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• To strengthen the open dialogue between political and social groups
• To highlight the possibilities and limitations of corporate responsibility
• To promote sustainability concepts and CSR in the business community and
raise awareness of policymakers for framework conditions that promote innovation and competitiveness (econsense 2014 )
2.2 Life Cycle Inventory Data Platforms of Associations
Associations provide more and more data for LCA practitioners. Single LCI
information in a format that can easily be used and introduced to common LCA
software systems and is very helpful to generate complete LCA studies based on
average fi gures of the relevant industries.
PlasticsEurope ( 2011 ) promotes the use of life cycle thinking (LCT) to improve
understanding about product benefi ts and to take more informed decisions. As a
scientifi c method, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a technique to analyze the potential environmental impacts associated with a product, process or service. It involves:
• Compiling an inventory of energy and material inputs and environmental releases
• Assessing the potential environmental impacts associated with identifi ed inputs
and releases
• Calculating performance indicators to inform decisions
PlasticsEurope was the fi rst industry organization to assemble and publish
detailed environmental data on the processes operated by its member companies.
The fi rst Eco-profi le reports were published in 1993. Since then, more reports have
been added and continuously updated, so that there are now more than 70 Ecoprofi le reports freely available. In 2006, a complementary Environmental Product
Declaration (EPD) programme was started. Eco-profi les and EPDs cover high volumes, bulk polymers, some of the more widely used engineering plastics and several common plastics conversion processes (Boustead 1993 ). Widely acknowledged
among life cycle practitioners and other stakeholders worldwide as representative
datasets, they have been included in various commercial life cycle databases as well
as in the publicly available European Reference Life Cycle Data System (ELCD).
PlasticsEurope has clear objectives when compiling the Eco-profi le reports, representing European production averages:
• The fi rst is to place scientifi cally sound data in the public domain for use in product life-cycle studies, without compromising the confi dentiality of detailed process data of the individual companies.
• The second is to encourage environmental improvements in production processes through benchmarking against a European industry average.
• The third key factor is that, given the large contribution of upstream effects to the
Eco-profi le of a polymer and in view of the distribution of input materials, such
as ethylene or naphtha via the European pipeline network, industry averages are
the most robust representation of polymer production systems.
10 Sustainability Improvements and Life Cycle Approaches in Industry Partnerships
• To strengthen the open dialogue between political and social groups
• To highlight the possibilities and limitations of corporate responsibility
• To promote sustainability concepts and CSR in the business community and
raise awareness of policymakers for framework conditions that promote innovation and competitiveness (econsense 2014 )
2.2 Life Cycle Inventory Data Platforms of Associations
Associations provide more and more data for LCA practitioners. Single LCI
information in a format that can easily be used and introduced to common LCA
software systems and is very helpful to generate complete LCA studies based on
average fi gures of the relevant industries.
PlasticsEurope ( 2011 ) promotes the use of life cycle thinking (LCT) to improve
understanding about product benefi ts and to take more informed decisions. As a
scientifi c method, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a technique to analyze the potential environmental impacts associated with a product, process or service. It involves:
• Compiling an inventory of energy and material inputs and environmental releases
• Assessing the potential environmental impacts associated with identifi ed inputs
and releases
• Calculating performance indicators to inform decisions
PlasticsEurope was the fi rst industry organization to assemble and publish
detailed environmental data on the processes operated by its member companies.
The fi rst Eco-profi le reports were published in 1993. Since then, more reports have
been added and continuously updated, so that there are now more than 70 Ecoprofi le reports freely available. In 2006, a complementary Environmental Product
Declaration (EPD) programme was started. Eco-profi les and EPDs cover high volumes, bulk polymers, some of the more widely used engineering plastics and several common plastics conversion processes (Boustead 1993 ). Widely acknowledged
among life cycle practitioners and other stakeholders worldwide as representative
datasets, they have been included in various commercial life cycle databases as well
as in the publicly available European Reference Life Cycle Data System (ELCD).
PlasticsEurope has clear objectives when compiling the Eco-profi le reports, representing European production averages:
• The fi rst is to place scientifi cally sound data in the public domain for use in product life-cycle studies, without compromising the confi dentiality of detailed process data of the individual companies.
• The second is to encourage environmental improvements in production processes through benchmarking against a European industry average.
• The third key factor is that, given the large contribution of upstream effects to the
Eco-profi le of a polymer and in view of the distribution of input materials, such
as ethylene or naphtha via the European pipeline network, industry averages are
the most robust representation of polymer production systems.
10 Sustainability Improvements and Life Cycle Approaches in Industry Partnerships