Sustainable Manufacturing

BITS Pilani Dr. Abhijeet K. Digalwar

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Pilani Campus
 BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

Lecture # 4
Life Cycle Engineering and
Management
Learning Objectives

• Introduction to LCA
• Main Steps of LCA
• Difficulties and Limitations of LCA Steps
Introduction
• Engineering and social sciences have developed
methods and tools to evaluate and implement
technological and societal processes in order to
cope with the challenges of sustainability.
• Alting, Hauschild and Wenzel give an overview of
the international development of life cycle
engineering and its future perspectives.
Introduction
• Fleischer, Dose, and Ackermann describe how to
compare different options of Reuse, Recycling and
Recovery (RRR) in product life cycle with respect to
environmental impact.
• Disassembly proves to be a relevant but not the
only determining factor. For reducing the
complexity of Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA)integrated in Product Development Processes
(PDP), they propose Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)
modules and demonstrate the viability of this Life
Cycle Approach.
Introduction
• Life cycle assessment was developed as an
analytical tool to help assess the environmental
impacts of products or services. For a product to
perform its function it must be developed,
manufactured, distributed to its users and
maintained during use.
Life Cycle Engineering
and Management
• Life Cycle Assessment - Analytical tool to help assess the
environmental impacts of products or services
• The product system or life cycle of a product :

(T represents Transportation)

(Source : T1 Page 32)

History
• The development of life cycle assessment
methodology has its roots back in late 1960’s.
• In 1970’s main focus was on the idea of assessing
the environmental impacts of products in a life
cycle.
• In early 1980’s, it experienced a renaissance
initiated by a fierce public debate leading to public
and government attention towards LCA.
• In 1990’s, the Society of Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry (SETAC) became the host of the
global community of LCA researchers.
History Contd..
• In parallel to research at SETAC, the International
Standard Organisation (ISO) initiated a global
standardization process for LCA.

(Source : T1 Page 34)

Methodology
A life cycle assessment in accordance with the ISO
14040 standard proceeds iteratively through four
phases :

1. Goal and Scope Definition

• Goal and intended use of LCA is defined
• Scope in terms of boundaries of product system
• Temporal and technological scope
Methodology Contd..
2. Life Cycle Inventory
• Inventory analysis for information on input and output of all
processes within boundaries of product system.

3. Life Cycle Impact Assessment

• Areas of protection for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) are:
• Human Health
• Natural Environment
• Natural Resources and
• Man-made Environment
(Source : T1 Page 37)
(Source : T1 Page 38)
Methodology Contd.
• The life cycle impact assessment proceeds through
four steps :
• Selection of impact categories and their classification
• Characterisation
• Normalisation
• Valuation

• According to ISO standard first two steps

mandatory and other two optional.
Methodology Contd.

(Source : T1 Page 40)

Methodology Contd..
4. Interpretation
Final phase of LCA where the results of the other phases are
interpreted according to goal of the study using sensitivity and
uncertainty analysis.

(Source : T1 Page 42)

Economic and Social Impact
• Sustainability assessment includes both
environmental performance, and social and
economic performance.

• New methodology is developed with inclusion of

both economic/cost impacts and social impacts in
LCA :
1. Life Cycle Costs and Economic Life Cycle Impact Assessment
2. Social Life Cycle Assessment
Data and Tools
• Life cycles easily comprise hundreds of processes
and to assist the modelling of the product system
• Some tools are :
• The system modelling
• The inventory analysis
• The impact assessment and
• The interpretation
• Streamlined LCA methods have been derived from
experience with complex full methods
(Source : T1 Page 45)
Integrated Product Policy
• A product-oriented environmental policy has
developed in several European countries and a
coordinated Integrated Product Policy (IPP) is
currently under development at the EU level.
• IPP – combination of soft regulations and support
to industries who want to apply Life Cycle
Engineering.
• Soft regulations aims at :
• Informing consumers and downstream stakeholders about the
environmental consequences of consumption
• Forming a level playing for companies competing on the
environmental performance of their products
(Source : T1 Page 47)
(Source : T1 Page 49)
Eco-Efficiency of Industrial Activities

• An aim of Life Cycle Engineering(LCE) is to improve

the eco-efficiency of industrial activities.

• Four levels on which LCE can address the eco-

efficiency :
1. The product of the company
2. The production or manufacturing system
3. The processes involved
4. The discharges from the processes
Design for Environment
• Aims to reduce environmental impacts from
product’s life cycle while maintaining or enhancing
its competitivity in market.

(Source : T1 Page 51)

(Source : T1 Page 52)
Golden Rules of EcoDesign by Luttropp

• No use to toxic substances, if necessary use in

closed loops
• Minimize energy and resource consumption
• Promote long life
• Consider end-of-life

(Source : T1 Page 53)

• Sustainable Production
• Defined by UN as : “development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs”.
• The Eco-Efficiency Challenge
• The Other Dimension of
Sustainability

(Source : T1 Page 54)

The Need Test

• What is the primary function of the product or service?

• What other benefits does the product or service offer?
• Is there likely to be a long-term need and/or demand for the
product or service?
• How does the value-to-value impact assessment for the
product service look today?
• Would this product or service be sustainable in an equitable
world of 8 – 10 billion people?
• Are there more sustainable ways of providing the same
function or meeting the same need?
Seven E’s
• Welford summarize the performance of a
sustainable industry in their “seven E’s” :
1. Environment
2. Empowerment
3. Employment
4. Economy
5. Ethics
6. Equity
7. Education
Conclusion
• The globalisation emphasizes the need for a life cycle
perspective
• A number of large companies have adopted life cycle-
oriented management e.g. Philips, Volvo, Ericsson, etc.
• Apart from few examples there is very little hard
regulation of environmental behaviour of products
today.
• There is need for introduction of life cycle thinking and
environment awareness in education of future
generations of citizens, customers, employees and
engineers.
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Saving Resources by Reuse,

Recycling, Recovery
Saving Resources by Reuse,
Recycling, Recovery

• Saving resources in an important indicator for sustainability

• Reuse (R), Recycling(R), and Recovery (R) – RRR generally
leads to saving resources and reduced environmental
impact.
• LCA is used to determine optimal solutions by RRR in
relation to efficiency of resources and environmental
impacts.
Environmental Evaluation
• Determination of Environmental Significant RRR
Options

(Source : T1 Page 69)

(Source : T1 Page 70)
• Recycling rate R1 for one secondary product (m1)
msub = mass of substituted material
m0 = mass of primary product

(Source : T1 Page 70)

• addition factor B stands for the fraction of secondary
material mass in the secondary product (msec)

• The rate of substitution is given by substitution factor S

• Real Recycling rate,

(Source : T1 Page 71)
(Source : T1 Page 72)
Application

(Source : T1 Page 73)

Conclusion
• In order to analyse the optimal solution by RRR in
relation to efficiency of resources and
environmental impacts, the method of LCA has
been used.
• EBRP determined by LCA is an adequate parameter
to identify optimal RRR options with the highest
environmental benefits.
• Integrating LCA in the design process is an activity
of increasing importance imposing specific
requirements on the availability of life cycle
information.
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Minimizing the Overall Environmental

Impact
Minimizing the Overall
Environmental Impact

• Designing environmentally friendly products is a crucial

factor in the EU strategy on Integrated Product Policy
(IPP).
• LCA is the most important instrument for designing
environmentally friendly products and one of main
tools for IPP.
• The importance of LCA as a decision tool for
prospective studies is disadvantaged by its data-
intensity and its comparatively difficult manageability.
• Therefore, the Life Cycle Approach (LCAp) should
accompany the PDP.
Life Cycle Approach

(Source : T1 Page 79)

• LCAp for Components of a
Washing Machine
• The following product
properties of the lye pump
have been improved:
• Mass reduction by 5.9%,
• Material diversity reduction by
12.5%, and
• Number of components reduction
by 21.1%
• LCAp leads to a disassembly-
and environmentally friendly
lye pump.
(Source : T1 Page 80)
Modular Life Cycle
Assessment
• Modelling the product system as a process model
of the life cycle of a product and calculating the LCI
results are key elements of the LCI.

(Source : T1 Page 82)

(Source : T1 Page 83)
(Source : T1 Page 84)
Modular LCA for a Pump of a Washing
Machine
• The developed methodology for the modular LCA
enables the integration of changed product
characteristics in a prospective way.
• Product modelling in modular LCA is nearly five
times faster than in traditional LCA in this example.

(Source : T1 Page 86)

Conclusion
• LCAp delivers quantitative results for enhancing the
environmental performance of products.
• The modular LCA as part of LCAp enables the
quantitative evaluation of improvements, arising
from e.g. arrangements of the recycling and
disassembling properties.
• The conducted LCA studies support the
environmental success of redesigned components.
Assessment of Recyclability

• Process Steps for

Closed-loop
Material Flows

(Source : T1 Page 90)

Recyclability of a Product

(Source : T1 Page 92)

(Source : T1 Page 93)
Approach
• Assessment of recyclability of a product requires the
calculation of a number of relevant characteristics of the
disassembly and recycling of the product.
• Recycling Potential
• It is determined based on a multi-criteria evaluation of
recycling relevant product characteristics.
• The criteria are divided in groups:
1. Material and Marketing
2. Product structure
3. Joining technologies
(Source : T1 Page 95)
Disassembly Time

(Source : T1 Page 96)

Recycling Quota

(Source : T1 Page 97)

• This approach for the assessment of a product’s
recyclability has been implemented in a software
tool named ProdTect which is based on a five step
work flow.

(Source : T1 Page 99)

Integration of Product Assessment
• Key factor in the successful application of the product
assessment methods is the integration in the product
planning process.
• To support this process in the conceptual design phase
the software too FOD (Functional Oriented Design) was
developed by Krause.
• An interface between the ProdTect software and FOD
has been successfully established.
• Systematic planning of disassembly and recycling
system based on results of End-of-life oriented product
assessment enables a successful implementation of EPR
and improve cost saving potential.
Efficient Economic
Organization
• A legal and institutional framework that provides
reasonable environmental targets and appropriate
incentives to reach these targets in an efficient way.
• Most commonly used tool for recycling obligations
is relative quota.
• Relative quota set the mandatory amount of waste
to be recycled in relation to a certain reference
parameter.
Basic Issues for an Efficient
Closed-Loop-Economy

• Optimal Extent of Recycling Activities

• Recycling Costs (RC) represents the net costs for an
environmentally sound disposal way deviating from the
disposal way of normal household waste.
• Abatement Costs (AC) represent the costs for reducing
emissions already in the production process, either by a
reduction of output or by lessening the pollutant
intensity.
• An optimum level of recycling activities requires
maximizing the difference of benefits from the use of
the products subject to recycling obligations less the
sum of Production Costs (PC), recycling costs and
remaining Environmental Damage (ED).
Basic Issues for an Efficient
Closed-Loop-Economy (Contd..)

• Social Welfare (SW) which should be optimized :

• The First order conditions are :

Direct Control vs. Prices vs.
Quantities

• Direct Control – It assign individual pollution reduction

targets to each source. It is generally expected to be
less cost efficient.
• Price Instruments – It oblige polluters to pay a certain
charge for every unit of taxed polluting activity.
• Quantity Instruments – It set a fixed pollution limit.
• Effects of Uncertainty
• Inefficiency of Relative Quotas
• Supplementary Taxation of Recycling Certificates
• Optimal Adjustments in a Dynamic Market
(Source : T1 Page 117)
Practical Implementation of
Take-Back Schemes

• Addressee of the Take-Back Obligation

• The potential addresses are producers, retailers and
consumers.
• Consumers should not be the addressee for two reasons:
1. May lack in adequate information
2. Possibility of illegal disposal to evade payments
• Retailers are a more suitable addressee since they
normally do not have such evasion possibilities.
• The producer of the commodity is the best addressee.
They have immediate control on the relevant product
attributes, such as polluting/toxic contents, durability,
weight, packaging, etc.
• Physical or Financial Take-Back Obligation
• Take-back obligations can have either a physical or a financial form.
• The addressee has the duty to take back used products and to arrange
for their treatment/recovery and bear financial burdens.
• Individual or Non-Individual Take-Back Obligation
• In order to have a fair competition and to foster incentives for eco-
friendly product design both alternatives should be treated equally.
• An approach to strengthen these incentives without bearing the costs
of individual take-back is the use of weighting factors.
• In a take-back scheme including weighting factors each product is given
a value indicating its potential environmental harmfulness, i.e. if
disposed of inappropriately
• Definition of Homogeneous Quotas
• The British packaging waste recyclers focus on transport
packaging, which is inexpensive to collect and cheaper
to recycle due to its more homogeneous material.
• The German dual system(s) have to establish a relatively
costly household collection for retail packaging.
• The Need for Competition
• To maintain efficiency related to recycling methods and
take-back scheme.
• If cost saving potential neglected, in the end excessive
prices had to be born by customers.
Conclusion
• Take-back schemes relying on relative quotas will
not bring about the allocative optimum unless
additional measures are taken.
• A comparison between the take-back schemes in
Germany and the UK shows that the British system
incurs only a small fraction of the costs that the
German system imposes on the consumers.
• Two fundamental reasons for above results :
• Lack of competition in market related to the recovery of
packaging waste has proven to be an essential cost driver.
• The legal distinction of retail and transport packaging turned out
to be very costly.
References
• T1 - G. Seliger, 2007, Sustainability in
manufacturing, Springer-Verlag, Berlin (ISBN 978-3-
540-49870-4)