PE International

Life Cycle Assessment and

Product Sustainability
CET2287
ICT, Mumbai, 23rd January 2019

Hiranmayee Kanekar
thinkstep Sustainability Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Agenda PE International

• Goal
• Scope Setting
• System boundary Setting

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 Life Cycle Assessment – major steps PE International

1) Goal of the LCA study 3) Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)

- intended applications - data collection
- reasons for carrying out the study - description of the Inventory
- intended audience

2) Scope of the study 4) Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)

- function of the system - classification
- functional unit - characterisation
- description of the system - normalisation
- system boundaries
- allocation procedures 5) Interpretation
- impact categories and the impact model - evaluation and discussion
- requirements for data
- data assumptions 6) Report
- data restrictions
- data quality requirements 7) Critical review
- critical review - optional
- the kind of reporting

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Goal PE International

The goal of an LCA states:

• the intended application,
• the reasons for carrying out the study,
• the intended audience, i.e. to whom the
results of the study are intended to be
communicated, and
• whether the results are intended to be used
in comparative assertions intended to be
disclosed to the public.
(ISO 14040)

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 Goal PE International

The intended application of the study describe how the study’s results are
to be used (as clearly and precisely as possible).

Some of the common uses are:

• Identify environmental “hot spots” in a product’s life cycle

• Guide product development (e.g., inform green design decisions)

• Benchmark against other products

• Compare different products

• Support product certifications, labeling etc.

• Support public policy decisions

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 Goal PE International

The purpose of the study describes the drivers and motivations of the LCA,
including the specific decisions that the study is designed to support. For example,
if the intended application of the study is to compare different products, will the
study support decisions regarding which specific products to purchase or which
suppliers to engage.

The intended audience describes who will use the LCA. There can be many
different audiences for an LCA, including internal staff and colleagues, external
customers, public policy makers, those with technical backgrounds and those
without, or general consumers.

If the study contains product comparisons intended for public disclosure, it’s critical
to state this explicitly because the study would then need to comply with ISO
14040 series standards for study design, documentation, and external peer review.

Careful selection and clear communication of a study’s intended application,

purpose, and target audience is critical for a sound LCA. How these three
elements are defined has profound implications on the scope, data quality,
complexity, analytical rigor, and documentation requirements of an LCA study.
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 Defining LCA Scope
What should the LCA consider?
• Product system to be studied
• Functions of the product system
• Functional unit
• System boundary
• Allocation procedures
• Cut-off criteria
PE International
• LCIA methodology and types of impacts
• Interpretation to be used
• Data requirements
• Data quality requirements
• Report type and format
• Type of critical review
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 Function, functional unit, reference flow PE International

functional unit - quantified performance of a product system for use as a

reference unit (ISO 14040)

reference flow - measure of the outputs from processes in a given

product system required to fulfil the function expressed by the
functional unit. (ISO 14040)

The functional unit defines the quantification of the identified functions

(performance characteristics) of the product. The primary purpose of a
functional unit is to provide a reference to which the inputs and outputs are
related.

This reference is necessary to ensure comparability of LCA results.

Comparability of LCA results is particularly critical when different systems are
being assessed, to ensure that such comparisons are made on a common basis.
It is important to determine the reference flow in each product system, in order
to fulfil the intended function, i.e. the amount of products needed to fulfil the
function.
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Function, functional unit, reference flow PE International

• Function: to color and protect a surface.

• Functional Unit: cover 10 square meters for 10 years.
• Reference flow: one liter (high quality paint)

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Function, functional unit, reference flow PE International

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Function, functional unit, reference flow PE International

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 Define the System Boundary PE International

Task:

Include the key Inputs and Outputs to your system flow diagram and define the System Boundary

Hint:

• The system boundary includes the unit processes within the scope of the study

• The system boundary should be consistent with the goal of the study

• Think about the level of detail required for each unit process. Are there cut-off criteria?

• If you decide to ignore or delete processes, make a note of your reasons

• Energy inputs and outputs should be included, (all types of energy used)

• You could make a distinction between foreground processes, and background processes

All slides copyright PE INTERNATIONAL

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Data quality requirements PE International

Once the system boundary is set it is time to

collect the data.

This is usually the most time-(and often cost-)

consuming part.

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 Data quality requirements PE International

To ensure the efficiency of our LCA study we need to know

the exact quality requirements of the data. The requirements
are the direct function of the goal and scope.

data quality - characteristics of data that relate to their ability

to satisfy stated requirements (ISO 14040).
data quality requirements specify in general terms the
characteristics of the data needed for the study. Descriptions of
data quality are important to understand the reliability of the study
results and properly interpret the outcome of the study (ISO
14040).

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Data quality requirements PE International

The data quality requirements should address the following:

a) time-related coverage: age of data and the minimum length of time over
which data should be collected;
b) geographical coverage: geographical area from which data for unit
processes should be collected to satisfy the goal of the study;
c) technology coverage: specific technology or technology mix;
d) precision: measure of the variability of the data values for each data
expressed (e.g. variance);
e) completeness: percentage of flow that is measured or estimated;
f) representativeness: qualitative assessment of the degree to which the
data set reflects the true population of interest (i.e. geographical coverage, time
period and technology coverage);
g) consistency: qualitative assessment of whether the study methodology is
applied uniformly to the various components of the analysis;
h) reproducibility: qualitative assessment of the extent to which information
about the methodology and data values would allow an independent practitioner
to reproduce the results reported in the study;
i) sources of the data;
j) uncertainty of the information (e.g. data, models and assumptions).

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 “Cut-off“ criteria PE International

cut-off criteria - specification of the amount of material or energy

flow or the level of environmental significance associated with unit
processes or product system to be excluded from a study (ISO
14040)

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“Cut-off“ criteria PE International

In practice there are three criteria we can use:

• Mass
• Energy
• Environmental significance

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 Cut-Off Criteria example PE International

• Mass: < 1% of total mass, provided its

environmental relevance is not a concern.

• Energy: < 1% of total energy, provided its

environmental relevance is not a concern.

• Environmental Relevance: If
environmental impact of flow is over 1% of
the entire impact for an impact category, it is
considered environmentally relevant.

• Sum of the excluded material flows must not

exceed 5 % of mass, energy or
environmental relevance.

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Foreground vs. Background process PE International

electricity

Factory
Natural gas Steam boiler transport
operations

Raw material Precursor

for precursor preparation

Foreground Background
process process

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 ISO on allocation PE International

• Step 1:

Wherever possible, allocation should be avoided by:

– dividing the unit process to be allocated into two or more sub-

processes and collecting the input and output data related to these
sub-processes

– expanding the product system to include the additional functions

related to the co-products

Source: Life Cycle Initiative

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Allocation rules PE International

Allocation by mass
(the impacts are ascribed to all products according to their mass)
Allocation by heating value
(the impacts are ascribed to all products according to their heating
value)
Allocation by market value
(the impacts are ascribed to all products according to their market value)
Allocation by other rules
(i.e. exergy, substance content, …)

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Allocation example PE International

In the chlor-alkali process, concentrated sodium chloride solution (brine) is

electrolyzed at high current density to produce chlorine gas, hydrogen gas and
lye (sodium hydroxide) according to the following chemical reaction equation:

2NaCl(aq) + 2H2O(l) -----> H2(g) + Cl2(g) + 2NaOH(aq)

mass, price, value, value,

1,7 t salt % USD/t USD %
3,8 MWh electricity chlor-alkali 1 t Cl2 47% 90 90 25%
electrolysis 1,1 t NaOH 52% 238 262 72%
0,5 m3 water 28 kg H2 1% 353 10 3%

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Substitution as avoidance of allocation PE International

Avoidance of allocation through substitution (avoided impact):

emissions

resources product A
process (is considered)
product B
by-product
credit

An avoided
Credit Process production
for B process
for the same
byproduct is
subtracted from
the system

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 System boundary Setting PE International

A set of criteria specifying which unit processes are part of a product system

The selection of the system boundary shall be consistent with the study goal .
The criteria used in establishing the system boundary shall be identified and
explained.
Decisions shall be made regarding which unit processes to include in the study
and the level of detail to which these unit processes shall be studied.
The deletion of life cycle stages, processes, inputs or outputs is only permitted if it
does not significantly change the overall conclusions of the study.
Any decisions to omit life cycle stages, processes, inputs or outputs shall be
clearly stated, and the reasons and implications for their omission shall be
explained.
Decisions shall also be made regarding which inputs and outputs shall be
included and the level of detail of the LCA shall be clearly stated.

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System boundary -Examples PE International

Sector Typical System Boundary

Agriculture Cradle to gate

Automobile Cradle to grave

Appliances Cradle to grave

Construction materials Cradle to gate with end of life

Energy Cradle to gate

Packaging Cradle to gate with end of life

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Thank you
for your attention!