Page 121 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

5.5 The sustainability assessment—LCSA 117
TABLE 5.2 Differences between LCA and S-LCA.
Phases Characteristics
Goal and scope The description of product use is needed in both the two methods, but the S-LCA requires
definition participators to take use stage and function into consideration
Connect with stakeholders is encouraged by LCA in preliminary studies, while the S-LCA
encourages to connect exterior stakeholders and providing impact input
In the S-LCA, when the subtype is not included in studying, the reasons are needed.
However, it is not needed in the LCA
In the S-LCA, the classification of subtypes is on the basis of the types of stakeholders and
impact, while in the LCA, it is only on the basis of the types of impact
It is more geographically specific in the S-LCA than it in the LCA
Inventory analysis It is more frequent to collect and apply activity variable data in S-LCA
The subjective data is more suitable for S-LCA, but sometimes it may cause lots of uncertainty
There are several differences between quantitative, qualitative, and half-quantitative data
The sources of data are different
It has many steps and methods to collect data
Impact assessment The characteristic model of the S-LCA is different
The use of performance parameter points of S-LCA is special
The S-LCA may both have positive and negative influence, but the LCA has rarely positive
influence
Interpretation The significant problems are different
The additional information of mutual constraint relation of stakeholders in the S-LCA

LCSA thought (Kloepffer, 2008). The expression of the LCSA raised by Finkbeiner et al. can be
expressed as (Traverso et al., 2012):
LCSA ¼ E LCA + LCC + S LCA
where the E-LCA is environmental life cycle assessment (this can also be called LCA directly),
the LCC is the life cycle cost, and the S-LCA is the social life cycle assessment.
The concept of sustainability assessment of a product can be described by three methods
entirely. Fig. 5.6 shows the system boundary of an LCSA (Traverso et al., 2012).
Because of the differences between the LCA, the LCC, and the S-LCA in system boundary,
data inventory, and evaluation indicator aspects, the research of the LCSA faces many diffi-
culties (Kloepffer, 2008; Traverso et al., 2012). Therefore, the theory and models still have no
definite standard, and the application of the LCSA is also not common. In the past, the LCSA
has been expressed by the integration of three or two life cycle assessment methods. The
research of two LCA methods integration is more usual (Swarr et al., 2011; Hoogmartens
et al., 2014; Chiesa et al., 2016; Mistry et al., 2016; Norris, 2001; Lindahl et al., 2014), while
the research of three methods integration is less (Neugebauer et al., 2015; Hake et al., 2017;