Page 134 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

118 3 Life Cycle Inventory Analysis

objectives and by accordingly generous means. The LCA on graphic papers 123)
and on plastic recycling within Dual System Germany (DSD) 124),125) in Germany
can serve as examples for such ‘large’ LCAs. System reduction if applicable is
undoubtedly preferable.
A solution for ‘small’ LCAs, which strive for a comparison of product systems,
alternatives of disposal, or a system optimisation by classical means, can only
be achieved by an application of allocation rules by convention. International
standards are too vague to be as such regarded as convention. They primarily
recommend transparency, comprehensibility, and sensitivity analyses; this means
in the interpretation phase (see Chapter 5) the question shall be answered on how
a specific choice of allocation rule impacts the final result.
At present, a solution by an accepted convention is not yet in view. Our
recommendations in the case where system expansion or reduction for reasons
either of price or practicability and usefulness are not possible are:

• mass-proportional allocation, if necessary including a weighting by means of
prices of co-products;
• 50:50-rule (rule 1) or cut-off rule (rule 2) with OLR;
• other allocations with OLR following the goal definition and if necessary in
coordination with the most important ‘actors’;
• credits in case of consideration of the waste management in product comparisons;
• basket of benefit method within the comparison of waste management technolo-
gies.

Examples of allocations according to ISO 14044 are listed in Chapter 7 of the
technical report ISO TR 14049. 126) The avoidance of allocations by system expansion
is also discussed on the basis of examples.

3.4
Procurement, Origin and Quality of Data

3.4.1
Refining the System Flow Chart and Preparing Data Procurement

Data are ‘the alpha and omega’ of an LCI. They concern in principle all inputs
and outputs of unit processes that have been identified in phase 1 (‘Goal & Scope’)
as necessary for an adequate description of the system(s). The starting point of
the product system description is a careful analysis of the production processes
starting with the extraction of the raw materials. An analysis of the transport
processes and waste flows within selected geographical and temporal boundaries

123) Institut f¨ ur Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg GmbH (IFEU), 2000.
124) Part of the Environmental Recycle Act in Germany, ‘Duales System Deutschland’.
125) Heyde and Kremer, 1999.
126) International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 2000.