213
© The Author(s) 2015
G. Sonnemann, M. Margni (eds.), Life Cycle Management,
LCA Compendium – The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-7221-1_15
Chapter 15
Policy Options for Life Cycle Assessment
Deployment in Legislation
Annekatrin Lehmann , Matthias Finkbeiner , Clare Broadbent ,
and Russ T. Balzer
Abstract Life cycle thinking is on the political agenda and widely used in practice.
Moreover, numerous industries have actively been developing life cycle assessment
(LCA) approaches for many years. As the authors think that it is in substance “right”
to base environmental legislation on LCA, they started to explore and to develop
policy options for integrating LCA into legislation. Commissioned by WorldAutoSteel,
the authors focused on CO 2 legislation in the automotive industry, but the options
developed based on this example can be used for other industries and other environmental impacts as well. It was found that theoretically a broad range of policy options
exists, and that practically some of them are already implemented in real world
legislation and that there is no clear scientifi c overall preference for one single
option. It was also shown that solutions for most technical requirements are already
available, but that a consensus on proper setting of these requirements is missing.
Keywords Automotive sector • CO 2 • Legislation • Life cycle assessment • Life
cycle management • Life cycle thinking • Policy initiatives
1 Introduction
Life cycle thinking (LCT) and life cycle assessment (LCA) (ISO 14044 2006 )
(Baitz et al. 2012 ; Finkbeiner 2012 ) gain increasing importance in policy (Reimann
et al. 2010 ; Inaba et al. 2003 ) and the authors think that to base environmental
legislation on LCA is in substance “right”. In fact, LCT is already considered in
A. Lehmann (*) • M. Finkbeiner
Technische Universität Berlin , Strasse des 17. Juni 135 , 10623 Berlin , Germany
e-mail: annekatrin.lehmann@tu-berlin.de
C. Broadbent
World Steel Association , Brussels , Belgium
R. T. Balzer
WorldAutoSteel , Springboro , OH , USA
© The Author(s) 2015
G. Sonnemann, M. Margni (eds.), Life Cycle Management,
LCA Compendium – The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment,
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-7221-1_15
Chapter 15
Policy Options for Life Cycle Assessment
Deployment in Legislation
Annekatrin Lehmann , Matthias Finkbeiner , Clare Broadbent ,
and Russ T. Balzer
Abstract Life cycle thinking is on the political agenda and widely used in practice.
Moreover, numerous industries have actively been developing life cycle assessment
(LCA) approaches for many years. As the authors think that it is in substance “right”
to base environmental legislation on LCA, they started to explore and to develop
policy options for integrating LCA into legislation. Commissioned by WorldAutoSteel,
the authors focused on CO 2 legislation in the automotive industry, but the options
developed based on this example can be used for other industries and other environmental impacts as well. It was found that theoretically a broad range of policy options
exists, and that practically some of them are already implemented in real world
legislation and that there is no clear scientifi c overall preference for one single
option. It was also shown that solutions for most technical requirements are already
available, but that a consensus on proper setting of these requirements is missing.
Keywords Automotive sector • CO 2 • Legislation • Life cycle assessment • Life
cycle management • Life cycle thinking • Policy initiatives
1 Introduction
Life cycle thinking (LCT) and life cycle assessment (LCA) (ISO 14044 2006 )
(Baitz et al. 2012 ; Finkbeiner 2012 ) gain increasing importance in policy (Reimann
et al. 2010 ; Inaba et al. 2003 ) and the authors think that to base environmental
legislation on LCA is in substance “right”. In fact, LCT is already considered in
A. Lehmann (*) • M. Finkbeiner
Technische Universität Berlin , Strasse des 17. Juni 135 , 10623 Berlin , Germany
e-mail: annekatrin.lehmann@tu-berlin.de
C. Broadbent
World Steel Association , Brussels , Belgium
R. T. Balzer
WorldAutoSteel , Springboro , OH , USA