LCA - Life Cycle Assessment

A Tool For Strategic Decision Making
Introduction – What is LCA

Cradle to Grave
Gate to Grave
Cradle to Gate
Gate to Gate
Raw material Customer

Manufacturing Disposal
extraction Use
Recycle/
Reuse 1. Identifying purpose and
setting battery limits
2. Quantifying energy, raw
Cradle to Cradle material inputs and
environment releases
• LCA is a tool to assess the potential
environmental impacts at all stages of the 3. Impact on human
life cycle of a product health and environment
4. Reducing energy,
• Cradle to Cradle concept operates on the material inputs and
principle of nature that, ‘there is no waste on environment impact at
earth’ and ‘waste=food’ every stage
Why LCA?
Minimize
total Innovation
Global
What is Environment
economy-
measured Regulation impact
can be
improved
Cost
Strategic Significance
Conserve reduction
Resources
Sustainability
Company
value and
WHY Risk
identity LCA? Development
avoidance
of Ecofriendly
Technology
Revenue
Stakeholder generation
s demand Holistic look
at present Recycle &
for more
and future Reuse of
Information
scenario waste and
emissions Brand
building
USE OF LCA FOR STRATEGIC
DECISION MAKING BY
COMPANIES
Life cycle assessments (LCA) for
Cost Reduction
• Use of lightweight material in manufacturing the A6 3.0 TDI

• The new A6 3.0 TDI Quadro is 80 kgs lighter than its predecessor
• Savings in weight reduction to compensate for the additional effort and
expense incurred to manufacture lightweight material
• Attaining substantial cost effectiveness from contribution to environmental
sustainability
Cost Reduction
• Reduced per capita energy consumption by 40% and per capita water
consumption by 34% using radiant cooling technology
• Changed the way buildings are designed and operated
• New buildings which consume 66% less energy and 40% less water, at no
extra capital cost
• Cost savings of $55 million over last 5 years
• Current goal to reduce per capita electricity consumption by 50% from
2007-2008 levels and to source all electricity needs from renewable
resources by the end of 2017
* Data as on 2014
Risk Avoidance (Environmental)
Emission hotspot identification in coke ovens
Considered Environmental impact categories
LCA process (gate-to-gate approach) has been

applied to identify the emission hotspots in the
coke ovens at Tata Steel's Jamshedpur works
Flow diagram of system boundary for a coke plant
Acidification potential (SO2 Global warming potential in Human toxicity potential in the
emission) in the coke plant the coke plant processes coke plant processes
processes
• LCA strategies adopted in Tata Steel, Jamshedpur to reduce the risks of

higher total global warming potential due to emissions from coke ovens
Brand Building
To ask less of the planet, we’re asking more of ourselves
77% Apple eliminated toxins and develop new safer materials

Manufacturing
17%
1% Product
Recycling Usage
1% 4%
Corporate Product
facilities Transportation
• In 2015, started continual improvement journey with

suppliers conducted 34 energy audits at supplier facilities
by 2016
• Suppliers committed to use only renewable energy
• Encouraging more customers to recycle their old devices
• Aims to power corporate facilities with 100% renewable
energy
• Apple decreased carbon emissions per product every
year since 2011
• Apple has emerged as an Iconic Brand due to its
Sustainability initiatives
Brand Building and Process Efficiency
• Godrej has taken up LCA studies on all their

products
• Developing Godrej LCA database for all
manufacturing processes involved and material
compositions for more consistent evaluation of
environmental impacts
• Cascading life cycle
• Using LCA as decision making tool for process
thinking to vendors
efficiency improvement
and Shifting LCA
• Collaborations with suppliers or third party tie requirement in early
ups for research and development of green phase of design and
material capacity building
Innovation
Comparative study of Electric V/s Conventional Cars
• The chart compares

emissions for Conventional
and Electric cars, in a
cumulative manner with
production, use, and end-of-
life (EOL) treatment.
• EV’s: More environmentally
intensive in production
phase
• Break Even Kms Run:
• Mini Car : 70,000 Kms
• Medium Car: 65,000 Kms
• Larger Car: 50,000 Kms
• Luxury Car: 40,000 Kms
• Improvements in regard to Global Warming Potential and Terrestrial Acidifications : Appropriate energy sources .
• Counterproductive to promote EVs in regions where electricity is produced from oil, coal, and lignite combustion.
• Electriﬁcation of transportation to be accompanied by a sharpened policy focussing on LCA to counter potential
setbacks in terms of water pollution and toxicity.
• EVs are poised to link the personal transportation sector together with the electricity, the electronic, and the metal
industry sectors in an unprecedented way.
• Developments of these sectors must be jointly and consistently addressed in order for EVs to contribute positively
to pollution mitigation efforts.
Revenue Generation
 has a long term sustainability

goals that they have been consistently
achieving
 In spite of the same their revenue

has been on a consistent level of
growth
 Customer surveys revealed that more and more customers are inclined toward
environment friendly products and LCA has been instrumental in higher brand
recognition leading to better top line growth
DfE– Designed For Environment
Product design philosophy that aims at generating minimum waste

during product's cradle-to-grave life cycle during production,
marketing, distribution, use, and disposal
• Most of HP’s environmental footprint occurs in the supply
chain and product use. Together, these phases account for
94% of HP’s carbon footprint and 93% of our water
footprint
• Since 1992, company has focused on specific
environmental impacts through their Design for
Environment (DfE) program
DfE Focused on
• Energy Efficiency Reduce the
• Material Innovation energy
Increase
• Services recycled and required to
Increase manufacture
• End-of-life options recycled and recyclable
content with and use
Make recyclable products
content with lower env.
responsible
lower env. impact
return and
recycling impact
easier
Extended Producer Responsibility
Extending producer’s responsibility to post consumer stage of a product’s

life cycle
• Closed loop recycling • Common Threads:

system - high grade objective - every
aluminum scrap article of clothing
recycled recyclable.
• Cost-free take-back • Materials: Hemp,
networks for ELVs. organic cotton,
• Postconsumer recycled polyester.
detergent containers • Reduces carbon
into automotive and energy impacts
components. ~80%.
• Recycled materials : • Slow Fashion:
seat fabrics, durable and
components and conducive for
carpets. second hand market
• Who Pays - Customer or Company?

• Creating a shared economy through inter-corporate partnership
• Role of Regulations - E- Waste (Management) Rules, 2016
Conclusion
• The heightened awareness of the importance of environmental
protection and the possible impacts associated with products-
Manufactured and Consumed, has increased the interest in the
development of methods such as LCA to comprehend and reduce these
impacts, in addition to its use as a strategic decision making tool
• If LCA is to be successful in supporting environmental understanding

of products, it is essential that policymakers maintain the technical
credibility of LCA, while providing flexibility, practicality and cost
effectiveness of application, particularly when applied to small and
medium enterprises

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What are the different stages of a product's life cycle according to LCA?

What are the different stages of a product's life cycle according to LCA?

What are some benefits of conducting LCA for companies?

What are some benefits of conducting LCA for companies?

A Tool For Strategic Decision Making

Introduction – What is LCA

Raw material Customer

• Use of lightweight material in manufacturing the A6 3.0 TDI

LCA process (gate-to-gate approach) has been

• LCA strategies adopted in Tata Steel, Jamshedpur to reduce the risks of

77% Apple eliminated toxins and develop new safer materials

• In 2015, started continual improvement journey with

• Godrej has taken up LCA studies on all their

• The chart compares

 has a long term sustainability

 In spite of the same their revenue

Product design philosophy that aims at generating minimum waste

Extending producer’s responsibility to post consumer stage of a product’s

• Closed loop recycling • Common Threads:

• Who Pays - Customer or Company?

• If LCA is to be successful in supporting environmental understanding

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