Life cycle assessment 275
Probably more than any other issue, LCA has been guiding governance on
waste handling, also relating to organic material. Waste handling companies
have used LCA results to aid decisions on which treatment methods to
choose, where to place facilities or which vehicles to purchase for the transport fleet. In Norway, national authorities have used results from LCAs to
support policies on source separation and recycling of organic waste (Raadal,
Stensgård, Lyng & Hanssen, 2016; Syversen et al., 2018), and regulations on
food waste or the proposed revision of Norwegian Fertiliser Ordinance which
refers to two LCA studies (Hanserud, Lyng, Vries, Øgaard & Brattebø, 2017;
Modahl et al., 2016). Local authorities have used results from LCA to support
overall strategies for waste handling as well as decisions on the construction of
biogas facilities (Councilor of Vestfold, 2012).
There are several easy- to-use models for waste management based on
LCA, such as Orware and EaseTech (Gentil et al., 2010). These models are
based on the decision- maker providing numbers for a few important parameters, such as transport distances, waste composition and amounts of waste,
and getting results for various environmental impacts in return.
14.2.3 Detailed insights from life cycle assessment as results
The numerical results of the environmental impacts from a product, product
system or service are the obvious outcomes of an LCA. In many instances,
however, numbers themselves are not the most important results. The knowledge of the life cycle of a product or service is often sparse before the LCA is
conducted. LCA commissioning parties suddenly learn how their suppliers
are connected to global production systems and are often surprised to find out
which energy or material inputs turn out to be the most challenging with
respect to sustainability, or to find out that the real challenges in manufacturing are not part of their own product’s life cycle, but rather how other
products’ life cycles are affected. Similarly, companies learn more about the
use and the waste handling of their products. They may find out that by
increasing the environmental load from their own production – for instance,
through selecting a different material – other product life cycles may be
positively affected to an even greater extent, resulting in an overall lower
environmental load.
LCAs as results give benchmarks on which to base policies and strategic
targets. A single number gives a target or threshold that actors can agree upon
and use to steer activities. There is, however, a danger that LCA results may
conserve existing systems. For instance, results from LCAs comparing
different waste treatment options can lead to waste prevention disappearing
from sight. An even greater risk when presenting a number as an absolute
value is that all the information about how the number has been produced
gets lost. How the world is modelled determines the results, as we shall
explore more thoroughly in the following section on LCA as a method.
Probably more than any other issue, LCA has been guiding governance on
waste handling, also relating to organic material. Waste handling companies
have used LCA results to aid decisions on which treatment methods to
choose, where to place facilities or which vehicles to purchase for the transport fleet. In Norway, national authorities have used results from LCAs to
support policies on source separation and recycling of organic waste (Raadal,
Stensgård, Lyng & Hanssen, 2016; Syversen et al., 2018), and regulations on
food waste or the proposed revision of Norwegian Fertiliser Ordinance which
refers to two LCA studies (Hanserud, Lyng, Vries, Øgaard & Brattebø, 2017;
Modahl et al., 2016). Local authorities have used results from LCA to support
overall strategies for waste handling as well as decisions on the construction of
biogas facilities (Councilor of Vestfold, 2012).
There are several easy- to-use models for waste management based on
LCA, such as Orware and EaseTech (Gentil et al., 2010). These models are
based on the decision- maker providing numbers for a few important parameters, such as transport distances, waste composition and amounts of waste,
and getting results for various environmental impacts in return.
14.2.3 Detailed insights from life cycle assessment as results
The numerical results of the environmental impacts from a product, product
system or service are the obvious outcomes of an LCA. In many instances,
however, numbers themselves are not the most important results. The knowledge of the life cycle of a product or service is often sparse before the LCA is
conducted. LCA commissioning parties suddenly learn how their suppliers
are connected to global production systems and are often surprised to find out
which energy or material inputs turn out to be the most challenging with
respect to sustainability, or to find out that the real challenges in manufacturing are not part of their own product’s life cycle, but rather how other
products’ life cycles are affected. Similarly, companies learn more about the
use and the waste handling of their products. They may find out that by
increasing the environmental load from their own production – for instance,
through selecting a different material – other product life cycles may be
positively affected to an even greater extent, resulting in an overall lower
environmental load.
LCAs as results give benchmarks on which to base policies and strategic
targets. A single number gives a target or threshold that actors can agree upon
and use to steer activities. There is, however, a danger that LCA results may
conserve existing systems. For instance, results from LCAs comparing
different waste treatment options can lead to waste prevention disappearing
from sight. An even greater risk when presenting a number as an absolute
value is that all the information about how the number has been produced
gets lost. How the world is modelled determines the results, as we shall
explore more thoroughly in the following section on LCA as a method.