335
new potentials in the supply chain has led to a push towards a more direct cooperation
with our suppliers for a more sustainable production. This is clearly a big challenge
in the automotive sector where the supply chain is long and complex and involves a
large number of actors. The approach used in this case can be very different company to company and from car to car. A proliferation of activities in sectors strongly
related with the automotive industry has started to improve the environmental and/
or sustainability performances and to harmonize the methodologies used. An example of these initiatives is the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative.
The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) was launched in 2012 to foster
greater sustainability and transparency throughout the aluminium industry. It
involves several key industry players in the aluminium supply chain such as BMW
Group, Rio Tinto, Novelis, to name just a few (Aluminium Stewardship Initiative
2014 ). The main target of this initiative is to develop an Aluminium Stewardship
Initiative Standard to address the environmental, social and governance aspects of
the aluminium value chain. The ASI aims, by mobilising a broad base of stakeholders, to establish and promote responsible environmental, social and governance
practices across the aluminium value chain. Throughout this standard it will be possible to further support the closed-loop recycling process in the aluminium production system and the inventory data retrieval for a transparent LCA.
At BMW, the LCA is also often used as an assessment method to compare different mobility concepts: conventional and electro-mobility, public transportation, car
sharing. It is used to understand the potential impact of the development of one of
these concepts on a large scale or to compare concepts among one another towards
a more sustainable choice.
2.2 Social and Economic Performances
According to the defi nition of sustainability, economic and social factors should
also be considered to establish the comprehensive sustainability performance of a
product.
The economic performance in terms of the business case of a project/product is
always considered, but it does not necessarily follow the framework introduced by
the LCC (Swarr et al. 2011 ). LCC is defi ned as a compilation and assessment of all
costs related to a product for a specifi c stakeholder over its entire life cycle, from
production to use, maintenance and disposal (Swarr et al. 2011 ; Hunkeler et al.
2008 ). The life cycle costing implementation and results thus strongly depend on
the chosen stakeholder. Indeed different data should be collected if we want to consider the costs paid and revenues obtained by the manufacturing company or when
they are related to the consumer.
The LCC can also be used as a standalone method to assess economic and environmental performance of a product. In this case a monetization of the environmental externalities and economic costs is necessary. The monetization allows one to
translate the relative environmental impacts (externalities) into costs, for example
24 Managing Life Cycle Sustainability Aspects in the Automotive Industry
new potentials in the supply chain has led to a push towards a more direct cooperation
with our suppliers for a more sustainable production. This is clearly a big challenge
in the automotive sector where the supply chain is long and complex and involves a
large number of actors. The approach used in this case can be very different company to company and from car to car. A proliferation of activities in sectors strongly
related with the automotive industry has started to improve the environmental and/
or sustainability performances and to harmonize the methodologies used. An example of these initiatives is the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative.
The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) was launched in 2012 to foster
greater sustainability and transparency throughout the aluminium industry. It
involves several key industry players in the aluminium supply chain such as BMW
Group, Rio Tinto, Novelis, to name just a few (Aluminium Stewardship Initiative
2014 ). The main target of this initiative is to develop an Aluminium Stewardship
Initiative Standard to address the environmental, social and governance aspects of
the aluminium value chain. The ASI aims, by mobilising a broad base of stakeholders, to establish and promote responsible environmental, social and governance
practices across the aluminium value chain. Throughout this standard it will be possible to further support the closed-loop recycling process in the aluminium production system and the inventory data retrieval for a transparent LCA.
At BMW, the LCA is also often used as an assessment method to compare different mobility concepts: conventional and electro-mobility, public transportation, car
sharing. It is used to understand the potential impact of the development of one of
these concepts on a large scale or to compare concepts among one another towards
a more sustainable choice.
2.2 Social and Economic Performances
According to the defi nition of sustainability, economic and social factors should
also be considered to establish the comprehensive sustainability performance of a
product.
The economic performance in terms of the business case of a project/product is
always considered, but it does not necessarily follow the framework introduced by
the LCC (Swarr et al. 2011 ). LCC is defi ned as a compilation and assessment of all
costs related to a product for a specifi c stakeholder over its entire life cycle, from
production to use, maintenance and disposal (Swarr et al. 2011 ; Hunkeler et al.
2008 ). The life cycle costing implementation and results thus strongly depend on
the chosen stakeholder. Indeed different data should be collected if we want to consider the costs paid and revenues obtained by the manufacturing company or when
they are related to the consumer.
The LCC can also be used as a standalone method to assess economic and environmental performance of a product. In this case a monetization of the environmental externalities and economic costs is necessary. The monetization allows one to
translate the relative environmental impacts (externalities) into costs, for example
24 Managing Life Cycle Sustainability Aspects in the Automotive Industry