Life Cycle Assessment

as a Strategic Tool
Group - 2
Amitabh Vajpayee (B13131)
Anand Odedra (B13132)
Ananya Ray (B13133)
Anirban Chakraborty (B13134)
Anshul Savant (B13135)

Environmental problems are evolving
Life Cycle Assessment
Examples of Variants of LCA:
Cradle to grave
Cradle to gate
Cradle to cradle
"Compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs
and the potential environmental impacts of a product
system throughout its life cycle" (ISO 14040: 1997).
LCA Definition by ISO:
A life cycle perspective
The LCA Framework & Principles
System
Boundaries
Functional
Unit
Life Cycle
Perspective
Comprehe-
nsiveness
Does this help?
1 Phase X All
Impacts
All Phases X
All Impacts
All Phases X
1 Impact
1 Phase X 1
Impact
Piecing it all together
Key Elements of LCA
Goal &
Scope
Inventory
Analysis
Impact
Assessment
Interpretation
& Analysis
Corrective
Measures
Scope definition very important
Most LCA falter at this stage
Data Collection issues
Focus on the functional unit
Assessing impact
Comparing with alternatives
and reference standards
Design, process and execution
flaws analyzed
Impact analysis
Focus : Low hanging fruit; low
efficiency areas; strategic
imperatives
Functional Unit
Boundaries
Assumptions
Flow Model
Input & Output
Data Sources
Indicators &
Models
Classification
Goal considered
Data validity &
sensitivity
Implementation
Subsequent
reassessment
Scope definition very important
Most LCA falter at this stage
Data Collection issues
Focus on the functional unit
Assessing impact
Comparing with alternatives and
reference standards
Design, process and execution
flaws analyzed
Impact analysis
Decision Matrix & Stages for LCA
Businesses are unlikely to adopt LCA
Management unless it is
economically viable or reduces
business risk
Yes
No
Charity
Disaster
Sweet Spot
Profit
Motive
No Yes
Economically Beneficial?
E
n
v
i
r
o
n
m
e
n
t
a
l
l
y

B
e
n
e
f
i
c
i
a
l
?

Life Cycle Stages
Limitations of LCA
Time consuming
Technically challenging
Resource intensive
Data gathering issues accuracy concerns
Because of complexity of ecological systems, alternate impact models have
come into being
LCA
LCA as a strategic tool
Intend to be identified as good corporate citizens.
Demand for transparency of sustainability efforts and its traceability
LCA provides a consistent approach to sustainability.
What you tell your suppliers is the same as what you tell your customers.
What your designers focus on is the same as what your sales force talk about.
What you report to stakeholders is the same as what your marketing claims.
Increasing number of consumers think about environment while purchasing
95% of shoppers would buy green
Credibility concern on green claims scope for third party verification
For example - Tesco, Walkers, Timberland for carbon nutrition level
Government involvement & evolving regulations in enforcing & verifying green-claims
The Water Act, 1974, The Air Act, 1981, Environment Act, 1986 (Prevention & Control)
Government
Consumers
Companies
LCA as a strategic tool contd.
Good product design is the starting point towards building sustainability.
80% of environmental impacts can be reduced by appropriate product design.
LCA focusses on reducing key impacts rather than creating feel-good green gimmicks.
LCA pushes a company to look beyond the direct impacts of its own operations.
Companies typically focus 80 per cent of their efforts on managing 20 per cent of their
impacts.
Product managers tell their purchasing colleagues to translate the LCA findings to the
supplier requirements.
Supply chain management becomes less complicated too.
LCA enables the marketing department to make environmental claims based on fact.
They have no need to come up with another label, the message is embedded in the
product itself
Aligning Action
The key to the LCA approach is that it provides a consistent focus for everyone involved in
every part of the business. Heres how it works:
Design and Innovation
Supply Chain
Marketing & Sales
Extended Producer Responsibility
EPR is a strategy which makes the manufacturer of the product responsible for the
entire life-cycle of the product
Especially for the take-back, recycling and final disposal.
Several countries adopted waste management policies.
In which manufacturers are responsible for taking back their products from end
users at the end of the products' useful life
EPR may take the form of a reuse, buy-back, or recycling program.
EPR shifts the responsibility for waste management from government to private
industry.
EPR creates financial incentives for companies to redesign their products to
minimize waste management costs.
What is EPR ?
Why EPR ?
Pros and Cons
Currently there are a lot of laws, regulations and standards, both national and
international, which regulate the life cycles of products and aim to lessen the
environmental impact a product causes in its entire life cycle.

It is indeed keen to observe that 80% of all the environmental impact caused by
products can be easily taken care of during the design stage of the product itself!
Product related environment aspects
Captured during design stage
The various such standards and regulations
can be listed down as follows:
ISO Standards
EU Regulations, Policies etc.
USA Environmental Laws
Rest of the world
Regulations & Standards governing Life
Cycles
ISO Standards
ISO Standards seek to decrease the impact that products and services have on
environment by laying guidelines for the decision making process.
A company can be accredited with ISO standards (namely 14040, 14042, 14025 and
14044) which displays a commitment to the international exchange of goods and
services while also considering their environmental impact.
According to ISO 14025, an LCA implementation is expected to report the
environmental data about products in a certified Environment Product Declaration.
The most important feature of ISO standards is obligation towards the
documentation of proof of compliance with the said environmental legislation
failure in which could lead to the license being revoked.
Lowers impact
Proof of compliance
Display of commitment
Certification
EU Regulations and Policies
Eco-design
Directive
Energy
Labeling
Directive
Ecolabels
The most important goal is to minimize the environmental impact of all products in
their entire life cycle.
Focuses on design stage of the products where the highest amount of savings can
be made.
Divides all products into two types viz. energy related products like chairs, tables
etc., and energy using products such as TVs and computers.
Does not cover food and medical products.
This concerns the energy consuming products like fridge, AC etc. to display an
Energy Label to indicate their energy efficiency. (Grade A+++ to G)
Minimum standards for all such products have been included in the national law of
each EU member state.
A voluntary scheme to promote environmental excellence of goods and services.
Products that prove that they achieve highest environmental performance can be
awarded the EU Ecolabels and the producers can market them with the Ecolabel
flower logo.
The three major steps taken by the European Union for stimulating the demand of
sustainable products can be summarized below.
USA passed the Energy Independence and Security Act in 2007. The legislation
aims at
Moving USA towards energy efficiency and energy independence
Promoting production of renewable energy
Protecting customers
Increasing energy efficiency of all products and services
Promoting research and deployment of greenhouse gases capture and storage
options
Improving the energy performance of the Federal Government.
Brazil has implemented regulations, polices and standards which promote life
cycle analysis of products by the companies.
The Brazilian Association of Technical Standards is the body governing these
regulations.
India has adopted the ISO standards for the directives on environment
considerations of products and services.
USA Regulations
Rest of the World
Regulations & Policies contd.
Apple & LCA
One of the first few companies to apply LCA in USA
Voluntarily investigated carbon foot print using LCA as per ISO.
Apple published its Product Environmental Reports
Apples
environment
footprint
(LCA)
10.2 million
metric tones
Apple iPhone life-cycle
Manufacturing
Major modifications in material selection than process
Increased content of green components & lesser of non-green
Material use for
iPhone 3GS and
iPhone 4
(grams)
Transportation
Focus area products total weight, volume & packaging
Transportation phase deals with distance & type of vehicle
Optimized
movement of
iPhones China to
USA
7% less CO2 impact
Product Use
Focused Areas
Efficient power supplies
Low-power consuming components
Power management software
Improved battery
consumption as
compared to
previous model
Recycling
In 2008, Apple announced - Removed toxic chemicals like
polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs)
Removed mercury from displays and arsenic from display glass
In 2007, Apple recycling volume grew 57% as Apple collected
nearly 21 million pounds of e-waste.
Apple is good in toxic
chemicals but less on
energy & waste
Greenpeace
MacBook Toxic Materials
Removal
iMac Product Mass
Reduction
iPhone 4 v/s iPhone3GS
18% less kgCO2e in
recycling
Impact assessment
iPhone 3GS v/s iPhone 4
Alert: Manufacturing &
Product- use
kgCO2e
iPhone 3GS v/s iPhone 4
20% less kgCO2e
Thank You