SUSTAINABILITY
Preserving Europe ' s natural � capital
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Clean , reliable & affordable energy
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Financing the transition
Another relevant application in which LCA plays an important role is ecodesign . This relies on an approach in which the environmental aspects given by LCA outputs are taken into account in the design process of a product , tackling environmental insights of production , use and end-of-life .
One of the latest applications of LCA is the environmental footprint methodology , promoted by the EC , in which a reviewed version of LCA is applied to different specific sectors to develop new inventory datasets , calculation methods and interpretations .
The industrial chemicals and plastics industries are unique in that the perception of their societal and environmental impacts is often worse than they actually are . While those within the industry are aware of its strict product stewardship practices and safety and environmental records , this information is not always disseminated in the public sphere .
LCA can contribute to the quantification of the environmental impacts of modern chemical production techniques and translate them in an understandable way to experts and non-experts . In addition , since the industry has been blamed
Transition to a circular
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Farm to fork
Transformation or
Towards a modernised and simplified Common Agricultural Policy
Leave no one behind ( Just transition )
Figure 3 - LCT , LCA & PEF / OEF within the EU Green Deal & related policies initiatives
for overexploitation of resources and pollution release , the environmental footprint methodology plays an important role , by analysing and quantifying environmental impacts of the undertaken processes to reduce its environmental significance .
Current use patterns
One of the most complete literature reviews , by Santos et al . looked at how LCA was applied in the chemical sector up to 2018.4 They found that that most of the LCA studies ( 73.9 %) assessed commodity chemicals on comparative assessments in relation to the productive scheme and comparison of different raw materials and management solutions . In this line , cradle-to-gate system boundaries are the most significant ( 82.6 %). This is mostly motivated by comparative assessment between different production systems with similar use .
In relation to the LCA step , the most assessed impact category is global warming , considered in 93 % of the studies . Other groups considered are ecological class , toxicity for human health and non-renewable energy consumption . A smaller number of them considered not converting LCI into environmental impacts , delivering
results based on CO 2 emissions or life cycle energy emissions . 82 % of the studies consider a hotspot analysis , while 50 % consider a sensitivity analysis .
From that , the authors identified various research and evolution opportunities , such as more cradle-tograve studies , in order to fully address the environmental significance of use and end of life phases of the product , and also including a normalisation step to help determine the most critical impact categories . Last but not least , they also encouraged the producers to invest in LCA assessment for polymers and basic inorganics , due to its high volume of production .
Wider applicability
The LCA methodology is also achieving acceptance outside industry . Sala et al . developed a screening on the historical evolution of LCA studies performed in European policies from 1990 to 2020.5 From that , they found that application of LCA , life cycle costing ( LCC ) and PEF form the basis of life cycle thinking ( LCT ) and that LCT is becoming more widely accepted , thanks mainly to the Ecolabel Regulation of 1992 and the European Green Deal of 2019 ( Figure 3 ).
The EU is a frontrunner in the implementation of LCT and LCA in policies . The Ecolabel Regulation , the Green Claims Directive and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive ( CSRD ), to name a few well-known examples , will further increase the importance of the need to implement LCA in product and corporate strategies . Thus , the LCA method is a powerful tool for industry and especially the chemical sector , considering the possibilities it can offer and how closely it is linked to the upcoming policies of the EC . ●
References : 1 : Eurostat , Production & consumption of chemicals by hazard class . Available at : https :// ec . europa . eu / eurostat / databrowser / view / env _ chmhaz / default / table ? lang = en & category = env . env _ chm . Last check May 2024 2 : Eurostat , Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector : https :// ec . europa . eu / eurostat / databrowser / view / env _ air _ gge __ custom _ 11071487 / default / table . Last check May 2024 3 : International Organisation for Standardisation [ ISO ], 14040:2006 . Environmental management . Life Cycle Assessment . Principles & Framework 4 : A . Sants , A . B . Barbosa-Póvoa & A . Carvalho , Curr . Opin . Chem . Eng . 2019 , 26:139-147 5 : S . Sala , A . Martino Amadeo , A . Beylot & F . Ardente , F . Int . Journ . Life Cycle Assessment , 2021 , 26:2295-2314
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Joan Berzosa
LCA ANALYST
KNOELL IBERIA jberzosacorbera @ knoell . com www . knoell . com
46 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE