3.0 Trends Life Cycle Approaches
THIS CHAPTER DESCRIBES THE INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC USE OF LIFE CYCLE APPROACHES BY THE PUBLIC SECTOR , PRIVATE SECTOR , INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION (NGOS) AND ACADEMIA (SEE FIGURE 4). THE EXAMPLES INCLUDED BELOW WERE CHOSEN BASED ON THEIR RELEVANCE TO CANADA BECAUSE OF THEIR ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS, OR TO ILLUSTRATE BEST PRACTICES THAT COULD BE INCOR PORATED INTO FUTURE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA POLICIES AND PROGRAMS. EXAMPLES OF CURRENT GOC POLICIES AND PROGRAMS THAT INCORPORATE ASPECTS OF LIFE CYCLE APPROACHES ARE ALSO INCLUDED. THEY ILLUSTRATE THE SPORADIC NATURE OF ITS USE BUT ALSO SHOW THAT THE GOC HAS A PLACE FROM WHICH TO START SHOULD IT CHOSE TO PURSUE LIFE CYCLE APPROACHES IN A MORE DELIBERATE AND COORDINATED FASHION. WE WILL ELABORATE ON SOME OF THESE EXAMPLES IN LATER CHAPTERS OF THE REPORT.
FIGURE 4. ILLUSTRATION OF TRENDS IN LIFE CYCLE APPROACHES PRESENTED IN CHAPTER 3
3.1 DRIVERS FOR THE ADOPTION OF LIFE CYCLE APPROACHES
Life Cycle Approaches are increasingly used around the world with the European Union (EU), United Nations (UN), Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), multi-sectoral industry groups (e.g., the Sustainability Consortium) and multinational companies leading the way. Several international and multicountry initiatives have driven this adoption, and Canada needs to keep pace with this global trend.
Both specific and high-level drivers are increasing the adoption of Life Cycle Approaches across the world. High-level drivers include issues discussed in Chapter 1, such as population growth, resource conservation, and ecosystem impacts of production.
Specific drivers include market factors, trade issues and regulations. Market factors encompass the growing demand from many sectors, including the electronic, retail, apparel and green building sectors, for life cycle data and information along their supply chains. Firms and suppliers are increasingly expected to incorporate or demonstrate sustainability in their own production and consumption of goods and services. Trade issues include effective application of new trade barriers from jurisdictions with life cycle requirements on products sold in their country, province or state. Regulatory drivers comprise such things as the incorporation of life cycle information in government policy formation and procurement. More details regarding these drivers will be provided in Chapter 4.
3.2 INTERNATIONAL USE OF LIFE CYCLE APPROACHES
PUBLIC SECTOR
The EU and its member states are leading the way in the use of Life Cycle Approaches in public policies and programs, although many other countries around the world have adopted aspects of this approach, including Japan and the United States (U.S.). Governments in fast-growing countries, such as China and India, are also encouraging the use of Life Cycle Approaches.20
The European Commission has numerous initiatives that promote the use of Life Cycle Approaches in government and industry. Key among these initiatives are the Integrated Product Policy and the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The objective of the European Platform on LCA is to promote the uptake of Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) in the private and public sectors through addressing the need for more consistent and reliable LCA data.21 To produce more consistent, comparable and reliable results, the Platform created the European Reference Life Cycle Database (ELCD), as well as several handbooks that provide further guidance on the use of the ISO LCA methodology. The Platform released the first edition of the guidance documents in 2010 called the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Handbook. 22
Launched in 2001, the Integrated Product Policy is a toolbox of policy instruments based on Life Cycle Approaches that can be used to reduce the environmental impact of a product on both the demand and supply sides. Examples of instruments on the supply side include regulatory and voluntary prohibitions and phase-outs, product performance requirements, funding of research and development, eco-design competitions/awards, and standardization. On the demand side, examples of instruments include consumer information, ecolabels, product profiles, product guidelines, information centres, indirect taxation, public purchasing, and deposit/ refund schemes. To increase the effectiveness of the Integrated Product Policy, the European Commission identified products with the greatest potential for environmental improvement and used this information to develop and apply the instruments.23
A separate policy initiative was established – the European Compliance Assistance Program for SMEs: Small, Clean and Competitive – to help small and medium enterprises†† (SMEs) comply with environmental policies and legislation, including the Integrated Product Policy. This policy was established in recognition of both the difficulties that SMEs often face, such as a lack of awareness of compliance requirements, and the opportunities related to environmental performance improvements. The program provides assistance in several areas, including funding, capacity building and technical support.24
EU member states are also creating policies and programs that include Life Cycle Approaches. One such example is France’s La Grenelle 2 Act, as illustrated in the case study below. In its current pilot phase, this act encourages the use of LCA to create Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) that detail carbon impact of products sold in France.
The U.S. has several initiatives related to Life Cycle Approaches, including the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database and the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program. The National Renewable Energy Lab houses the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database, which was established in 2003 with assistance from the Athena Institute. The database provides publicly available, U.S.-based LCI data that is critically reviewed. A number of government and NGOs contribute to the database.31
The EU and its member states are leading the way in the use of Life Cycle Approaches in public policies and programs, although many other countries around the world have adopted aspects of this approach, including Japan and the United States (U.S.).
The EPP Program is another example of a U.S. initiative related to Life Cycle Approaches. Created in 1993 through an Executive Order and administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the program is designed to assist federal agencies comply with green purchasing requirements and catalyze market demand for green products and services. One of the guiding principles of the program is the consideration of multiple environmental attributes of a product or service from a life cycle perspective. The potential impact of this program is significant as the U.S. federal government is one of the world’s largest consumers of goods and services (approximately $350 billion per year).32
Two life cycle-based fuel standards have also been created by governments in the U.S. – the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) and California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). These standards are discussed in more detail in Chapter 4.
PRIVATE SECTOR
Several global networks exist that focus solely, or in part, on advancing the use of Life Cycle Approaches in the industrial sector. Most notable are the Sustainability Consortium and the Consumer Goods Forum. Formed in 2009, the Sustainability Consortium focuses on measuring and reporting product sustainability over the life cycle through the creation of standards and tools.33 The development of a Sustainability Measurement and Reporting System is the focus of much of the Consortium’s work, which will provide guidance on the collection and dissemination of LCA-based information of a product over its supply chain.34 Membership in the Consortium includes large multinationals such as Walmart, DELL, Kimberly-Clark, 3M and Kellogg’s. Several government agencies (e.g., U.S. EPA) and NGOs (e.g., World Wildlife Fund) are also members. The Consortium is co-managed by the University of Arkansas and the University of Arizona. It demonstrates growing private sector interest in this field.
The Consumer Goods Forum represents over 650 retailers, manufacturers, service providers globally (worth over EUR 2.5 trillion in annual sales).35 Their Product Sustainability Measurement Working Group focuses on standardizing product LCA measurement approaches. The forum collaborates with the Sustainability Consortium and several European initiatives on this. Many members of the forum have operations in Canada, including those on their Global Sustainability Steering Committee such as Sobeys, Walmart, Unilever, Nestle, Coke, Pepsi, Kraft, Kellogg’s, Proctor & Gamble, Danone, General Mills and Sara Lee. Decisions made on the use of LCA at this forum may have repercussions for Canada because of the Canadian operations of the multinational member companies.
The Green Product Roundtable is a North American multi-stakeholder group led by the Keystone Center for Science and Public Policy. Its members include representatives from retailers, manufacturers, purchasers, certifiers, NGOs, and local, state and federal governments. Their work focuses on improving information on green products by linking life cycle impacts to product attributes, standards, and eco-labels.36
Several global networks exist that focus solely, or in part, on advancing the use of Life Cycle Approaches in the industrial sector.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Several international organizations have been global leaders in the creation of initiatives related to Life Cycle Approaches. Of particular note is the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, which was launched in 2002 to enable users around the world to put LCT into effective practice.38 Canada was involved, through Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), in several aspects of this initiative. NRCan assisted by organizing international workshops on topics related to LCA models for metals, sustainable production, and use and recycling of natural resources. NRCan also participated in the Apeldoorn Declaration38 and the Clearwater Consensus, which gave direction to the Initiative on the quantification of metal toxicity. 39
Phase two of the initiative is currently underway, which is linked to activities in UNEP’s 10 Year Framework of Programmes (10-YFP) on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP). Projects in four areas have been initiated to date. The first project area is Life Cycle Management (LCM) in business and industry. This includes work on carbon footprinting and enhancing SMEs capability to use LCM. The carbon footprinting work is being done in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Resources Institute (WRI), who are working on GHG-related product standards described in more detail below. The second project area is Life Cycle Approaches for capability development. This focuses on promoting and facilitating the use of Life Cycle Approaches in developing countries. Life Cycle Approaches for methodologies and data is the third project area, which focuses on consistency in LCI databases, as well as enhanced accessibility and quality of data. The last project area, Life Cycle Approaches for resources and impacts, focuses on developing guidance for inclusion of water, biodiversity and ecosystem services in Life Cycle Approaches.40
Efforts by international business NGOs, such as WBCSD, are focused on extending Life Cycle Approaches beyond carbon. WBCSD has been promoting Life Cycle Approaches since its inception, which is inherent in its work on eco-efficiency. Life cycle concepts and tools are included in many of its publications, such as the eco-efficiency learning module, which references Design for Environment (DfE) and LCA.41
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) was one of the first organizations to advance LCA with the development of the first LCA-related standards in the 1990s. The ISO 14040/44 standards outline the principles, framework, requirements and guidelines for LCA, including LCI. These standards neither include a detailed methodology, nor provide direction on the use of the resulting LCA data.42 Since this time, ISO has developed several more standards, including the ISO 14020 series on Environmental Labels and Declarations. These standards include guiding principles for the development and use of Type III environmental declaration programs (e.g., EPDs).43 EPDs are LCA-based labels that list multiple environmental inputs and impacts for products incurred throughout their life cycle. Two product footprint standards are currently under development. The Carbon Footprints of Products (ISO 14067) standard will quantify and allow for communication of GHG emissions associated with goods and services.44 It is expected to be published in 2012. The Water Footprint (ISO 14046) will outline requirements and guidelines for the use of water metrics for products, processes or organizations.45
In addition to ISO, a number of other international standards are being developed to track and report on single environmental impacts, such as GHG emissions, over the life cycle of a product. A recent example is the GHG Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard launched by the WBCSD and the WRI in October 2011. The standard provides requirements and guidance for companies and other organizations to quantify and publicly report GHG emissions and removals associated with a specific product.46
[††] SMEs are companies that have 1-499 employees.
[20] Guinée et al. 2011
[21] European Commission 2012a
[22] Europa 2010
[23] European Commission 2003
[24] European Commission 2007
[25] Le ministère de l’Écologie 2012
[26] Le ministère de l’Écologie ND
[27] PCF World Forum 2011
[28] Le ministère de l’Écologie ND
[29] PCF World Forum 2011
[30] Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie 2008
[31] National Renewable Energy Laboratory 2009
[32] United States Environmental Protection Agency 1999
[33] The Sustainability Consortium 2011
[34] Dooley et al. 2011
[35] Consumer Goods Forum 2011
[36] Keystone Center for Science and Public Policy 2009
[37] UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative 2010a
[38] UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative ND
[39] Diamond et al. 2010
[40] UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative 2010b
[41] World Business Council for Sustainable Development ND
[42] International Organization for Standardization 2006a
[43] International Organization for Standardization 2006b
[44] International Organization for Standardization 2009
[45] Raimbault and Humbert 2011
[46] World Business Council for Sustainable Development and World Resource Institute 2011
© 2013