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Orica Consumer Products to reduce impacts throughout the supply chain. Orica Consumer
Products has also been able to use the findings and data from the LCA reports to supply informa-
tion to customers in tender submissions (e.g. green office fit-out questionnaires), providing a
competitive edge. Along with these company benefits, there have been challenges in developing
and accessing LCA expertise and in collecting appropriate inventory data in a timely manner.
In parallel to the LCA work, Orica Consumer Products considered the broader strategic
context of sustainable development. While LCA helped quantify environmental impacts from
product source to disposal (‘cradle-to-grave’), it did not provide enough information on inci-
dental impacts or impacts after use or disposal. In this regard, The Natural Step organisation
was identified and employed as a vehicle for informing strategic decisions about the types of
products to make, where new research needed to be directed and even what types of businesses
to be in, given ‘triple bottom line’ concerns. Important questions included:
s what are the impacts of volatile organic compounds?
s what are the impacts of titanium dioxide use?
s what are the impacts of paint packaging waste generated at the consumer stage?
Senior managers from Orica Consumer Products business units participated in a series of
workshops where findings from all four LCA studies were used to inform the testing of concepts
and practicalities. Some ten initiatives emerged to further investigate the economic viability of
sustainability-driven change, including:
s a project to improve efficiencies in the supply chain of titanium dioxide
s a ‘Paintback’ trial to reclaim and remanufacture post-consumer paint products, which
led to a prestigious environmental award for the company
s a ‘Green Office’ waste and energy reduction initiative
s a car fleet fuel efficiency study
s a waste reduction search across the supply chain.

The benefits of using LCA at Orica are illustrated by the company’s ongoing use of the tech-
nique. The current 2010 Challenge states:
Greater focus will be placed on understanding the full life cycle impacts of a wider
range of products. Wider use of [LCAs] will help show where reductions in waste,
water and energy use may be made across an entire value chain (Orica 2007).

Moreover, through sustained use of LCA, supplemented with The Natural Step, Orica
Consumer Products has developed confidence associated with increased knowledge of its prac-
tices. In turn, this has created a catalyst for innovation and sustainable value creation and
informed a commitment to carbon neutrality.

10.5 Carbon accounting, LCA and future prospects
The difficulties and uncertainties in using bio-sequestration as a long-term strategy to address
climate change are many and varied. Methodological issues remain in the literature, relating
especially to the selection of allocation procedure and reference study parameters in calculat-
ing net carbon benefits. Nevertheless, the surge in interest and apparent commitment to
greenhouse-neutral futures in recent times ensures that continued focus on valid methods for
assessing appropriate technologies, substitutions, assumptions and calculation approaches will
occur, leading to further improvements and consistency in results.
That several greenhouse gas accounting standards have been developed, implemented and
approximately aligned, has provided confidence in comparative assessment, and smoothed the

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