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agement of the purchased product itself is essentially beyond the influence of the
producer of the analyzed products. The authors derive that there is no requirement
to integrate such consequences outside the analyzed product into its analysis. To
provide data on the environmental performance of a product over its life cycle is the
essential step for developing more sustainable products. It is also a core contribution, when looking at products from the consumption perspective. However, if the
consumption of products is the viewpoint of the analysis or the evaluation of lifestyle concepts, additional components should be added to the analysis: This methodological extension to the consumption side and the secondary consequences that
consumption decisions cause is the main scope of this chapter.
There is, however, another aspect where the consumption perspective goes
beyond the product-perspective: expanding from the product’s functional unit to the
contribution to human needs fulfilment.
3
This aspect will at least briefly be addressed
in this chapter.
This chapter hence aims at providing an overview of the secondary consequences of
consumption and the products’ contribution to the human’s needs fulfilment. This
draws on the works of Hofstetter et al. (2006), Weidema (2008), Girod et al. (2010) and
others, and ends in an outlook of recommended next steps to further develop, differentiate, and deploy LCA as a tool that equally well supports efforts towards sustainable
consumption as it already supports decisions on sustainable production and products.
Still, both perspectives “product” and “consumption” initially serve exclusively
the concept of relative sustainability, i.e. of better efficiency. To expand the view to
absolute sustainability, one needs to bring in further elements, e.g. breaking down
the planetary boundaries (Rockström et al. 2009) to the individual citizen’s environmental impact budgets. This next step is not part of this chapter.
2 Secondary Consequences of Consumption Decisions
2.1 Overview
This section provides an overview of the secondary consequences that purchase, use
and end-of-life of a product can induce outside the actual product system itself.
These consequences go beyond functional relationships with other products, i.e.
beyond part-system and system-system relationships that are part of regular product
LCA, and which are described in the ILCD Handbook, Chap. 7.2.2.
The following consumption-induced secondary consequences and aspects
that modify them can be differentiated (compiled from Becker 1976; Eyerer and
Wolf 2000; Hofstetter et al. 2006; Weidema 2008; Girod et al. 2010, with
additions):
3 The authors build here on the concept of human needs developed by Maslow (1954) and expanded
by Max-Neef (1991) and others over the following decades.
13 From Sustainable Production to Sustainable Consumption
agement of the purchased product itself is essentially beyond the influence of the
producer of the analyzed products. The authors derive that there is no requirement
to integrate such consequences outside the analyzed product into its analysis. To
provide data on the environmental performance of a product over its life cycle is the
essential step for developing more sustainable products. It is also a core contribution, when looking at products from the consumption perspective. However, if the
consumption of products is the viewpoint of the analysis or the evaluation of lifestyle concepts, additional components should be added to the analysis: This methodological extension to the consumption side and the secondary consequences that
consumption decisions cause is the main scope of this chapter.
There is, however, another aspect where the consumption perspective goes
beyond the product-perspective: expanding from the product’s functional unit to the
contribution to human needs fulfilment.
3
This aspect will at least briefly be addressed
in this chapter.
This chapter hence aims at providing an overview of the secondary consequences of
consumption and the products’ contribution to the human’s needs fulfilment. This
draws on the works of Hofstetter et al. (2006), Weidema (2008), Girod et al. (2010) and
others, and ends in an outlook of recommended next steps to further develop, differentiate, and deploy LCA as a tool that equally well supports efforts towards sustainable
consumption as it already supports decisions on sustainable production and products.
Still, both perspectives “product” and “consumption” initially serve exclusively
the concept of relative sustainability, i.e. of better efficiency. To expand the view to
absolute sustainability, one needs to bring in further elements, e.g. breaking down
the planetary boundaries (Rockström et al. 2009) to the individual citizen’s environmental impact budgets. This next step is not part of this chapter.
2 Secondary Consequences of Consumption Decisions
2.1 Overview
This section provides an overview of the secondary consequences that purchase, use
and end-of-life of a product can induce outside the actual product system itself.
These consequences go beyond functional relationships with other products, i.e.
beyond part-system and system-system relationships that are part of regular product
LCA, and which are described in the ILCD Handbook, Chap. 7.2.2.
The following consumption-induced secondary consequences and aspects
that modify them can be differentiated (compiled from Becker 1976; Eyerer and
Wolf 2000; Hofstetter et al. 2006; Weidema 2008; Girod et al. 2010, with
additions):
3 The authors build here on the concept of human needs developed by Maslow (1954) and expanded
by Max-Neef (1991) and others over the following decades.
13 From Sustainable Production to Sustainable Consumption