This review describes the process of life cycle analysis in some detail. It describes the different organisations involved in researching and applying these techniques and the database resources being used to generate comparative reports. The overview explains the factors to be considered, the terminology, the organisations involved in developing these techniques and the legislation which is driving the whole process forward. The ISO standards relating to environmental management are also discussed briefly in the document. Design for the environment is covered in the report. This review is accompanied by summaries of selected papers on life cycle analysis and environmental impact from the Rapra Polymer Library database.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has developed in Australia over the past 16 years in a fragmented way with many different people and organizations contributing to the area at different times, and largely through informal or unpublished work. This publication will legitimize and document LCA research and methodology development to act as a record of what has happened and a basis for future development and application of the tool. The Centre for Design at RMIT has been a leading research center in Australia through its work on data collection, methodology development and contribution to knowledge through undertaking LCA studies for leading companies and government departments ranging from products, packaging, buildings, water management and waste management. This work, in addition to key work undertaken by other researchers, will be presented. The book will become a bridge between LCA implementation and life cycle management (LCM) and provide discussion on how LCA development will be in the future and how it integrates with available software tools.

Businesses are grappling with a profound dilemma – the pursuit of economic prosperity versus the goal of ecological sustainability. Climate change impacts increase with each passing day, compelling industries to reconcile their operations with the urgent need for a sustainable, eco-conscious paradigm. The book, Waste Management and Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Business Practice, is an authoritative response to this pressing global challenge. Delving into the issues surrounding the environmental impact of economic activities, it explores the intersection where industries must navigate the delicate balance between profit-making and the preservation of our planet. This book delves into the disconcerting truth that industries are substantial contributors to the global emissions of greenhouse gases. It presents a compelling case, supported by the United Nations Environment Program’s findings, that businesses wield immense power in either perpetuating environmental degradation or steering us towards a greener, more sustainable future. Despite the growing voices for eco-friendly practices, businesses often find themselves caught in the tug-of-war between profitability and environmental responsibility. This book argues that the time for a shift towards sustainable business practices is now, offering a comprehensive guide to academic scholars, researchers, and professionals seeking to understand and implement transformative strategies.

This book is a uniquely pedagogical while still comprehensive state-of-the-art description of LCA-methodology and its broad range of applications. The five parts of the book conveniently provide: I) the history and context of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with its central role as quantitative and scientifically-based tool supporting society’s transitioning towards a sustainable economy; II) all there is to know about LCA methodology illustrated by a red-thread example which evolves as the reader advances; III) a wealth of information on a broad range of LCA applications with dedicated chapters on policy development, prospective LCA, life cycle management, waste, energy, construction and building, nanotechnology, agrifood, transport, and LCA-related concepts such as footprinting, ecolabelling,design for environment, and cradle to cradle. IV) A cookbook giving the reader recipes for all the concrete actions needed to perform an LCA. V) An appendix with an LCA report template, a full example LCA report serving as inspiration for students who write their first LCA report, and a more detailed overview of existing LCIA methods and their similarities and differences.

In recent years the increased awareness of environmental issues has led to the development of new approaches to product design, known as Design for Environment and Life Cycle Design. Although still considered emerging and in some cases radical, their principles will become, by necessity, the wave of the future in design. A thorough exploration of t

The globalisation of markets and the expansion of product responsibility into the entire product life cycle lead to an increasing competitive situation for nationally and internationally operating companies. Therefore, to win this competition the use of the most effective and efficient resources regarding the whole product life cycle is necessary. Since these resources are globally distributed the different tasks both within a phase of product life cycle and those spread over different phases are distributed as well. The global interference of these tasks requires a close multilateral co-operation of the companies concerned. Current information- and communication technologies and modern management concepts offer high potentials to meet these requirements. The international seminar of CIRP on Life Cycle Engineering titled "Life Cycle Networks" was a forum for the presentation and discussion of current research work and recent advancements on these strategic issues for current and future engineering. Complex requirements and innovative solutions to support and realise Life Cycle Networks has been revealed and summerised. The employment of information technology to support both specific phases of product life cycle and holistic approaches will be the main focus. This volume contains the papers presented at the seminar which provide opportunities to identify the state-of-the-art and address future needs. The parts in this volume correspond to the sessions of the seminar and are presented under the following headings: Life Cycle Management; Life Cycle Design; Design for Environment; Design for Recycling; Life Cycle Assessment; Disassembly; IT-Networks.

This book covers the latest developments in life cycle assessment (LCA) both in terms of methodology and its application in various research areas. It includes methodological questions as well as case studies of strategies in the context of circular economy and new emerging technologies, design of conceptual frameworks, especially related to social LCA, and the use of novel modeling approaches with a focus on energy supply and land use. With research articles from leading German and Austrian research institutes, the book is a valuable source for professionals working in the field of sustainability assessment, researchers interested in the current state of LCA research, and advanced university students in various scientific and technical fields. 6 chapters are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Life cycle design is a proactive approach for integrating pollution prevention and resource conservation strategies into the development of more ecologically and economically sustainable product systems. Cross media pollutant transfer and the shifting of other impacts can be avoided by addressing the entire life cycle, which includes raw materials acquisition, materials processing, manufacturing and assembly, use and service, retirement, disposal and the ultimate fate of residuals.The goal of life cycle design is to minimize aggregate risks and impacts over this life cycle. This goal can only be attained through the balancing of environmental, performance, cost, cultural, legal, and technical requirements of the product system. Concepts such as concurrent design, total quality management, cross- disciplinary teams, and multi-attribute decision making are essential elements of life cycle design that help meet these goals. The framework for life cycle design was developed to be applicable for all product domains. It was written to assist not only design professionals but all other constituents who have an important role in life cycle design including corporate executives, product managers, production workers, distributors, environmental health and safety staff, purchasers, accountants, marketers, salespersons, legal staff, consumers, and government regulators. A coordinated effort is required to institute changes needed for successful implementation of life cycle design.Part I seeks to promote the reduction of environmental imparts and health risks through a systems approach to design. The approach is based on the product life cycle, which includes raw materials acquisition and processing, manufacturing, use/service, resource recovery, and disposal. A life cycle design framework was developed to provide guidance for more effectively conserving resources and energy, preventing pollution, and reducing the aggregate environmental impacts and health risks associated with a product system. This framework addresses the product, process, distribution, and management/information components of each product system.Part II describes the three components of a life cycle assessment (inventory analysis, impact analysis, and improvement analysis) as well as scoping activities, presents a brief overview of the development of the life cycle assessment process, and develops guidelines and principles for implementation of a product life cycle assessment. The major states in a life cycle are raw materials acquisition, manufacturing, consumer use/reuse/maintenance, and recycle/waste management. The basic steps of performing a life cycle inventory (defining the goals and system boundaries, including scoping; gathering and developing data; presenting and reviewing data; and interpreting and communicating results) are presented along with the general issues to be addressed. The system boundaries, assumptions, and conventions to be addressed in each stage of the inventory are presented.

Life cycle engineering explores technologies for shifting industry from mass production and consumption paradigms to closed-loop manufacturing paradigms, in which required functions are provided with the minimum amount of production. This subject is discussed from various aspects: life cycle design, design for environment, reduce-reuse-recycle, life cycle assessment, and sustainable business models. This book collects papers from the 14th International CIRP Life Cycle Engineering Conference, the longest-running annual meeting in the field.