14
3 Systems and Tools for Life Cycle Management
Being an integrated management framework of concepts, techniques and procedures,
LCM connects different operational concepts, policies, systems, methods, tools and
data that incorporate environmental, economic and social aspects and looks how they
are interconnected and how to best address these throughout the product or process
life cycle. As indicated in the previous section, a wide range of methods, tools and
concepts can be used in LCM. Analytical tools are life cycle assessment (LCA), life
cycle costing (LCC), social life cycle assessment (SLCA), organizational LCA
(OLCA), hotspot analysis, different forms of footprinting such as water footprint and
carbon footprint, cost benefi t analysis (CBA), material fl ow analysis (MFA), substance
fl ow analysis (SFA), input–output analysis (IOA), environmental risk assessment
(ERA), etc. Procedural tools include auditing, checklists, eco-design, eco-labeling, etc.
and supportive tools such as weighting, e.g. by Delphi expert panels, uncertainty analysis, sensitivity analysis, etc. could be applied. LCM also includes design concepts such
as design for the environment, design for sustainability, design for recycling etc. It also
refers to policies and strategies such as circular economy, sustainable consumption and
production, integrated product policy (IPP), resource effi ciency, eco-effi ciency, dematerialization, industrial ecology, etc. as well as organizational systems or programs
such as extended product responsibility (EPR), product development process (PDP),
certifi cation, environmental communication, value chain management, etc. All these
analytical and procedural tools as well as policies, strategies and systems/programs are
part of LCM (Nilsson-Lindén et al. 2014 ; Remmen et al. 2007 ; Sonnemann and
Leeuw 2006 ). The initial ideas for this integrated approach of using multiple tools and
methods stem from the ChainNet project (Wrisberg and Udo de Haes 2002 ).
The choice of policies, strategies, systems, programs and different types of tools
represented in Fig. 2.4 mainly depends on the principal goals and the level of ambition of each company. Companies use LCM to support their goals of providing
products that are as sustainable as possible. Companies need to go beyond their
organizational boundaries and be willing to expand their scope of collaboration
through external communications to all stakeholders of their value chain as it makes
them more visible, may improve their public image, improve their relations with
stakeholders and may increase their market penetration through mapping their product chains and develop criteria for product enhancement and value creation. Life
cycle information may be included in:
• Communication to shareholders and stakeholders in general by, for example,
green accounting and annual environmental or sustainability reports
• Communication with customers through such items as life cycle based environmental product declarations, LCA data, product environmental performance
indicators or product profi les
• Communication with public authorities via product information schemes and
green public procurement guidelines
• Communication with the public, consumers (including professional purchasers
in businesses) and retailers using product brochures and various eco-labeling
systems and information campaigns
G. Sonnemann et al.
3 Systems and Tools for Life Cycle Management
Being an integrated management framework of concepts, techniques and procedures,
LCM connects different operational concepts, policies, systems, methods, tools and
data that incorporate environmental, economic and social aspects and looks how they
are interconnected and how to best address these throughout the product or process
life cycle. As indicated in the previous section, a wide range of methods, tools and
concepts can be used in LCM. Analytical tools are life cycle assessment (LCA), life
cycle costing (LCC), social life cycle assessment (SLCA), organizational LCA
(OLCA), hotspot analysis, different forms of footprinting such as water footprint and
carbon footprint, cost benefi t analysis (CBA), material fl ow analysis (MFA), substance
fl ow analysis (SFA), input–output analysis (IOA), environmental risk assessment
(ERA), etc. Procedural tools include auditing, checklists, eco-design, eco-labeling, etc.
and supportive tools such as weighting, e.g. by Delphi expert panels, uncertainty analysis, sensitivity analysis, etc. could be applied. LCM also includes design concepts such
as design for the environment, design for sustainability, design for recycling etc. It also
refers to policies and strategies such as circular economy, sustainable consumption and
production, integrated product policy (IPP), resource effi ciency, eco-effi ciency, dematerialization, industrial ecology, etc. as well as organizational systems or programs
such as extended product responsibility (EPR), product development process (PDP),
certifi cation, environmental communication, value chain management, etc. All these
analytical and procedural tools as well as policies, strategies and systems/programs are
part of LCM (Nilsson-Lindén et al. 2014 ; Remmen et al. 2007 ; Sonnemann and
Leeuw 2006 ). The initial ideas for this integrated approach of using multiple tools and
methods stem from the ChainNet project (Wrisberg and Udo de Haes 2002 ).
The choice of policies, strategies, systems, programs and different types of tools
represented in Fig. 2.4 mainly depends on the principal goals and the level of ambition of each company. Companies use LCM to support their goals of providing
products that are as sustainable as possible. Companies need to go beyond their
organizational boundaries and be willing to expand their scope of collaboration
through external communications to all stakeholders of their value chain as it makes
them more visible, may improve their public image, improve their relations with
stakeholders and may increase their market penetration through mapping their product chains and develop criteria for product enhancement and value creation. Life
cycle information may be included in:
• Communication to shareholders and stakeholders in general by, for example,
green accounting and annual environmental or sustainability reports
• Communication with customers through such items as life cycle based environmental product declarations, LCA data, product environmental performance
indicators or product profi les
• Communication with public authorities via product information schemes and
green public procurement guidelines
• Communication with the public, consumers (including professional purchasers
in businesses) and retailers using product brochures and various eco-labeling
systems and information campaigns
G. Sonnemann et al.