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Sustainability Assessment andManagement tools
Tutorials
Tutorial 1
1. Goal Definition for Christmas Trees
You are asked to conduct an LCA to help make a decision about Christmas trees. Which option is
better for the environment: a single-used real tree or a reusable plastic tree?
You received this assignment from the European Commission, which wants to develop the criteria for
eco-labelling on all Christmas tree products.
1. Formulate the goal of your study, thinking about the four aspects defined by ISO 14044.
The goal of the study is to investigate whether the option of a single-used real tree or a reusable
plastic tree the better choice is for the environment. To find out which tree better is can be done
according to the four aspects defined by ISO 14044, namely:
1. Goal and scope definition. The aim of this is to determine the collection of data and they way
in which the system is modelled.
2. Inventory analysis. The aim is collecting information about the physical flows in terms of input
and output.
3. Impact assessment. Is divided by selection of impact categories, classification of elementary
flows, characterisation, normalisation and weighting (grouping) supports.
4. Interpretation. The aim is to answer the question of the goal definition and considers both
results of inventory analysis and impact assessment.
By taking these steps into consideration you create a LCA framework for your goal and taking the Eco-
labelling according to the European Commission in to account.
The goal of this LCA is to compare the environmental impact of Christmas trees from wood and made
from plastics. The results will be used by the European Commission to develop criteria of Eco-
labelling in order to promote the most environmental friendly Christmas tree products.
2. What kind of decision context could be identified for your LCA? If you also intended to
perform this LCA based on the ILCD guidelines, which type of LCA is this, A, B or C?
Type B: meso/macro level decision support and strategic. This is so because a decision on Christmas
trees for the whole European Union would imply structural changes at a meso/macro level, i.e. the
sector of Chrismas trees in every country should adapt to the changes.
3. What do you think are the important assumptions for this LCA you will probably make?
May need to make assumptions for e.g. the lifetime of the plastics trees, the waste management of
the trees, that decorations in both cases would be the same.
4. What is the function of a Christmas tree? Do you think a real Christmas tree and a plastic tree
serve the same function? Why?
A Christmas tree has a decorative function: in this function they are probably equivalent (provided
that the artificial Christmas tree is convincing). Cultural function: may not be equivalent since for
some cultures/families, a natural tree may be an important tradition. Such a choice could be
subjective. There is probably no right or wrong about this. An LCA practitioner should be aware of this
subjective judgement from the very beginning.
1
,2. Goal and scope of pet food
The Dutch manufacturer of pet products EcoCanine wants to know the environmental impact of their
dog food. In particular, they want to compare the environmental impacts of their main dog food
product (their star product) with the dog food product of different brands. They have been
implementing many sustainability measures in their production process and would like to estimate
the environmental gains achieved with respect to their competitors, and then also use this
information for marketing purposes. Their main dog food product is sold in bags of 4.5 kg, which
contain enough food to provide the daily caloric and nutritional requirements of an average dog for
15 days. An average dog’s weight is 15 kg. The packaging bag of this product is made of biobased
plastic (PLA) and weighs 200g. You are requested to do an LCA for EcoCanine following the ISO 14040
standards.
A) Define the goal of this LCA (indicate what, why, for whom, is it disclosed to the public?)
The goal of this LCA is to identify if the environmental impact of the packaging of EcoCaines’ dog food
is more sustainable then their competitors. So compare EcoCaines’ own dog food with different
brands.
To compare the environmental impacts of the main dog food product of EcoCarine with the dog food
product of other brands in order to estimate and advertise their environmental superiority. The user
of this LCA results is therefore the company involved (EcoCaine). The ruslts will be disclosed to the
public (through marketing)
B) Define the scope of this LCA, including (initial) system boundaries, the modelling approach,
the temporal, geographical and technological scope, and the impact categories to be
assessed. (Check the slides of the G&S lecture and/or the LCA book chapter 8)
Scope definition determines what product systems are to be assessed and how this assessment
should take place.
The aim is to ensure and document the consistency of methods, assumptions and data and
strengthen the reproducibility of the study.
The scope of this LCA is to include the system boundaries which are using biobased plastic (PLA) in
ecosphere and cradle-to-grave.
Approach: attributional
Impact categories: all the impact categories recommended by PEF/ISO (or ILCD, or any complete
method that includes a comprehensive list)
Temporal, geographical and technological scope: present (i.e., data collectied as well as the results
obtained in the analysis would represent conditions in 2023), Netherlands (data on factories , use and
disposal in European facilities) and current technology.
C) Define the function of the analysed product and the functional unit of this LCA
Functional unit are the packaging of the bag, the amount of dog food, the average weight of dogs and
the nutritional requirements.
Functional Unit (FU): To serve the recommended daily caloric and nutritional requirements of an
average dog (or a dog of approx. 15kg) for 15days (another good option is 1 day)
D) Define the main reference flows (type b)
4.5kg of dog food * 200g of PLA in the form of plastic bag
Or 300g, if choosing 1 day in the FU * (200g/15=13.33g plastic if 1 day in the FU)
2
, 3. Functional unit of storage tanks
The pressure of the public water supply is low in many areas of Bangkok, and many people install a
private pumping and storage system in their own houses in order to maintain a constant water supply
at a reasonable pressure. Due to increasing environmental concerns, some people have started to
think about how water can be delivered with the lowest environmental impact and resource usage.
Two storage tanks will be compared from an environmental point of view. Both tanks have an internal
volume of 2 m3. There are two alternatives:
• Storage tank A: Material: plastic (HDPE: High Density Poly-Ethylene). Weight 35 kg. Expected
lifetime: 15 years.
• Storage tank B: Material: stainless steel. Weight 48 kg. Expected life time 30 years.
a) Determine the functional unit.
The functional unit is to deliver water storage for households at a reasonable pressure per volume of
2m3 for 30 year
Functional unit: storage of 2m3 water for 30 years
b) Determine the reference flows of the two alternatives
Storage tank A: 2*35kg of plastic per 15 year
Storage tank B: 48kg of stainless steel per 30 years
Storage tank A: two plastic storage tanks of 35kg with an internal volume of 2m 3
storage tank B: one stainless steel storage thank of 48kg with an internal volume of 2m 3
4. Goal and scope definition for biodiesel
Biodiesel is a fuel made out of plants or animals used to provide energy to diesel engines. A Dutch
technological company is developing a new way to produce biodiesel from microalgae. High
production yields of microalgae have raised economic interest but it is still unclear for the company
whether the production of biodiesel from microalgae is environmentally interesting with respect to
other diesel production routes (e.g. petroleum diesel* or biodiesel made out of vegetable oil). They
also wonder which transformation steps within the production process need improvements in order
to be environmentally favourable. The technological company is currently hiring a group of LCA
consultants to answer their questions on the environmental impacts of their new biodiesel.
Answer the following questions considering the recommendations of the ISO LCA standards.
a) Define the goal of this study
The goal of this study is to compare the environmentally impact on the production of diesel fuels of
microalgae to the already existing biodiesel fuels of plants or animals.
The goal of this LCA is to compare the environmental impact of biodiesel from microalgae to other
diel production routes and find improvement points (hotspots) in the production process. The results
will be used by a Dutch technological company because it is unclear whether this biodiesel is
environmentally interesting. It will not be a comparative assertion disclosed to the public.
b) Define the function of the product system and functional unit
Function of the product system is to define the most efficient and environmentally diesel production
routes.
The functional unit highest production yields of diesel production routes.
The function of the product system is to provide biodiesel, a fuel to use as aenergy source in diesel
engines.
The functional unit would be “1 MJ of fuel for diesel engines””
3
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