81
LCM is also increasingly impacting public policy related to resources use and
recycling, and more recently product-related environmental policies. For example,
the European Commission launched “Building the Single Market for Green
Products – Facilitating better information on the environmental performance of
products and organizations” in April 2013. The Product/organizational
Environmental Footprint (PEF/OEF) method (European Union 2013 ), published in
April 2013, includes Commission recommendation on the use of common methods
to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products
and organizations. Within the related PEF/OEF pilot projects the Commission has
engaged mainly big companies and industry associations.
Only few initiatives have been developed recently to help integrating LCM
within SMEs in a sector. In 2013 the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative supported
eight pilot projects using Life Cycle Management Capability Maturity Model
(LCM-CMM) in Cameroon, Uganda, South Africa, India, Brazil, Colombia, and
Peru. As an example, results in Colombia showed that the companies could apply
the LCM concepts to their organizations with limited technical support (Moreno
et al. 2015 ).
Whilst the existing initiatives help to make signifi cant progress towards sustainable production and consumption patterns, LCM needs to be taken up by whole
supply chains that, by defi nition, include many small and medium sized enterprises
(SMEs). From a business perspective, this represents a competitivity issue, as these
SMEs are increasingly under pressure from clients and legislators to provide more
information about the environmental impacts of their products, and to take responsibility for them both up and down the value chain. (Bricout et al. 2012 )
2 Context for the Study
In this chapter we present a case study on how the use of Life Cycle Management
can be mainstreamed in SMEs using a sector based and regional approach. A methodology for this purpose has been developed and applied in Northern France. It is a
highly industrial region facing important challenges for sustainable development.
The strong industrial past has affected the region through a complete reconversion
from coal and heavy industry to other industrial and service sectors. Social challenges include the high population density (324 people per km
2 vs. 113 in France)
with 95 % living in urban communities. The environmental challenges this region is
facing are diverse. The greenhouse gas emissions per capita are 30 % higher compared to the French average. The share of renewable energy consumption is four
times less than the national level. Only 1.9 % renewable electricity (17.7 % France)
is produced in the region and 16.4 % of the surfaces area is artifi cial (8.8 % France).
Despite the loss of industrial activity over the past 50 years, Northern France
remains the third largest industrial region in France with the fourth largest economic
turnover. It is also a signifi cant transport and logistics hub, with the densest road
7 Mainstreaming the Use of Life Cycle Management in Small and Medium Sized…
LCM is also increasingly impacting public policy related to resources use and
recycling, and more recently product-related environmental policies. For example,
the European Commission launched “Building the Single Market for Green
Products – Facilitating better information on the environmental performance of
products and organizations” in April 2013. The Product/organizational
Environmental Footprint (PEF/OEF) method (European Union 2013 ), published in
April 2013, includes Commission recommendation on the use of common methods
to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products
and organizations. Within the related PEF/OEF pilot projects the Commission has
engaged mainly big companies and industry associations.
Only few initiatives have been developed recently to help integrating LCM
within SMEs in a sector. In 2013 the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative supported
eight pilot projects using Life Cycle Management Capability Maturity Model
(LCM-CMM) in Cameroon, Uganda, South Africa, India, Brazil, Colombia, and
Peru. As an example, results in Colombia showed that the companies could apply
the LCM concepts to their organizations with limited technical support (Moreno
et al. 2015 ).
Whilst the existing initiatives help to make signifi cant progress towards sustainable production and consumption patterns, LCM needs to be taken up by whole
supply chains that, by defi nition, include many small and medium sized enterprises
(SMEs). From a business perspective, this represents a competitivity issue, as these
SMEs are increasingly under pressure from clients and legislators to provide more
information about the environmental impacts of their products, and to take responsibility for them both up and down the value chain. (Bricout et al. 2012 )
2 Context for the Study
In this chapter we present a case study on how the use of Life Cycle Management
can be mainstreamed in SMEs using a sector based and regional approach. A methodology for this purpose has been developed and applied in Northern France. It is a
highly industrial region facing important challenges for sustainable development.
The strong industrial past has affected the region through a complete reconversion
from coal and heavy industry to other industrial and service sectors. Social challenges include the high population density (324 people per km
2 vs. 113 in France)
with 95 % living in urban communities. The environmental challenges this region is
facing are diverse. The greenhouse gas emissions per capita are 30 % higher compared to the French average. The share of renewable energy consumption is four
times less than the national level. Only 1.9 % renewable electricity (17.7 % France)
is produced in the region and 16.4 % of the surfaces area is artifi cial (8.8 % France).
Despite the loss of industrial activity over the past 50 years, Northern France
remains the third largest industrial region in France with the fourth largest economic
turnover. It is also a signifi cant transport and logistics hub, with the densest road
7 Mainstreaming the Use of Life Cycle Management in Small and Medium Sized…