Page 21 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

1.1 What Is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)? 5

Example

As fossil resources diminish, substitution of the raw material base with renewable
resources is an objective of science and development. For example, variants of
loose-fill packaging chips made of polystyrene and potato starch 14) have been
investigated through LCA. As the resources used and the production processes of
both materials fundamentally differ, a thorough analysis of the product systems is
necessary. For instance, on the one hand, the overall agricultural system including
growth, maintenance and harvest needs to be considered during the production
of renewable base products; on the other hand is the crude oil drilling or mining.
Other life cycle stages of the loose-fill packaging systems differ fundamentally
as well, depending on the raw material base. It cannot be decided at first sight
whether substitution of the raw material base may have an ecological advantage
for a product system.

1.1.5
LCA and Operational Input–Output Analysis (Gate-to-Gate)

There is always a risk of problem shift when system boundaries that are too restric-
tive have been chosen. This is often the case when only operational input–output
analyses have been conducted (frequently misused terms are ecobalance of the
enterprise, corporate-LCA or ecobalance without additional explanation).
If, for instance, the system boundary is set equal to the fence around a factory
(gate-to-gate), the fundamental concept of LCA is not satisfied: Neither the pro-
duction of pre-products nor the disposal of end products is considered; the same
is applicable with transports (e.g. just in time), outsourcing and parts of waste
management activities (e.g. municipal waste water sewage plants).

Example

Pseudo improvement by outsourcing
A manufacturer of fine foods intended to not only advertise his products for
taste and salubriousness but also for environmental aspects. For this purpose,
data concerning energy and water consumption were gathered in an operational
input–output analysis (gate-to-gate), which allowed the allocation of on-site
environmental burdens to the production of different salads. It was striking that
potato salad had an immense water supply. The reason was that potatoes, usually
covered by earth, had to be washed. This waste water was then assigned to
the potato salad. Some weeks later, the water supply per kilogramme salad had
drastically diminished. This was not due to a technical innovation at the cleaning

14) BIfA/IFEU/Flo-Pak (2002).