are used in decision-making processes, product development and marketing
activities. Many companies have a public corporate sustainability policy backed up
with commitments in the form of quantitative targets. LCA methodology may be
used as a tool supporting the identification of ‘hot spots’ in the value chain and
measuring progress towards sustainability targets. In practice, however, common
issues and challenges stand in the way of a full deployment of LCA methods in
industry. It is important for companies to find common ground on how to implement these approaches, which data and impact assessments to be used and how
results should be interpreted. ISO rules give a good basis for that work, though it is
not sufficient for several questions. For exchanging experiences, updating or
adopting methods, and generating data the International Sustainability Practitioners
Network (ISPN) was created in 2012. The ISPN is an exchange forum for LCA
methodology in the context of industry and comprises sustainability experts from a
range of different industry sectors. To share experiences from the different activities, examples of good practices of this cross-sectoral initiative and to discuss
opportunities for improving sustainability assessments within the companies are
introduced. This article highlights challenges and solutions in terms of data availability and uncertainty, streamlining and using standardization processes as well as
communication of results with non-LCA-experts.
1 Introduction
The International Sustainability Practitioners Network (ISPN) is a voluntary and
loosely associated network of sustainability experts and/or managers from large
industry organizations. It represents diverse product portfolios and its members
occupy very different positions in the value chain. The intention of ISPN is to
D. Morris
DSM, Het Overloon 1, 6411 TE Heerlen, Netherlands
N. Otte
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Henkelstrasse 67, 40589 Düsseldorf, Germany
G. Rebitzer
Amcor, Thurgauerstrasse 34, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
U. W. Schenker
Nestlé Research, Vers-chez-les-blanc, 26, 1000 Lausanne, Switzerland
D. Schowanek
Procter & Gamble, Brussels Innovation Centre, Temselaan 100, B-1853 Strombeek-Bever,
Belgium
G. Vollmer
Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Straße 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
A. Wathelet
Solvay, Research & Innovation, B-1120 Brussels, Belgium
352
A. Bednarz et al.
activities. Many companies have a public corporate sustainability policy backed up
with commitments in the form of quantitative targets. LCA methodology may be
used as a tool supporting the identification of ‘hot spots’ in the value chain and
measuring progress towards sustainability targets. In practice, however, common
issues and challenges stand in the way of a full deployment of LCA methods in
industry. It is important for companies to find common ground on how to implement these approaches, which data and impact assessments to be used and how
results should be interpreted. ISO rules give a good basis for that work, though it is
not sufficient for several questions. For exchanging experiences, updating or
adopting methods, and generating data the International Sustainability Practitioners
Network (ISPN) was created in 2012. The ISPN is an exchange forum for LCA
methodology in the context of industry and comprises sustainability experts from a
range of different industry sectors. To share experiences from the different activities, examples of good practices of this cross-sectoral initiative and to discuss
opportunities for improving sustainability assessments within the companies are
introduced. This article highlights challenges and solutions in terms of data availability and uncertainty, streamlining and using standardization processes as well as
communication of results with non-LCA-experts.
1 Introduction
The International Sustainability Practitioners Network (ISPN) is a voluntary and
loosely associated network of sustainability experts and/or managers from large
industry organizations. It represents diverse product portfolios and its members
occupy very different positions in the value chain. The intention of ISPN is to
D. Morris
DSM, Het Overloon 1, 6411 TE Heerlen, Netherlands
N. Otte
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Henkelstrasse 67, 40589 Düsseldorf, Germany
G. Rebitzer
Amcor, Thurgauerstrasse 34, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
U. W. Schenker
Nestlé Research, Vers-chez-les-blanc, 26, 1000 Lausanne, Switzerland
D. Schowanek
Procter & Gamble, Brussels Innovation Centre, Temselaan 100, B-1853 Strombeek-Bever,
Belgium
G. Vollmer
Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Straße 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
A. Wathelet
Solvay, Research & Innovation, B-1120 Brussels, Belgium
352
A. Bednarz et al.