Meeting business and government needs Angeline de Beaufort 2 , - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

LCM2007 - 3rd International Conference on Life Cycle Management; Zurich, August 27-29, 2007

Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment:

Meeting business and government needs

Angeline de Beaufort2, Raffaella Bersani3, Werner Bosmans1, Clare Broadbent4, David Cockburn10, Christian Leroy6, Jan Manders9, Freddy Marechal7, David W. Pennington3, Jörg H. Schäfer6, Aafko Schanssema7, Henrike Sievers5, Ladji Tikana5, Anne-France Woestyn1, Marc-Andree Wolf3, Michelle Wyart-Remy8

1 DG ENV, 3 DG JRC (European Commission) 2 FEFCO, 4 EUROFER, 5 ECI, 6 EAA, 8 IMA-Europe, 7 PlasticsEurope, 9 CEWEP, 10 ACE - (EU-level

business associations, members of the European Business Advisory Group of the European Platform on LCA)

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

• Introduction Joint Research Centre (JRC)
• Principles of Life Cycle Thinking (LCT)
• Drivers in government and in business
• Meeting the needs
• Stakeholder involvement
• The European Business Advisory Group
• Outlook
• Instead of a summary...

Agenda

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

… to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for

the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies. As a service of the European Commission,

the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Union. Close to the policy-making process, it serves the common interest

• f the Member States, while being independent of special

interests, whether private or national. DG JRC Mission Statement

Introduction JRC

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

The key components of Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment

• Avoid the "shifting-of-burdens" among life cycle phases (i.e. production, use, end-of life)

and among countries and regions --> Consider the complete life cycle of the product (good or service)

• Avoid the "shifting-of-burdens" among impacts on natural environment, human health,

and natural resources (i.e. consider trade-offs among impacts on climate change, human toxicity, acid rain, fossil fuel depletion etc.) --> Consider all relevant impacts jointly

• Allow for detailed comparisons and gradual improvements --> Quantify the impacts

along the life cycle and for all relevant impacts in a joint methodological frame

• Avoid misleading comparisons --> Compare on basis of a "functional unit" i.e. of the

quantitative performance of the analysed product, services, technology LCT/LCA is a concept that enables to bring different information into perspective LCA is complementary to other tools and information !

Principles of LCT

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

Production phase Use phase End-of-Life phase Life Cycle Phases:

Extraction of raw material A Extraction of raw material B Production of parts Extraction of raw material C Production of intermediates Utilisation /

service provision

Energy recovery Material recycling Energy carrier extraction Production

• f electricity

Land filling

...

... ...

Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment

Material and energy resource consumption, land use Climate change, Acidification, Summer smog, Human toxicity, Ecotoxicity, Eutrophication, Ozone layer depletion, Radioactive releases, ...

Environmental and health impact modelling Resource depletion

Life Cycle Inventory

Emissions Resources Principles of LCT

Production of final product

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

Framing policies (support-mandate given to JRC for European Platform on LCA)

• Sustainable Consumption and Production Action Plan, SCP (devel. on-going)*
• Thematic Strategy on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste (2005)
• Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources (2005)
• Communication on Integrated Product Policy, IPP (2003)
• …

Specific policies and other activities

• Sustainability Assessment of Technologies, SAT (devel. on-going)
• Eco-label and EMAS regulations (on-going revisions)
• Framework Directive on Waste; Waste Directives (on-going revisions)
• Directive on Eco-design for Energy-using products, EuP
• Environmental Technologies Action Plan Communication, ETAP
• Green (public) procurement, GPP
• Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (national implementation)
• …
• EU's FP7 research projects link to ELCD-conform LCAs (waste, nanotechnologies)

* New (homepage and on-going stakeholder consultation): http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/escp_en.htm

Life cycle related policies in the EU

Drivers in government and business

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

Similar needs in business and government towards the deliverables of the European Platform on LCA

Drivers in government and business

• Increase quality / appropriateness, comparability, acceptance, and defendability of life cycle

methods, data, and studies

• Ensure the use of up-to-date real industry data
• Achieve coherent use of life cycle data and methods accross policy instruments
• Guarantee that confidentiality / competitive interests of industry are met
• Increase cost-effectiveness of LCA (data, methods, work flow)
• Contribute to more science-based policies
• Ensure embedding of LCA into a wider method tool-box and into business tools
• Identify and communicate limits of LCA to avoid its misuse
• Support development of meaningfully simplified life cycle approaches

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

Mandate of the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment

European Commission, Integrated Product Policy Communication (IPP), 2003: "LCA is the best framework for assessing the potential env. impacts of products but debate ongoing about good practice" → "The European Commission will develop ... → Handbook on best practice; best attainable consensus among stakeholders → Co-ordination to make data more accessible and systematically collected → Directory of LCA databases to be updated at regular intervals → Platform to facilitate communication and exchanges"

Meeting the needs

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

Supporting Business and Government in Europe:

European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment

Project initiation and coordination: European Commission, DG JRC with DG Environment Initial phase: 2005 to 2008 Key customers: European Business - EC services - Member States Deliverables:

• European Reference Life Cycle Data System (ELCD)
• Handbook of recommended LCA practice
• LCA information hub and communication platform

Online at http://lca.jrc.ec.europa.eu

Meeting the needs

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

• Enhanced ELCD core database (with reference LCI data and elementary flows)
• Recommended life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) factors and guidance document
• LCA handbook of recommended methods (online)
• Review requirements
• ELCD format finalisation / finetuning; data exchange testing
• Further developed ELCD online-system
• Expanded LCA Resources Directory, terminology, intro-texts etc.
• Further harmonised and reviewed ELCD core data sets
• Facilitating independent WWW-network of ELCD-consistent databases (with ELCD core

database as one element)

Overview of specific deliverables and activities (on-going work / support contracts)

Meeting the needs

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

ELCD core database and LCA Resources Directory (latest update May '07)

Access, download: http://lca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/lcainfohub/

Meeting the needs

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

Network of consistent, but independent LCA databases - from industry, national LCA project, consultants, and research groups, with the European Commission’s ELCD core database as

• ne component. To start from mid 2008 onwards.

(See EC's operating system at http://lca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/lcainfohub/datasetCategories.vm)

Wider, high quality and consisent LCA data system

Meta-Data

Inputs/Outputs

LCA practitioners in industry, government, research, consultancy, ...

National DB 3

Meta-Data

Inputs/Outputs

EC's ELCD DB

Meta-Data

Inputs/Outputs

Association DB 2

Meta-Data

Inputs/Outputs

Industry DB 5

Meta-Data

Inputs/Outputs

Consultant DB 9

Meeting the needs

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

• "EC-internal Steering Group" (Commission services, EEA, CEN/CENELEC) and "IPP

Regular Meeting" (Member States, Consumer and Green NGOs, EU industry)

• "European Business Advisory Group" of LCI data providing European-level industry

associations (9 members: ACE, CEWEP, EAA, ECI, EUROFER, FEFCO, IMA-Europe, MARCOGAZ, PlasticsEurope; 12 potential further members in discussion, more foreseen)

• "LCIA Method Developers Advisory Group" of developers providing their impact factors

documented in the ELCD format (6 members: developers of CML 2001, Eco-indicator 99, EDIP97 and EDIP2003, EPS, Impact 2002+, LUCAS, ReCiPe)

• "LCA Tool and Database Developers Advisory Group" of tool and database developers,

that implement an import/export interface to the ELCD data format into their systems (15 members: developers of BREEAM, CMLCA, EcoSME, EDIP, EIME, GaBi, KCL-Eco, LCA- Evaluator, LCAit, LEGEP, MIPS, SimaPro, UMBERTO)

• International co-operation with National LCA database projects via MoUs and with the

UNEP/SETAC LC Initiative seeked and partly on-going Purpose: Improve quality and harmonisation status of deliverables ("best attainable consensus") before they go to public stakeholder consultation; support dissemination

Early stakeholder involvement

Stakeholder involvement

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

• The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE)
• Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe (PlasticEurope)
• Confederation of the European Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP)
• European Aluminium Association (EAA)
• European Copper Institute (ECI)
• European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER)
• European Federation of Corrugated Board Manufacturers (FEFCO)
• Industrial Minerals Association Europe (IMA-Europe)
• Technical Association of the European Natural Gas Industry (MARCOGAZ)

Frontrunning industries as members of the European Business Advisory Group:

The European Business Advisory Group

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

Provisional plans for the European Platform on LCA (2008 - ...)

• "Waste guidance documents" - Life cycle based guidance documents in enhancement of

the waste hierarchy

• "Decoupling Indicators" - Life cycle based Decoupling Indicators for the EU
• "Support of SCP with methods and data" - Support of communication of life cycle

information; support of meaningfully simplified LCA; databasis

Outlook

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

Benefits of harmonised Life Cycle Thinking approaches and data

• Higher consistency and quality of LCA studies
• Greater acceptance of LCA studies among stakeholders
• Lower costs due to reduction in need for methodologically different data

collection and documentation, and repeated consultations among companies, associations, member states, EC

• Bringing LCT into more policies allows flexible implementation and

measures by private sector, as overall improvement is the goal, not the many single emission limits; focus on most cost-efficient measures

→ Key in Sustainable Consumption and Production → Key in the continuous improvement process of private businesses

Life Cycle Thinking in EU Policy context

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

Why should we as industry support the European Platform on LCA with LCI data and advice, as member of the Business Advisory Group)?

• To bring in our perspective into the development of a harmonised method

basis for life-cycle related EU policies (LCA methods, review process, impact factors, etc.)!

• To avoid, that in LCA studies done by others (including government),
• ld/wrong data is used for our products (i.e. reflecting less environmentally

sound production 10 to 15 years ago)!

• To strengthen life cycle thinking in the EU as a key approach towards more

coherent and flexible environmental policies!

• To save costs for otherwise repeated and conflicting life cycle data collection,

studies and consultations!

• To prepare a harmonised basis also for other life cycle applications:

Environmental Product Declarations, Carbon footprinting / label / offsetting, Clean Development Mechanism, Joint Implementation, ...!

Instead of a summary ...

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LCM2007, August 27-29 Life Cycle Thinking and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment - lca@jrc.it -

Contact:

European Platform on LCA EC, DG JRC, IES, H05 T.P. 460 Via-E-Fermi 1 21027 Ispra (VA) Italy E-mail: LCA@jrc.it Platform project , ELCD core data, LCA Directory: http://lca.jrc.ec.europa.eu

Thank you very much for your interest and time!