Page 270 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

L1644_C06.fm Page 243 Monday, October 20, 2003 12:06 PM

6.6 POSSIBLE ROLE OF THE FRAMEWORK IN
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Application patterns of LCA have been studied by Frankl and Rubik (1999). This
section provides suggestions for possible applications of the presented methodology.
The developed framework can be of interest for the following stakeholders:
• Public administration (to justify taxes and to optimize waste management
strategies)
• Financial entities (to ascertain possible risks of payments)
• Companies (to contribute to a system of continuous environmental
improvement, to choose between sites of a process chain from an envi-
ronmental perspective, and to demonstrate reduction of environmental
damages by the inversion in abatement technologies from a life-cycle
viewpoint)
• Consumers and general community (to have the possibility of obtaining
products and services of minor pollution and to learn about the environ-
mental damages behind industrial process chains)

6.6.1 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Table 6.2 shows in detail the possible applications for public administration, among
which are the mentioned green tax by using external environmental costs, technology
assessment in general, public policy planning and, in particular, environmental
justice and end-of-life management. The idea behind the application of end-of-life
management is to develop a second generation of integrated waste management
software, like Wisard (Ecobilan, 1999), that considers the problem setting also; this
is quite related to environmental justice. By combining site-specific aspects with
life-cycle considerations, new plans for waste management can assess transport
processes and their routes in relation to waste treatment facilities and their sites and
the respective environmental damages in an integrated manner.

TABLE 6.2
Applications for Public Administration
Application Example Optional element

Technology assessment Energy production, waste treatment, transport None
Green tax Electricity, transport or all other types of products Using external
and/or services environmental
costs
Public policy planning Future scenario assessment of energy production, Possible eco-
waste treatment, transport efficiency
Environmental justice Waste incineration, land fill, cracker None
End-of-life Waste incineration, land fill, integrated waste Possible eco-
management management planning (similar to Wizard by efficiency
Ecobilan, 1999), but on a more detailed level with
regard to spatial aspects (second generation)

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