Building consensus Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) indicators and methods

40 LCA experts, domain experts and LCA users in governments, industry, NGO gathered late January 2016 in Valencia, Spain, for a one-week Pellston Workshop™ on “Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment Indicators and Methods”.

Their goal was to reach consensus on recommended environmental indicators and characterisation factors for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) in the areas of global warming, water use impacts, land use impacts on biodiversity, particulate matter as well as overall LCIA framework and crosscutting issues. The results achieved during the week by far exceeded the rather high expectations of the participants.

Next steps include harmonisation of the contents of the different chapters, review process and preparation of the final document. The official launch of the Valencia Guidance on LCIA is scheduled for the Eco-balance Conference 2016 in October in Japan.

Read the full article.

Freudenberg South Africa (textile industry): Using life cycle approaches to adapt to new markets

As their regular textile market had shrunk in the region, Freudenberg South Africa had to shift to more dynamic textile markets. With the support of the UNEP / SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, they took this change as an opportunity to improve their supply chain, strengthening collaboration with their suppliers. The results: a successfully modified product mix with improved competitiveness and sustainability.

Read the full case study.

EDIGRÁFICA (Brazil, graphic arts industry): Reducing waste and costs

Eco-labels and certifications have become non-negotiable requirements for the printing industry. EDIGRÁFICA, an ISO 14000 certified Brazilian graphic arts company, decided to implement a life-cycle approach with support from the UNEP / SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. During the project, 95% of the company’s production was assessed. The results: the company significantly reduced its paper waste and related costs, while integrating a life cycle vision within the company’s culture.

Read the full case study.

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Enhancing the implementation of life cycle thinking in public policies

The Brazilian Institute for Information in Science and Technology (Ibict) is a national centre for information in science, technology, and innovation. Its main mission is to promote the competence, the development of resources and the infrastructure of information on science, technology and innovation. Ibict and UNEP co-organise the 5th Meeting of the International Forum on LCA Cooperation, titled “Global LCA Access”, will be held in Brasilia, Brazil, 14-16 March. This Forum will be a major opportunity for government officials from all over the world to meet and contribute to better policy coherence for sustainable development based on life cycle approaches. Successful experiences in implementing Life Cycle Assessment in policies will be shared. The Global Network of Interoperable LCA databases”, a government initiative participated by UNEP, will also meet to determine ways to make consistent LCA data more widely available.

Read the full article.

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Life cycle thinking in public policies: ask your questions online!

From 18 to 22 March, Cecilia Leite, Director of the Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology (Ibict) in Brazil, will answer all your questions online about enhancing the implementation of life cycle thinking in public policies, towards better policy coherence for sustainable development.

This UNEP’s “Ask an expert” session will occur just after the “Global LCA Access” held in Brasilia, Brazil, from 14 to 16 March (see A look inside section), and will be the opportunity to discuss the outcomes of this major event. More information here.

ILCM 2016: call for abstracts

The abstract submission deadline is 15 July 2016 for the 5th edition of the Indian Conference on Life Cycle Management (ILCM), which will be held from 17-18 October in New Delhi. Theme and focus areas include:

• life cycle thinking to achieve resource efficiency
• business benefits of eco-innovation
• pathways to circular economy
• life cycle inventory databases as fundamental necessity for sustainable production and consumption.

More information here. 

Ecobalance 2016: extension of the abstract submission deadline

The deadline for abstract submission for Ecobalance 2016, the theme of which is “Responsible value chains for sustainability” has been extended to 14 March 2016.

Some topics are particularly sought after - is your area of expertise one of them? More information here.

Call for co-chairs and experts for the Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs)

The planned FAO-LEAP partnership work is relevant and very much complementary to the work of the flagship 1b on “Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment Indicators and Methods”. In this sense, the Life Cycle Initiative is glad to strengthen our good collaboration with LEAP, and to share their call with the LC Community.

The deadline for applications is 16 March 2016. ToRs and contact details to apply here.

Results of LC Net readership survey

Thank you very much for all readers who responded to our online survey! We will use this very precious feedback to improve our newsletter.

The main conclusions are that the newsletter is much appreciated as a practical tool to keep informed about conferences, publications, training material, abstract submissions and updates on life cycle impact assessment indicators and data. Many of you nonetheless would appreciate longer and more in-depth contents. The need for more case studies (see the "Life Cycle in Action" section above with Freudenberg and Edigráfica cases) was unanimous. Great interest was also expressed in focuses on business sectors or country/regional policies - we're working all the improvements and suggestions!