Cássia Maria Lie Ugaya

A UNEP/SETAC approach towards a life cycle sustainability assessment: our contribution to Rio+20

PurposeTo contribute to the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in 2012 by introducing a life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) and showing how it can play a crucial role in moving towards sustainable consumption and production. The publication, titled Towards a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, and published by the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative aims to show how three life cycle techniques—(environmental) LCA, S-LCA and LCC—can be combined as part of an over-arching LCSA.MethodsThe method was demonstrated by evaluating the characteristics of each phase for each life cycle technique. In defining the goal and scope of an LCSA, for example, different aspects should be taken into account to establish the aim of the study as well as the functional unit, system boundaries, impact category and allocation. Then, the data to be collected for the life cycle sustainability inventory can be either in a unit process or on an organisational level. They can also be quantitative or qualitative. Life cycle sustainability impact assessment should consider the relevance of the impacts as well as the perspective of stakeholders. The interpretation should not add up the results, but rather evaluate them jointly. In order to clarify the approach, a case study is presented to evaluate three types of marble according to the proposed method.Results and discussionThe authors have identified that while LCSA is feasible, following areas need more development: data production and acquisition, methodological development, discussion about LCSA criteria (e.g. cutoff rules), definitions and formats of communication and dissemination of LCSA results and the expansion of research and applications combining (environmental) LCA, LCC and S-LCA. The authors also indicate that it is necessary to develop more examples and cases to improve user capacity to analyse the larger picture and therefore address the three dimensions or pillars of sustainability in a systematic way. Software and database providers are called for in order to facilitate user-friendly and accessible tools to promote LCSAs.ConclusionsThe application demonstrated that, although methodological improvements are still needed, important steps towards an overarching sustainability assessment have been accomplished. LCSA is possible and should be pursued; however, more efforts should be made to improve the technique and facilitate the studies in order to contribute to a greener economy.

Application of LCSA to used cooking oil waste management

PurposeUsed cooking oil (UCO) is a domestic waste generated as the result of cooking and frying food with vegetable oil. The purpose of this study is to compare the sustainability of three domestic UCO collection systems: through schools (SCH), door-to-door (DTD), and through urban collection centres (UCC), to determine which systems should be promoted for the collection of UCO in cities in Mediterranean countries.MethodsThe present paper uses the recent life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) methodology. LCSA is the combination of life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing, and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA).Results and discussionOf the three UCO collection systems compared, the results show that UCC presents the best values for sustainability assessment, followed by DTD and finally SCH system, although there are no substantial differences between DTD and SCH. UCC has the best environmental and economic performance but not for social component. DTD and SCH present suitable values for social performance but not for the environmental and economic components.ConclusionsThe environmental component improves when the collection points are near to citizens’ homes. Depending on the vehicle used in the collection process, the management costs and efficiency can improve. UCO collection systems that carry out different kind of waste (such as UCC) are more sustainable than those that collect only one type of waste. Regarding the methodology used in this paper, the sustainability assessment proposed is suitable for use in decision making to analyse processes, products or services, even so in social assessment an approach is needed to quantify the indicators.Defining units for sustainability quantification is a difficult task because not all social indicators are quantifiable and comparable; some need to be adapted, raising the subjectivity of the analysis. Research into S-LCA and LCSA is recent; more research is needed in order to improve the methodology.

Subcategory assessment method for social life cycle assessment. Part 1: methodological framework

PurposeThe aim of this work is to propose an objective method for evaluating subcategories in social life cycle impact assessment (S-LCIA). Methods for assessing subcategories have been available since 2006, but a number of these either fail to include all the subcategories envisaged in the guidelines for S-LCA (UNEP/SETAC 2009) or are subjective in their assessment of each subcategory.MethodsThe methodology is characterized by four steps: (i) the use of the organization as unit process, in which it was decided to assess the social profile of the organization responsible for the processes involved in the product life cycle, (ii) definition of the basic requirement to assess each subcategory, (iii) definition of levels based on the environment context or organizational practice and the data availability and (iv) assignment of a quantitative value.Results and discussionThe result of the method applied was the development of the subcategory assessment method (SAM). SAM is a characterization model that evaluates subcategories during the impact assessment phase. This method is based on the behaviour of organizations responsible for the processes along the product life cycle, thereby enabling a social performance evaluation. The method, thus, presents levels for each subcategory assessment. Level A indicates that the organization exhibits proactive behaviour by promoting basic requirement (BR) practices along the value chain. Level B means that the organization fulfils the BR. Levels C and D are assigned to organizations that do not meet the BR and are differentiated by their context. The greatest difficulty when developing SAM was the definition of the BR to be used in the evaluation of the subcategories, though many indications were present in the methodological sheets.ConclusionsSAM makes it possible to go from inventory to subcategory assessment. The method supports evaluation across life cycle products, thereby ensuring a more objective evaluation of the social behaviour of organizations and applicable in different countries.RecommendationsWhen using SAM, it is advisable to update the data for the context environment. The method might be improved by using data for the social context that would consider not only the country, but also the region, sector and product concerned. A further improvement could be a subdivision of the levels to better encompass differences between organizations. It is advisable to test SAM by applying it to a case study.

Life Cycle Inventories of Gold Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Activities in Peru

No life cycle assessment (LCA) of artisanal and small‐scale mining activities (AS A&Sma occurred mostly in Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. The aim of this study is to estimate environmental indicators using methodologies for life cycle inventories (LCIs) in one of the two largest producers of gold through A&Sma in South America, Peru, and to discuss possible indicators for A&Sma in South America. Different functional units were used for each case study, as gold with different concentrations was produced and it was not possible to collect data for downstream processes for both bases. The product systems start in the mining and end with the gold production. Data were collected in two mining sites and, later on, related to the functional units. The results showed the amount of energy and water consumed as well as mercury used and released, carbon dioxide (CO) emissions, and solid wastes for each type of gold produced.

An ontology building approach for knowledge sharing in product lifecycle management

A great difficulty regarding the management of information systems is the fact that much of the knowledge available within organisations can only be found in a non-structured form. Consequently, one of the major problems faced by industry is the low degree of interoperability (capacity that a system presents of sharing and interchanging information and applications). This problem is even more serious when considering an entire product lifecycle, where several pieces of software are involved in allowing the organisation of product lifecycle management (PLM). One of the most promising approaches in addressing these issues is the structuring of formal ontologies. This article presents an ontology proposal for facilitating knowledge and information sharing, with the ultimate aim to ensure a transparent interoperability between systems used for the interchange of information throughout an entire product lifecycle.

An Italian tomato “Cuore di Bue” case study: challenges and benefits using subcategory assessment method for social life cycle assessment

PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to present an implementation of the subcategory assessment method (SAM) to the life cycle of an Italian variety of tomato called “Cuore di Bue” produced by an Italian cooperative. The case study was used to use the methodology proposed in compliance with the guidelines of social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) in order to highlight issues for the improvement of SAM. A summary of strengths and weaknesses of the methodology as well as the social performance of the considered Italian tomato is an important result of this case study.MethodsThe methodology used is based on SAM. The UNEP/SETAC guidelines of S-LCA and the complementary methodological sheets were used as main references to carry out SAM, and it was used to assess the social performances of Cuore di Bue. The focus was on the assessment of the following three out of five stakeholder groups presented in the guidelines: workers, local community and consumers. Specific questionnaires have been developed to collect the inventory data related to each stakeholder group and along the product life cycle.Results and discussionSAM of Cuore di Bue showed a range of values, between 2 and 3 (C-B) for consumer stakeholder group and mainly 3 (B) for the local community and worker stakeholders. Because the best performance (A) is related to a numerical value of 4, better performances were not identified, owing to no propagation of actions in the value chain. The collective bargaining, transparency, feedback mechanism and privacy are the subcategories with the worst performance, but at the same time with more potential for improvements.ConclusionsThe implementation of SAM on Cuore di Bue allowed us to demonstrate how SAM transforms qualitative data into semi-quantitative information through a score scale that can help a decision maker achieve a product overview. SAM has been implemented on Cuore di Bue; the product assessment, the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology are identified and discussed as well. It has been possible to present the best and worst performances in product life cycle, by identifying the phase or the subcategories with good or bad performance. However, in this case study, as the same company owns most of the product life cycle taken into account, the majority of social performances are identical, and this may represent a limit of the methodology or that more organisations along the life cycle must be taken into account (for example, energy, distribution).

Mainstreaming Life Cycle Sustainability Management in Rapidly Growing and Emerging Economies Through Capacity-Building

Professionals in companies in industrialised countries as well as consultants and academics working for these companies have acquired capabilities in life cycle sustainability management (LCSM). Actors in emerging economies are beginning to develop those capacities as well, supported by training programmes. This chapter highlights the work of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative which has worked toward strengthening LCSM/LCA capacities worldwide since its creation in 2002; presents the current conditions for mainstreaming LCSM following an analysis of available knowledge and infrastructure in 18 rapidly growing economies (including least developed countries, rapidly growing and emerging economies) based on four criteria; and discusses the results and proposes a framework to develop LCSM capacities and provides conclusions and an outlook with recommendations. As some capacities in a number of emerging economies are beginning to consolidate, the implementation and changes of current practices toward improved performance by implementing LCSM remain insufficient.

Life cycle thinking in Brazil: challenges and advances towards a more comprehensive practice

Life cycle thinking (LCT) has evolved rapidly in Brazil in the last 10 years, as a result of the commitment of stakeholders from the public and private sectors. It has emerged in research institutions, such as the Federal University of Technology of Paraná (UTFPR), University of Brasília (UNB), and University of São Paulo (USP), which continuously contribute to its development in the country. Other key factors also contributed to this advance, such as the launch of the Brazilian Life Cycle Assessment Program (PBACV) and the valuable contributions provided by the Life Cycle Assessment Project of the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (IBICT), the National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology (INMETRO), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), the Brazilian Life Cycle Association (ABCV), and numerous researchers at the academic level. In the private sector, the establishment of the Brazilian Enterprise Life Cycle Network (REBACV) became a turning point, revealing the engagement and growing interest of private companies in applying LCA as a tool to address the sustainability of their products. As part of the effort to contribute to the progress of LCT in Brazil, the VBrazilian Congress on Life CycleManagement (V CBGCV), promoted by ABCVand organized by EMBRAPA, UTFPR, and IBICT, took place in Fortaleza, Brazil, from September 19 to 22, 2016. The overall goal was to discuss existing good practices and the adaptation of LCA to the Brazilian socioeconomic and environmental context; experience which may potentially be shared with other tropical regions around the world. The thematic embraced aspects such as life cycle inventory (LCI), life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), social life cycle assessment (SLCA), ecodesign, green procurement, and communication, as well as discussed the strategic planning of LCT.

Subcategory Assessment Method for Social LCA: A First Application on the Wine Sector

This chapter presents a Subcategory Assessment Method (SAM) which aims to support and normalize the Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) case studies regarding subcategory assessment. The method enables the social profile of the organizations involved in the processes along the product life cycle, using a four-level scale for each subcategory. SAM was applied in a small winery; it showed that for most of the subcategories the company did not reach the basic requirement. However, in some cases, simple changes could improve their performance. The results of the case study showed that it was possible to collect data and to evaluate the company using SAM. S-LCA is as time and work demanding as (environmental) LCA. SAM could be also implemented for the entire product life cycle. Future development of SAM could be the method expansion to other stakeholders and subcategories listed in the UNEP and SETAC (2009) guidelines, adapting the basic requirement for each of them.

Ontologia PLM Project: Development and Preliminary Results

A great difficulty regarding the management of information systems is the fact that much of the knowledge available inside the organizations only can be found in a nonstructured form. As a consequence, one of the major problems faced by the industrial segment, including capital goods industries, is the low degree of interoperability (capacity that a system presents of sharing and interchanging information and applications). This problem is even more serious when considering the whole product lifecycle, where several pieces of software are involved to allow the organization of PLM (Product Lifecycle Management). One of the most promising approaches to address these issues is the structuring of formal ontologies. This paper presents the preliminary development of an ontology (called Ontologia PLM Project), that aims to ensure a transparent interoperability between systems used for the interchange of information through the whole product lifecycle. This project is focused on the capital goods industry and encompasses eight domains of application (DA). A group of specialists is responsible for analysing each DA. At the moment, the DA’s have defined the set of related classes and are involved in inserting properties and restrictions. Finally, a small set of axioms has been implemented allowing verifying the preliminary behaviour of the proposed ontology.