycle Analysis
Database

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The finalization of
the Index and a
presentation to
customers.

LCA in Industries: Walmart

Wal-Mart, Seventh Generation, and Tetra Pak collaborating with Earthster to create an open,

data commons and lifecycle assessment (LCA) tool for product designers, manufacturers,

suppliers and sustainability experts looking for information on materials, energy, water, social
and climate impacts through out the product life cycle

Earthster is the first open source platform to measure and manage a products social
and environmental impacts throughout the supply chain

Wal-Mart contributed funding to the Earthster project to support a number of pilot LCAs of

their private brand products.

LCA software that creates value and makes measuring practical improves the effectiveness of

reporting standards, like those of the Sustainability Consortium and the Global Packaging
Project, especially when those tools are integrated with existing industry platforms like GS1,

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LCA at Tata Steel Ltd.

Mostly Gate to Gate studies
LCA study for coal mining and washing at West Bokaro (2003) & Jharia
(2006)
Identification of the environmental impact in terms of depletion of natural
resources and air pollution for one ton of clean coal mined

LCA study for cold roll sheets was carried out in 2004
Environmental impact in terms of water and air pollution for one ton of cold
roll sheet produced was studied
Env. Impact assessment of the coke plant at Tata Steel, Jamshedpur in
2010.
Development of Environmental product declaration for rebars has been
carried out in 2013-14.

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