Life Cycle Assessment in practice - Exploring the work surrounding the Nouryon eco-footprint
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Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Publicerad
2021
Författare
Algestrand, Gustav
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an emergent tool for assessing sustainability in industry
by providing environmental performance data of products. While there is a large variety
of standards available, as well as scientific knowledge of how to perform LCA
calculations, there is little such information on how to structure the work and organization
surrounding LCA, so called Life Cycle Management (LCM) or life cycle practice, i.e.,
how to manage data, what actors to involve, in what format to communicate the results
etc. The aim of this work has been to provide insights in how LCA is practiced in industry,
focusing on the company Nouryon, which has a long history of driving the sustainability
agenda in the chemical industry by using LCA and what they refer to as Eco-footprints
of products. First, the sustainability organization was mapped, in order to determine the
prerequisites for practicing LCA at the company and the carrying out of eco-footprints,
but also to acknowledge barriers and areas of improvements. Second, a comparison was
made with external standards for environmental market communication, primarily
Environmental product declarations (EPD) and the Product environmental footprint
(PEF), in order to identify and evaluate aspects important to address in the Nouryon ecofootprint
methodology. Lastly, suggestions on how to approach the identified barriers and
areas of improvement as well as incorporating relevant aspects were presented. The
outcome of this work may therefore act as a basis for further, more detailed measures for
standardizing the internal work surrounding eco-footprints at Nouryon but may also
provide valuable insights on life cycle practice to the LCA community as a whole.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Life Cycle Assessment , LCA , Life Cycle Practice , Life Cycle Management , LCM , Product Environmental Footprint , PEF , Environmental Product Declaration , EPD