Page 23 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Life Cycle Assessment: Principles, Practice and Prospects
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advance of any policy response. International developments such as the Bruntland Commission
report in 1987 and the Rio Declaration of 1992 are also broader catalysts for local, specific envi-
ronmental studies or concerns which give rise to the need for LCA. The ‘green’ 2000 Olympic
Games in Sydney responded to the growing environmental agenda manifested in such develop-
ments and generated a step-change in LCA uptake and development in Australia.
From such examples, it is evident that LCA-specific policies are rare, but the opportunities
for increased uptake of LCA as a response to wider policy developments are increasing. Moreover,
the potential exists for a mutually reinforcing relationship between the growing awareness of
environmental issues and the use of LCA within a particular industry sector or around a par-
ticular environmental issue. Interest in using LCA in Australia began in the early 1990s in the
products sector with the publication of ‘More with less – initiatives to promote sustainable con-
sumption’ (Deni Greene Consulting Services et al. 1996). This study examined sustainable con-
sumption in Australia and related contemporary initiatives. It generated interest with the federal
government, which instituted two industry environmental programs: one at the manufacturing
level – the cleaner production case studies (Australian Government n.d.), and the second in the
area of design, with the EcoReDesign program (Gertsakis et al. 1997), which included LCA as a
core component (see Section 2.1.2).
Interest in LCA increased with the awarding of the 2000 Olympic Games to Sydney. Tender
documents for infrastructure projects for the Olympics required companies to demonstrate the
environmental credentials of their materials and products. This, in turn, led to government
recognition of the need for LCA data relevant to Australia. State government Environment Pro-
tection Authorities (EPAs) and the federal government funded the compilation of an LCA
inventory dataset in the mid 1990s: the National Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Database (see
Section 2.2.1). Then, in the late 1990s, the Victorian Government funded research to identify
the relative environmental costs and benefits of recycling packaging materials compared with
landfill. Subsequent studies in 2003 and 2005 examined waste recovery options and commer-
cial, industrial and construction or demolition waste respectively (see Section 2.1.3 and Chapter
6). In 2000, The Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) funded work to scope LCA studies spe-
cifically on energy and greenhouse gases, which led to the use of LCA in applications by industry
for Greenhouse Friendly™ accreditation (see Section 2.1.4 for a definition). In the early 2000s,
water utility authorities, such as Yarra Valley Water and Sydney Water, commissioned studies to
investigate the benefits of different water supply and treatment services. In 2004 EPA Victoria
identified the importance of LCA by including specific reference to it in their strategic plan.
This subsequently led to the formation of a Sustainability Covenant between EPA Victoria and
the Plastic and Chemical Industry Association (PACIA), which promoted life cycle thinking
more broadly among raw material suppliers and manufacturers (see Section 2.1.7).
2.1.1 The built environment
In 1993, when the ‘green’ Olympic Games in 2000 were awarded, building material and product
suppliers such as BHP Steel, James Hardie and Pioneer initiated studies to consider the life
cycles of their products. These companies realised that they needed to understand better the
environmental impacts occurring in the production of their materials so that they could dem-
onstrate their environmental credentials and so be awarded contracts to supply materials in
the construction phase.
As New South Wales was the ‘home’ state of the Olympics, the New South Wales Public
Works Department rapidly developed an interest in the environmental performance of build-
ings and public infrastructure. The department’s work centred upon building and construc-
tion of institutional buildings and, as the Olympic infrastructure began to develop, it focused
on the Olympic stadium and associated buildings. The federal government, through Environ-
ment Australia – the Department of Environment and Heritage, funded a project undertaken

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