James A. Fava

LCA’s theory and practice: like ebony and ivory living in perfect harmony?

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is recognized as a trustworthy, scientific while understandable approach to address the environmental sustainability of human activities. It is applied for multiple uses in internal and external information supply and for decision support. However, LCA application in practice must fulfill three basic criteria: (1) It must be reliable in order to ensure the credibility of information and results generated, (2) it must fit into existing information routines and practices in business to ensure applicability, and (3) it must provide quantitative and relevant information to inform decision makers. Over the last two decades, LCA methodology and related data have become a suitable and professional

Life cycle initiative: a joint UNEP/SETAC partnership to advance the life-cycle economy

Building awareness of life-cycle thinking and its value will be an important first step towards creating more sustainable forms of consumption and production. We have come a long way—even though the public may not have heard of it as ‘life-cycle thinking’. Articles in the popular press, which elude to life-cycle implications, are beginning to surface. For example, George F. Will (Newsweek, May 6, 2002) describes the ‘most politically correct product’ as being Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. But he also goes on to mention that their ice cream is “made in a factory that depends on electricity-guzzling refrigeration, and the a gallon of ice cream requires eight gallons of milk. While making that much milk, a cow consumes a lot of water plus three pounds of grain and hay, which is produced with tractor fuel, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides, and is transported with truck or train fuel.”

In reply to hertwich & pease, Int. J. LCA 3 (4) 180 — 181, “ISO 14042 restricts use and development of impact assessment”

Life Cycle Impact Assessment describes indicators and does not predict actual impacts. The value of an LCA is its comprehensive review of all stages of a product’s life cycle and its synoptic view of all relevant environmental issues. The current version of the 14042 draft describes the uniqueness of Life Cycle Impact Assessment approach which is distinct from other assessment techniques. The wording was designed to help users of the standard understand how and why LCIA is distinct from other assessment methods.In closing, we would like to highlight our opinion that the present document on the level of a DIS is sound, stable and practical within the ISO 14040 series of standards. We do not agree withHertwich & Pease that the present document prevents the use of LCIA. It makes a choice regarding the exclusion of weighting across categories in order to prevent misuse in deriving inappropriate claims. And for characterisation it has achieved a well founded synthesis. In addition, we strongly believe that this standard will stimulate the international scientific discussion of LCA and will substantially contribute to enhanced and more valuable applications of LCA in the future.

Life-cycle critical review! does it work?

This paper describes the incorporation of an independent review process into a life-cycle inventory (LCI) study. The peer review process was the first application of the three-stage review of an LCI. The three stages are: Review of the Goal and Scope Definition, performed when the study plan has been established; Review of the Data-Gathering Methodology, performed after the data have been collected; and Review of the Final Report, performed after the draft report has been written. The purpose, process, and benefits of the review are discussed. Examples of benefits include the incorporation of a process to select ancillary materials for inclusion in the study, and a sensitivity analysis rationale.

Thank You, Walter: A tribute to Prof. Dr. Walter Klöpffer

In the late 1980s, while employed by Battelle, I spent a few days at the Frankfurt, Germany, office and laboratory. I met this gentleman who was soft spoken, yet clearly extremely knowledgeable. When he spoke, he had such significant substance in his messages that folks listened. He talked about his experience with fate and effects of chemicals on the environment, with an evolving focus on exposure and environmental assessment. He wondered how that experience might be applied to products. He also spoke about some work their office had been doing in life cycle product analysis. Our Battelle laboratory in Columbus, Ohio, had also been experimenting with and exploring a similar concept in mass balance. This experience ultimately led me to chair a SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) Workshop which resulted in the report “Technical Framework for Life Cycle Assessment” (Fava et al., 1990). It turned out that Walter and his team were already exploring that space (Oberbacher et al., 1996). Our long standing collaboration and friendship was born. As the field of LCA advanced and more researchers investigated LCA methodology, impact assessment and database development to name two, there were few places where LCA publications could be published. Without a source for research to be published, the ability for LCA researchers to share and learn from each other was limited. Walter identified this gap. Walter’s visionary position of striking new ground for an International Journal of LCAwas viewed initially with skepticism. In the early 1990s, LCA was a fledgling concept that was just beginning to be realized as a potentially powerful tool to support the understanding of the full range of impacts over the entire life cycle of a product system. Walter was right. There was a gap in publishing LCA-related work. Walter had the commitment and ability to inform and influence the founding of the Journal. More importantly, he was persistent and resilient in his unwavering ability to respond positively to the “doubting Thomas’s” with a “Yes we can!”—and he did. Throughout the 1990s, the LCA community grew rapidly and expanded from a tool used mainly by consultants and industry toward studies in universities. For PhD students and young professors, it was important to have a recognized journal accepting LCA papers. Together with assistance fromMrs. Almut Heinrich, whomWalter considered the “heart and soul” of the Journal (Klöpffer, 2012a, b), the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment was born in 1996. It has grown steadily over the years. Since 2008, the Journal has been published by Springer. It now produces 12 issues per year. The 3-year Impact Factor for 2015 is a respectable 3.324. During those early days of LCA, the community was always addressing the criticism about the quality of the LCA studies and publications. Walter broke ground with advancing the LCA study peer review process, which was ultimately called the critical review process (Klöpffer 1997, 2005, 2009, 2012a, b, 2013). As a result, the quality of LCA studies were improved. He also transferred that scientific rigor and commitment to quality to the review of LCA papers to be published in the International Journal of LCA. He did not forget the importance of his own scientific advancement and continued to publish. His later interests expanded beyond * James A. Fava jim.fava@anthesisgroup.com