Sustainability Metrics and Indicators of Environmental Impact: Industrial and Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment

By Eduardo Jacob-Lopes, Leila Queiroz Zepka and Mariany Costa Depra

Sustainability Metrics and Indicators of Environmental Impact: Industrial and Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment covers trending topics on the environmental impact of systems of production, putting emphasis on lifecycle assessment (LCA). This methodology is one of the most important tools of analysis, as mathematical models are applied that will quantify the systematic inputs and outputs of the processes in order to evaluate the sustainability of industrial processes and products. In this sense, LCA is mainly a tool to support environmental decision-making that analyzes the environmental impacts of products and technologies from a lifecycle perspective.

The emergence of ever-larger global issues, such as the energy dilemma, the changing climate and the scarcity of natural resources, such as water, has boosted the search for tools capable of ensuring the reliability of the results published by the industries, and has become an important tool in order to achieve sustainability and environmental preservation. Thus, lifecycle assessment (LCA), including carbon footprint valuation is necessary to ensure better internal management.

• Provides guidance on environmental impacts and the carbon footprint of industrial processes
• Features guidelines in lifecycle assessment to support a sustainable approach, along with quantifiable data to support proposed solutions
• Includes a companion website with slides and graphics to quantity environmental impact and other metrics of lifecycle assessment

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Jul 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9780128236048

Eduardo Jacob-Lopes

Prof. Eduardo Jacob-Lopes is currently associate professor at the Department of Food Technology and Science, Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil. He has more than 18 years of teaching and research experience. He is a technical and scientific consultant of several companies, agencies, and scientific journals. He has more than 600 publications/communications and has registered 15 patents. His research interest includes biotechnology and bioengineering with emphasis on microalgal biotechnology.

Book preview

Chapter 1: Sustainability metrics and indicators through the life cycle assessment: A brief history

Abstract

This chapter aims to present the evolution of environmental analysis tools, as well as sustainability metrics and indicators. In addition, it explains the reasons that led to the development of an environmental tool in times of the industrial revolution. Finally, it briefly addresses the first steps of the life cycle assessment methodology and its trajectory until its application consolidation.

Keywords

Life cycle; Analysis tool; Timeline; Normative evolution; Sustainable evaluation

Population growth and the consequent intensification of industrial activities have sharply boosted the many environmental problems that exist in the world, including the extraction of natural resources and climate change. In view of this, political-governmental pressures were imposed on the industrial sectors, with the aim of improving environmental performance. Thus, definitions and concepts about sustainability have emerged, becoming a major apparent demand in the management of environmental systems.

Initially, at the beginning of the 20th century, environmental indicators were not part of the quantification of industrial processes. Therefore, the inputs and outputs of the systems were basically applied to the industrial sectors aiming the economy. However, once monetary requisition of the projects was demanded, reports were published with the first quantifications of energy inputs and outputs. These publications turned to a greater understanding of the interdependence of sectors, focused on a circular system model (Leontief, 1936).

Over time, with the industrial revolution in the mid-1960s, a series of agreements, conventions, and laws emerged with an interest in minimizing the effects of human activities on the environment. Faced with these challenges, it was important to assess the real environmental impact of economic development. Thus, preliminary research such as the Leontief focused exclusively on energy and resource analyzes (Smith, 1963).

Resource and environmental profile analysis (REPA) was developed to follow the production chain in an attempt to have a broad view of the life cycle of a given product (Hunt, Franklin, & Hunt, 1996). Thus, the application of this tool in the production of waste and in the use of energy was increasingly used by the private sector to better understand its production systems, insofar as the interest of public agencies also existed in the 1970s.

Among the leading private sectors in the use of this tool is the beverage industries. In 1969, a multinational beverage company commissioned the first study to examine the full environmental impact of a package, setting the framework for the life cycle assessment methodology used today (Guinee et al., 2010). The focus on life cycle management used by the company has enabled substantial advances in the use of sustainable recyclable materials. This ensures an improvement in production efficiency and effectiveness in the application of life cycle assessment.

Given this scenario, in the early 1990s, with the end of the confidentiality of private reports, and the rise of the development of the society for environmental toxicology and chemistry (SETAC) shaped the development of what is now known as life cycle assessment (LCA) (Fig. 1.1). Therefore, to standardize the stages of LCA application, the basic structure of LCA developed by SETAC presented the following arrangement: definition of objective and scope, inventory assessment, impact assessment, and interpretation (Fig. 1.2).

Fig. 1.1

Fig. 1.1 Timeline of the emergence of the life cycle assessment.

This figure addresses the evolutionary timeline of the life cycle analysis tool. Reproduced with permission from Crawford, Bontinck, Stephan, Wiedmann, and Yu (2018).

Fig. 1.2

Fig. 1.2 Structure basic for the application of the life cycle assessment methodology.

This figure represents the evaluation structure of the four main stages of the life cycle assessment.

Nevertheless, after standardization of the initial methodology, advances were presented in front of the series of ISO 14000 standards. Thus, the evolutionary of the life cycle assessment presented well-established steps in relation to the general principles, the targeting for the definition phases of objective and scope, inventory assessment, and how to compute the possible environmental data associated with human and industrial activities. In addition, the way in which the results were interpreted and the rules on how to present the data to the interested public were developed exclusively (Fig. 1.3).

Fig. 1.3

Fig. 1.3 Normative evolution of life cycle assessment.

This figure shows the advancement of the life cycle analysis tool over the years. In addition, it addresses the evolution of the standards for the standardization of the evaluation stages.

In this way, the chapters present in this book are intended to help provide a deeper understanding of challenges for the application of life cycle assessment tool aiming to establish the sustainability metrics and indicators. Thus, the main purpose of this book is to enable the reader to develop a clear and deep understanding of the fundamentals in the analysis of processes and products in the application life cycle assessment in industrial processes and agricultural systems. In addition, the chapters in this book are intended to contribute substantially to critical thinking in the application of this tool. Therefore, these objectives will be achieved through the presentation of a structural methodological basis of the life cycle assessment, which will allow the reader to continuously apply these approaches in a wide variety of problems of sustainable evaluation of the industrial processes and agricultural systems.

References and recommended reading

Papers of particular interest have been highlighted as:

• of special interest

•• of outstanding interest

•• Crawford R.H., Bontinck P.A., Stephan A., Wiedmann T., Yu M. Hybrid life cycle inventory methods—A review. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2018;172:1273–1288 This paper provides an overview of the different hybrid methods of life cycle inventory currently in use. In addition, it presents a detailed critical review, about how each method is applied and its specific strengths and weaknesses.

Guinee J.B., Heijungs R., Huppes G., Zamagni A., Masoni P., Buonamici R., et al. Life cycle assessment: Past, present, and future. Environmental Science and Technology. 2010;45:90–96.

Hunt R.G., Franklin W.E., Hunt R.G. LCA—How it came about. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 1996;1(1):4–7.

Leontief W.W. Quantitative input and output relations in the economic systems of the United States. The Review of Economic Statistics. 1936;18:105–125.

Smith H. Cumulative energy requirements for the production of chemical intermediates and products. In: World energy conference; 1963.

Chapter 2: Fundamentals of life cycle assessment: Definitions, terminology, and concepts

Abstract

This chapter aims to elucidate the main fundamentals of life cycle assessment (LCA). Besides, it details the step-by-step application of this environmental tool, elucidating the basic concepts and terminologies used. Also, through a rigorous compilation of information, it presents the stages of application of this tool through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). In addition, this chapter provides an overview of the applications of the LCA against the different assessment boundaries.

Keywords

Standard methodology; LCA phases; Inventory assessment; Environmental impacts; Data interpretation; System boundaries

The life cycle assessment (LCA) is basically a technique developed with the objective of optimizing methods to better understand and minimize the possible environmental impacts related to the environmental emissions associated with the production and consumption of products from industrial processes and agricultural systems.

More specifically, LCA is a methodology that assesses the environmental burden associated with a product, process, or activity, identifying and quantifying the uses and releases of energy and materials for the environment, and also aims to assess and implement opportunities for improvement. The evaluation includes the entire process life cycle, covering extraction and processing materials; manufacturing, transportation, and distribution; use, reuse, and maintenance; and recycling and final disposal.

This normative, developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), seeks to standardize and describe the structural principles and parameters for conducting and reporting on LCA studies. Thus, the main minimum requirements demanded include (i) the evaluation of environmental aspects and potential process-related impacts by compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs of a system; (ii) the assessment of potential environmental impacts associated with these inputs and outputs; and (iii) the interpretation of the results of inventory and impact assessment phases in relation to the study objectives.

However, for an integral evaluation, it is necessary that the main resources of the required methodology expand, presenting a more complex approach. This way, the main parameters of analysis are (i) to address LCA studies in a systematic and appropriate manner with respect to the environmental aspects of product systems, from raw material acquisition to final disposal, and (ii) the depth of detail and time frame of an LCA study can vary greatly depending on the definition of goal and scope.

The initial step in choosing the scope and their respective assumptions, methodologies, quality of data collection, and results of LCA studies should be extremely transparent. In addition, LCA studies should discuss and document data sources and communicate succinctly and appropriately. Some steps should be considered, depending on the intended application of the LCA study, to respect confidentiality and property matters (Crawford, 2011). Nevertheless, the LCA methodology should be accessible to the inclusion of new scientific discoveries and improvements in the state-of-the-art technology. Therefore, specific requirements must be applied to the LCA studies that are used to make a statement that is made public (Baumann & Tillman, 2004).

On the other hand, the environmental aspects and potential impacts throughout the life of a product, from the acquisition of raw materials to production, use, and disposal, are considered in LCA studies. In this way, LCA can help in (i) identify opportunities to improve the environmental aspects of products at various points in their life cycle; (ii) decision-making in industry, governmental, or nongovernmental organizations; (iii) selection of relevant environmental performance indicators, including measurement techniques; and (iv) market advertising as a result of an eco-label.

Given this scenario, since LCA adopts a comprehensive and systemic compilation for environmental assessment, ISO validated a standard as part of its 14,000 series, focusing on establishing methodologies for LCA. In this way, a four-stage interactive structure was proposed to perform life cycle analyzes. The four stages include (i) definition and scope of goals, (ii) inventory assessment, (iii) life cycle impact assessment, and (iv)