Page 47 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Life Cycle Assessment: Principles, Practice and Prospects
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A dualistic approach is distinct from a systemic approach, which recognises that the phe-
nomenon under consideration is a part of a more general system and indeed system of systems.
For example, every organism is in itself a system and an embedded part of other systems that
include cells, organs, organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, social and industrial
systems and, more generally still, language and thought systems. Complex Systems Theory
recognises that connections between systems are categorised by self-organisation, non-linear-
ity, uncertainty and unpredictability (Kirshbaum 2002). Accordingly, it is reductionist and
can actually lead to significant error – witness cane toads – to think of a complex phenomenon
in terms of isolated cause and effect. In managing the phenomenon, it is more useful to think
of its systemic context. The context is what defines the phenomenon.
A systemic approach is also self-reflexive: it recognises its own reflexivity – its own power
to define the problem. This is useful precisely because one can knowingly alter the context or
definition of a problem to take into account more general systems and thus gain access to a
wider pool of solutions and even solutions that prevent the initial problem from arising.
This is not to say that a dualistic approach – a consideration of linear cause and effect – is
‘wrong’. According to systemic thinking, a cause and effect analysis may be one useful way of
construing relationships and interactions, although it cannot of itself reveal an objective truth,
any more than any other method of analysis can. The types of phenomenon most suited to
cause and effect analysis are ‘simple’ ones, where the interactions can be clearly delineated and
isolated from other factors. However, environmental problems are not simple – they are
complex. It is axiomatic that dealing with an environmental problem in one arena will have
consequences in other arenas, and many of both the consequences and the other arenas will be
unpredictable. Approaches that seek to foster environmental sustainability, like LCA, must
take this complexity into account, or risk failing to meet their objective.

4.2 An analytical approach to sustainability
There are two main ways to approach the task of investigating options for optimising environ-
mental sustainability of a product, service or system. An analytical approach examines the
system, identifies environmental impacts and then tries to address them. An envisioning
approach first examines what sustainability might mean, or what it might look like in the
system, and then casts back to the current situation to identify ways to progress from this point
to a sustainable future.
The Natural Step Framework is an envisioning approach. When The Natural Step organi-
sation is engaged by a client, it uses a process called ‘backcasting’ to assess environmental
impact and sustainability prospects. This involves four steps, in order:
s defining a ‘framework for sustainability’ of the product, service or organisation being
assessed, according to a set of ecological first principles or conditions. This is where the
context of the problem is identified.
s analysing the present circumstances in relation to the ‘framework’
s envisioning future sustainable scenarios
s identifying strategies to fulfil the envisioned sustainable future.

The Natural Step Framework is consciously based on systemic thinking, specifically recog-
nising the interconnectedness of environmental phenomena and their unpredictability (The
Natural Step 2003).
However, ‘traditional’ LCA takes an analytical approach. In an LCA, a product, system or
organisation under analysis is first designated as environmentally unsustainable or, at least,
as having environmental impacts that may be challenged. The LCA is then used as a tool to

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