Page 386 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

370 6 From LCA to Sustainability Assessment

LCSA = Ecoefficiency + SLCA (6.3)

LCSA = LCA + Socio-economic assessment (6.4)
In favour of the method in Equation 6.3 speaks a new international standard on
ecoefficiency 69) consisting of an LCA + a ‘value’ assessment, which can be defined
as a LCC assessment and also other quantifications of value over the life cycle.
It should be noted that the enigmatic term value has been banned from LCA,
at least (strictly!) for comparative assertions to be published in one way or the
other.
Eco-efficiency has been used in LCM for about 10 years, for example, by BASF
®
and also an extension by a SLCA as in Equation 6.3 is used in the SEEDbalance
sustainability assessment. 70) The method in Equation 6.3 seems to be preferred by
industrial users of LCSA within the concept of LCM.
The fourth possibility (Equation 6.4) combines the economic pillar with the
social one into a ‘socio-economic’ assessment with the argument that both the
economy and the social effects produced by the economic activities belong together
whereas the environment suffers – more or less passively – from a broad range of
impacts caused by human activities in the form of toxic emissions and socially
caused devastations (wars, deforestation, overfishing and loss of biodiversity,
climate change, etc.). LCSA according to Equation 6.4 seems to be preferred by
conservationist groups. The economic aspects are mixed into the socio-economic
assessment and not clearly identified as such.

6.5
Conclusions

It is often said that thinking in life cycles is already sufficient for an approach to
implement the guideline of sustainability and that appropriate decisions do not
always require quantified information. This may be true for the determination of
hot spots but will not support a considered decision-making: if multiple proposals
for a solution are made, quantitative methods are required to decide on one. One
of the strengths of LCA is its capability to quantify, and this advantage should
be preserved if supplemented by economic (LCC) and social (SLCA) aspects. This
will be easy for LCC but difficult for a product-related SLCA. In view of the high
goal, great efforts should be made to provide and to continuously improve the tools
necessary. 71)
LCA itself needs to be improved and surely is capable of improvement. The
development as hitherto should be balanced between the desired scientific accuracy
and practical feasibility. 72)

69) ISO (2012).
70) Saling et al. (2002), Landsiedel and Saling (2002), Kicherer et al. (2007) and Saling et al. (2007).
71) Zamagni, Pesonen, and Swarr (2013).
72) Kl¨ opffer (2013b) and Zamagni et al. (2009).