Page 51 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

32 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT HANDBOOK

During this period, LCA also became part of policy documents and legisla-
tion. The main focus was on packaging legislation, for example, in the EU [28]
and the 1995 Packaging Law in Japan [29]. Although LCA has proven its value
in these policy-based applications, there were also problems with respect to
the authoritativeness of results (cf. [30,31]).
Several well-known life cycle impact assessment methods, still used today,
evolved from methods developed in this period, such as the CML 1992
environmental theme approach [22,26], endpoint or damage approaches
[32,33] but also the nowadays broadly accepted [34,35] multi-media approach
for assessing potentially human and ecotoxic emissions [36]. Although this
decade is mainly one of convergence, it is also the stage of scientific scrutiny,
research into the foundations of LCA, and exploring the connections with
existing disciplines. For instance, we observe sprouting ideas on consequen-
tial LCA and related allocation methods [37,38,39]. These and other sophisti-
cations mark the transition to the present decade of LCA, which is a decade
of elaboration but also of divergence in methods again.

2.2.2 Present LCA (2000-2010): Decade of Elaboration

st
The first decade of the 21 century has shown an ever increasing attention
to LCA. In 2002, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and
the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) launched
an International Life Cycle Partnership, known as the Life Cycle Initiative
[40]. The Life Cycle Initiative's main aim was formulated to put life cycle
thinking into practice and improve the supporting tools through better data
and indicators. Life cycle thinking also continued to grow in importance in
European Policy, as highlighted through, e.g., the Communication from the
European Commission of the European Communities (CEC) on Integrated
Product Policy [IPP; 41]. On top of this, life cycle thinking was also incorpo-
rated in, e.g., the thematic strategies on the Sustainable Use of Resources [42]
and on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste [43]. In its 2003 Communication
on Integrated Product Policy (IPP), the European Commission underlined the
importance of life cycle assessment and the need for promoting the application
of life cycle thinking among the stakeholders of IPP [41]. In response, the
European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment [44] was established in 2005,
mandated to promote the availability, exchange, and use of quality-assured
life cycle data, methods and studies for reliable decision support in (EU)
public policy and in business. In the USA, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency started promoting the use of LCA [45]. Various national LCA net-
works were also established like, for example, the large-scale Australian LCA
Network [46] and the American Center for LCA [47], both in 2001, and the
smaller scale Thai network [48] in 2000.
In this same period, environmental policy gets increasingly life-cycle
based all over the world (e.g., [49,50]). For example, several life cycle-based
carbon footprint standards have been, or are being, established [51]. This