Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment for Decision-Making: Methodologies and Case Studies PDF
Preview Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment for Decision-Making: Methodologies and Case Studies
LIFE CYCLE SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT FOR DECISION-MAKING LIFE CYCLE SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT FOR DECISION-MAKING Methodologies and Case Studies Edited by J R INGZHENG EN TheHongKongPolytechnicUniversity DepartmentofIndustrialandSystemsEngineering HongKongSAR,China S T ARA ONIOLO UniversityofPadova DepartmentofIndustrialEngineering Padova,Italy Elsevier Radarweg29,POBox211,1000AEAmsterdam,Netherlands TheBoulevard,LangfordLane,Kidlington,OxfordOX51GB,UnitedKingdom 50HampshireStreet,5thFloor,Cambridge,MA02139,UnitedStates Copyright©2020ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved. 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Practitionersandresearchersmustalwaysrelyontheirownexperienceandknowledgeinevaluatingandusingany information,methods,compounds,orexperimentsdescribedherein.Inusingsuchinformationormethodstheyshould bemindfuloftheirownsafetyandthesafetyofothers,includingpartiesforwhomtheyhaveaprofessionalresponsibility. Tothefullestextentofthelaw,neitherthePublishernortheauthors,contributors,oreditors,assumeanyliabilityfor anyinjuryand/ordamagetopersonsorpropertyasamatterofproductsliability,negligenceorotherwise,orfromanyuse oroperationofanymethods,products,instructions,orideascontainedinthematerialherein. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary ISBN978-0-12-818355-7 ForinformationonallElsevierpublications visitourwebsiteathttps://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals Publisher:CandiceJanco AcquisitionEditor:MarisaLaFleur EditorialProjectManager:LauraOkidi ProductionProjectManager:PremKumarKaliamoorthi CoverDesigner:GregHarris TypesetbySPiGlobal,India Contributors AnaCarolinaMaiaAngelo FluminenseFederal RistoLahdelma DepartmentofMechanical University(UFF),VoltaRedonda,Brazil Engineering,AaltoUniversitySchoolof MartaAvesani EconomyforTheCommon Engineering,Aalto,Finland Good–Italy,Bressanone,Italy JinmingLei Departmentofenvironmentand EricAwere DepartmentofCivil,Chemicaland architecture,UniversityofShanghaiforScience andTechnology,Shanghai,People’sRepublic ManagementEngineering,Universityof ofChina Bologna,Bologna,Italy AlessandraBonoli DepartmentofCivil, WeichenLi SchoolofChemistryandChemical Engineering,ChongqingUniversity, ChemicalandManagementEngineering, Chongqing,China UniversityofBologna,Bologna,Italy DeepjyotiDas CentreforUrbanScienceand RuojueLin DepartmentofIndustrialand SystemsEngineering,TheHongKong Engineering(CUSE),IndianInstituteof PolytechnicUniversity,HongKongSAR, TechnologyBombay,Mumbai,India People’sRepublicofChina LichunDong SchoolofChemistryand ZhiqiangLiu SchoolofEnergyScienceand ChemicalEngineering,ChongqingUniversity, Engineering,CentralSouthUniversity, Chongqing,China Changsha,People’sRepublicofChina FabioGambaro UniversityofPadova, KeboMa SchoolofEnergyScienceand DepartmentofIndustrialEngineering,Padova, Engineering,CentralSouthUniversity, Italy Changsha,People’sRepublicofChina SenGuo SchoolofEconomicsand YiMan StateKeyLaboratoryofPulpandPaper Management;BeijingKeyLaboratoryofNew Engineering,SouthChinaUniversityof EnergyandLow-CarbonDevelopment(North Technology,Guangzhou;Departmentof ChinaElectricPowerUniversity),Beijing, IndustrialandSystemsEngineering,TheHong China KongPolytechnicUniversity,HongKongSAR, BeijiaHuang Departmentofenvironmentand People’sRepublicofChina architecture,UniversityofShanghaiforScience LinoGuimara˜esMarujo FederalUniversityof andTechnology,Shanghai,People’sRepublic RiodeJaneiro(UFRJ),RiodeJaneiro,Brazil ofChina YingHuang Departmentofenvironmentand AnnaMazzi DepartmentofIndustrial Engineering,UniversityofPadova,Padova, architecture,UniversityofShanghaiforScience Italy andTechnology,Shanghai,People’sRepublic ofChina JingzhengRen TheHongKongPolytechnic PradipP.Kalbar CentreforUrbanScienceand University,DepartmentofIndustrialand SystemsEngineering,HongKongSAR,China Engineering(CUSE);Interdisciplinary ProgrammeinClimateStudies,IndianInstitute SaraToniolo UniversityofPadova,Department ofTechnologyBombay,Mumbai,India ofIndustrialEngineering,Padova,Italy ix x Contributors RobertaChiaraTosato UniversityofPadova, ShengYang SchoolofEnergyScience DepartmentofIndustrialEngineering,Padova, andEngineering,CentralSouth Italy University,Changsha,People’sRepublicof HaichaoWang InstituteofBuilding China EnvironmentandFacilityEngineering,School SaraZanni DepartmentofManagement, ofCivilEngineering,DalianUniversityof UniversityofBologna,Bologna,Italy Technology,Dalian,People’sRepublicofChina DiXu SchoolofChemistryand ChemicalEngineering,Chongqing UniversityofScience&Technology, Chongqing,China C H A P T E R 1 Introduction. Life cycle thinking Anna Mazzi Department ofIndustrial Engineering,University ofPadova, Padova, Italy 1.1 From the environmental concerns to a life cycle perspective Theissueofenvironmentalsustainabilityisofgreatinteresttoday(UNEP,2011).Thein- ternationalcommunityencouragescompaniestoadoptcleanerproductionsystemsandtech- nologies.Themarketseemstorewardenvironmentallyresponsibleorganizations,andmany companiesaroundtheworldareincreasinglybecominginterestedinenvironmentalissues, introducingthem as strategic variablesin their businesses. However,overtheyears,manyenvironmentalmanagementtoolshaveshownanimpor- tantlimit,thatisthereductionofenvironmentalimpactsofanorganizationoraprocessby allocatingthematothertimes,upstreamordownstreamofthesupplychain,thusincreasing the environmental loads of other subjects, such as suppliers, distributors, customers (O’Rourke,2014).Thisisbecausemanyenvironmentalmanagementtoolsobservetheenvi- ronmentalproblemfromasinglepointofview,theoneofthesingleorganization,whileen- vironmental problems are generated by different subjects that, together, contribute in a closely interconnected way to the overall environmental impact. With a physical point of view, the footprint of a product is the sum of the footprints of processes along the product supply chain in differenttimes andgeographicalareas (Hoekstra andWiedmann,2014). There are many examples of problem shifting, where solutions adopted to improve or solveatargetedproblemunintentionallyendupcreatingotherproblemsofenvironmental, economic, or social nature elsewhere for other stakeholders. To solve this loop, a life cycle approach mustbeadopted. Emerginginterestinmarketconcernsthegreensupplychainmanagement,whichexplores varioustypesofsupplychainrelationshipsandgovernance,encouragingasustainableman- agement of suppliers and distributors (Tseng et al., 2019). With a life cycle perspective, we considerthetotalityofthesysteminouranalysis,includingtheevaluationoftheproduct’s entire life cycle, with a long-term time horizon and a multidimensional view. Life cycle LifeCycleSustainabilityAssessmentforDecision-Making 1 Copyright#2020ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818355-7.00001-4 2 1. Introduction.Lifecyclethinking thinking(LCT)offersthistotality:acomprehensiveanalysisofthetopicitrequires,leadingto solutions for reducing impacts in anabsolute andnota relative way. AsshowninFig.1.1,aproduct’slifecyclecanbeginwiththeextractionofrawmaterials fromnaturalresourcesintheground,andwithenergygeneration.Materialsandenergyare thenpartofproduction,packaging,distribution,use,maintenance,andeventuallyrecycling, reuse, recovery, or final disposal. In each life cycle stage there is the potential to reduce re- source consumption andimprove the product’s performance. Thelifecyclemetaphorisborrowedfromthefieldofbiology.Forexample,thelifecycleof abutterflystartswithanegg,whichburstsandletsacaterpillarout,whichthenturnsintoa pupa,fromwhichabutterflyemerges.Thelattereventuallydiesafterlayingeggsforthecycle toberepeated.Inmuchthesamewayaman-madeobjectstartsitslifecyclebytheharvesting and extraction of resources, followed by production, use, and eventually management as waste,whichmarks the end of thelife cycle (Bjørn et al., 2018a). Tominimizeimpacts,fiveleverscanbeusedinpractice,fromalife-cycleperspective:life- time extension, dematerialization, manufacturing efficiency, substitution, and recovery (OlivettiandCullen,2018).That’swhywetalkaboutLCT.Decisionsmadeconsideringafull life cycle perspective and broader implications on the environmental, economic, and social pillarsof ahealthy planet,allow usto address unintended trade-offs betweenthese pillars, and focus attention on the key drivers of change. As a result, progress towards sustainable development isfaster andmore efficient than when decisions are isolated (LCI, 2017). Thinkingintermsofthelifecycle,businessesrecognizethateachchoicesetsthestagefor not only how the product will look and function, but also for how it will impact the FIG. 1.1 A typical product lifecycle dia- Natrual gram. Life Cycle Initiative, https://www. resources lifecycleinitiative.org/starting-life-cycle-thinking/ what-is-life-cycle-thinking/. Incineration and landfilling Extraction of raw materials Recovery Recycling of materials and components Disposal Design and production Reuse Use and maintenance Packaging and distribution 3 1.1 Fromtheenvironmentalconcernstoalifecycleperspective environment and the community as it is manufactured, used, disposed of, re-used, or recycled.Products can bedesigned sothey will have lessenvironmental impactwhen they aremanufactured,used,anddiscarded.Withalifecycleapproach,companiesareabletocal- culatethefulllifecyclecostofthegoodstheypurchase.Thisincludesthepoint-of-purchase price as well as the costs of transporting, storing, installing, cleaning, operating, repairing, and eventuallydiscarding those goods (Hall, 2019). Aswewillexploreinthisvolume,LCTisnotjustamethodologyofanalysis;wecancon- sideritaphilosophy,awayofobservingandreflecting,whichleadstoeffectivesolutionsfor overallimprovementofthesustainabilityofproducts,processes,andsystems.Thelifecycle approach promotes relevant innovations in designing, producing and using products and services, and it brings benefits to several stakeholders along the product supply chain; we have summarized some benefits inTable1.1. To make choices addressed to life cycle approach, designers, manufacturers, and sup- pliers need tools for assessing the sustainability of alternatives, in terms of preferability and feasibility. The market too needs clear and quantified information, so that consumers andbuyersareabletoevaluatethesustainabilityofalternativeproductsandmakeinformed TABLE1.1 MainbenefitsoftheadoptionofLCTtothestakeholdersalongtheproductsupplychain. Stakeholders LCTpromotes LCTavoids Designers Comprehensive,complete,andconsistentanalysis partialanalysisoftheenvironmental, ofallthefactorsthatcontributetotheimpactofthe economic,andsocialimpactsassociated product withsinglephasesofaproduct’slife cycle Designersand Identificationofsolutionsthatimprovetheoverall Identificationofsolutionsthatfixone manufacturers performanceofthesystem,whichincludesthe environmentalproblembutcause performanceofalltheactorsinthesupplychain anotherunexpectedorcostly environmentalproblem Marketingstaff Comparativeevaluationofalternativebusiness Inabilitytocomparedifferentdesign, anddesigners solutionsindesign,production,purchasing, production,andorganizational distribution,use,andend-of-life alternatives Consumersand Communicationofclearandconsistentinformation Communicationofmisleading market andcreatingawarenessinthemarket informationanddisorientationinthe market Wholesupply Improvementofentiresystems,notsinglepartsof Shiftofproblemsfromonelifecycle chainand systems stagetoanother,fromonegeographic community regiontoanother,andfromone environmentalitemtoanother Wholesupply Choicesforthelongertermandconsideringall Shorttermdecisionsthatleadto chainand relatedenvironmentalandsocialissues environmentaldegradation community Localand Investmentofeconomicresourcestosupportmore Wastageofinvestmentsinactionsthat international sustainableprojects donotimprovetheoverall governments environmentalperformanceorcreate inefficiencies 4 1. Introduction.Lifecyclethinking purchases.Moreover,localgovernmentsandinternationalinstitutionsmustbeabletohave comprehensiveandrobusttoolstoguidecompaniesandmarketstowardsmoresustainable productionandconsumptionbehavior.Allthesemeasurementneedsfindananswerinthe most important operational tool of LCT: life cycle assessment (LCA). This analyses the wholelifecycleofthesystemorproductthatistheobjectofthestudyanditcoversabroad range of impacts for which it attempts to perform a quantitative assessment (ISO, 2006b). LCA is an important assessment tool, as demonstrated by the central role it is given in en- vironmentalregulationinmanypartsoftheworldandthestrongincreaseinitsusebycom- panies all over the world (Hellweg and Mila` i Canals, 2014). The focus of LCA has mainly been on the environmental impacts although, as we will see in following sections, both so- cial and economic impacts can be included as well, with a more extended perspective known as sustainability assessment. During the last 30years, world leaders have explicitly recognized the need to change unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, and life cycle approaches play a keyrole.Demandforlifecycletoolshasincreased,primarilythankstonumerousactionspro- motedbyinternationalinitiativestosupporttheinclusionoflifecycleapproachesingovern- mentsworldwide.Atthesametime,inamarketperspective,bothcompaniesandcustomers are giving increasing importance to impacts evaluation of products and services with a life cycle perspective. Today, LCT is a fundamental theme that involves multiple sectors and bringstogethertheknowledgeofmanydisciplines.Itscurrentmaturityisduetoaprogres- siveevolutionovertheyears,intermsofpractices,methodologies,andpolicies.Thenextsec- tion describes thisevolution. 1.2 History of LCT In the 1930s, economists begin discussing the unsustainability of welfare in an economy thatusesnon-renewableresources(Hotelling,1931).Inthe1960s,attentiontowardsadverse environmental effects caused by environmental pollution increased and transparent and science-based information begin to be demanded by environmental scientists (Carsol, 1962). The first life cycle oriented study might be the one presented in 1963 by Smith in theWorldEnergyConferenceanditconcernedtheenergyrequirementsfortheproduction of chemical intermediates and products (Boustead, 2003). In this decade, the first life cycle studies in the United States and Northern Europe were conducted by some companies in thepackagingsector,inordertodevelopproductionsystemswithenergysavingandemis- sionsreduction.Thesestudies,carriedoutbylargecompaniesinanisolatedmanner,essen- tially focused on the firm’s environmental management, aimed at improving internal processes, without interest in communicating to stakeholders (Hunt et al., 1992). Early methods,inspiredbymaterialflowaccounting,werefocusedoninventoryingenergyandre- sourceuse,emissions,andsolidwaste.Withmorecomplexinventories,thefocuswasgrad- uallyextendedwithatranslationfromphysicalflowsaccountingintoenvironmentalimpact evaluations, as contribution to climate change, eutrophication, and resource scarcity (Bjørn et al., 2018b).
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