State of the art of LCA in business

Diana Aragn, Eric Mieras

November 17th, 2014

Agenda
What is the state of the art of LCA in business
The challenges LCA practitioners face
Approach to seize the full potential of LCA

Experience with LCA is growing

Most companies have over 5 years of
experience

Support from a wide range of service firms

Tool developers

Less than a year

Between 1 and 5 years

Environmental consultants

Between 5 a 10 years

More than 10 years

General management consultants (e.g. Deloitte, E&Y, KPMG)

Universities
Other (Please specify)

5%

19%
13%

28%

21%

32%
25%

41%

16%

Data collection is time consuming

Data collection tools

Most used databases

70%

68%

56%

36%
29%
23%
22%

19%

18%

15%
11%

14%
11%
4%

ERP

Intranet

Email

In person

Other

60 hours is the average time that companies spend on a LCA study

Variety of ways to use LCA

Type of LCA

Communication of LCA results

77%

59%

51%
45%
49%

25%
18%
10%

Screening LCA Full product LCA Detailed LCA

Other

12%

Presentation

Report

Intranet

Website

Other

Position of LCA in companies

Top Management awareness

35%
34%

LCA team reports to

44%
57%

11%
7%
6%
4%
2%

YES

NO
Sustainability Research &
Product
Marketing
department development development

Other

Supply Chain Operations

Average 3 people in the team

Success factors for LCA departments

Intrapreneur who pushes LCA activities

Committed Top Management

A long-term environmental commitment

The development of internal know-how

Other technical departments are involved

The establishment of internal

communication channels

Frankl and Rubik, 1999 and Frankl, 2000

Innovation and performance are important drivers for LCA

Strategic objectives
55%
52%

33%
30%

28%
25%

23%

23%

15%

Research &
development

Social /
Environmental
Performance

Product
Innovation

Marketing

Product
Development

Process
Innovation

Planning

Production

Service
Innovation

13%

Other

LCA substantiates sustainability

Benefits
57%

55%
52%

36%

24%

23%
20%

11%

0%
Scientific footing

Informed
decision-making

Respond to
customers

Enhances your Risk management Higher efficiency

brand

Lower costs

Increase revenues

Little or no
benefit

LCA will be used more and more

Future plans for using LCA

Future plans for LCA applications

Increase the use of LCA

Explore new applications

Decrease the use of LCA

Reduce current applications

Continue using it with the current frequency

Continue with the current applications

40%

43%

55%

58%

2%

2%

Agenda
What is the state of the art of LCA in business
The challenges LCA practitioners face
Approach to seize the full potential of LCA

Challenges for integration of LCA in business

1

Intrapreneur for LCA

Long-term management
commitment to sustainability

Link LCA with business objectives

Shared language and

communication channels

Jointly explore new applications

Main findings from Round Tables 2013 & 2014

More influence as LCA
expert

Department specific
communication

How to use LCA for

different departments

More sector process

data

Supply chain
involvement

Data collection
optimization

Data (collection)
optimization

Data management tools

2013

2014

All departments could benefit from LCA

Products

value creation

Innovation

Sustainable
products
(impact
Products
driven)
New products
Brand leadership

Processes

R&D

LCA

Performance

More sustainable
products
R&D
Supports
decision-making

Strategic planning

compliance

Defining and
monitoring
KPIs
Strategic
planning
Sustainable
decision making
General planning

Supply chain

Reporting

Sustainable
processes
Processes
New processes
and partnerships
Industry leader

Services

Comparison of
alternatives
and
Supply chain
processes
Performance
improvements
Supplier reviews /
procurement

Risk management
Investor
relations
Finance
Financial
performance

Meeting client
expectations
Marketing
Labeling
Brand strategy

CSR

Inspired by: (Moro Piekarski et al, 2013)

Sustainable
services
Services
Alternative
services
Product-service
systems

Marketing

Finance

integrated

Improving
sustainable
CSR
performance
Input to decision
making
Reporting

ad hoc

they all have their own specific needs

Show business value of

sustainability/LCA

Increase efficiency in
delivering LCA

Create focus to meet

goals

Measure impacts of
products and processes

Communicate
sustainability efforts
and report on results

Generate insights in
hotspots and link to
business objectives

Set KPIs and monitor

progress

Sound and robust

methodology and
software

Improvement
opportunities for
operational
performance
Supply chain
engagement on
sustainability, including
supplier reviews

Meet customer needs

and behavior
Enhance brand
reputation
Substantiation of
marketing claims

Understand hotspots
and support product
design
Compare scenarios and
products on impact
Quick insight in impact
of (material) changes

Labeling of products

Understand hotspots
and support decisions

Collection of data to
get recent and specific
data

Data collection from

suppliers

Input for product

innovation

Deliver value to
customers and business
through (more)
sustainable products
and services

Agenda
What is the state of the art of LCA in business
The challenges LCA practitioners face
Approach to seize the full potential of LCA

Top-down and bottom-up are not aligned

Corporate

Sustainability
KPIs

??

Projects

Improvement
opportunities
Different language

Product

Project goals

Hotspots

??

LCA results

Combine top-down and bottom-up approaches

Corporate

Sustainability
KPIs

Improvement
Projects

Product

Hotspots

LCA results

KPIs
Sustainability KPIs on corporate, business unit and
department level:
Energy, water, CO2

Overall KPIs for the business:

Revenue, innovation, costs, reputation

Strategic ambitions:
E.g. Industry leader in sustainability
Driven by mission and vision

Projects / improvement opportunities

Determine potential solutions and prioritize actions around
most significant issues or benefits:
Product or process specific:
Product A, Product group B, etc.
Process X, Process Y, etc

Topic specific:
Biodiversity, Climate change, Energy efficiency, Deforestation, Toxic
materials, Greenhouse gases, Fossil resources, Land use, Material
efficiency, Resource efficiency, Packaging, Waste, Water

Location specific:
Production plant, stores, warehouses, etc.

Hotspots
Identify issues of concerns on a product (group) level
Pinpoint where the biggest impact is:
Life cycle stages:
Resource extraction, transport, production, use, end of life

Impact categories:
Environmental and/or social

Specific processes, materials, locations or suppliers

Take the lead in connecting the dots

Create overview of business and project KPIs plus hotspots
Link product level with business level:
Bring together insights on sustainability on organizational and product
level;
Identify hot spots overlap, blind spots and sweet spots.

Bring together different departments and identify

intrapreneur/champion(s):
Verbalize ambitions;
Set targets and steer as group.

Select right tools:

LCA where possible, or other approaches if needed;
Map ecosystem of software/tools in use.

Explore new opportunities to create value

Eric Mieras, Diana Aragn

Managing Director
mieras@pre-sustainability.com
Intern & Urban Environmental Management Master student
aragon@pre-sustainability.com