Deloitte just published a white paper on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
Some content I particularly like:
LCA is hard to do and hard to compare across companies. It’s data intensive and relies on a large number of assumptions that you can spend forever arguing about. It’s best use is for priority setting within a company as part of a company’s overall sustainability strategic planning. I particularly agree that “lite” LCAs may be just as useful.
I advocate the concept of Life Cycle Management – definitely an LCA-lite approach. LCM encourages product developers and managers to ask a series of questions about the environmental, health and safety and public concerns at each stage of the life cycle. By using life cycle thinking, they will hone in on potential risks and information gaps and set priorities for managing risks and making a more sustainable product. In addition, an LCM identifies where a company can leverage the market advantages of their products. See my website for more info.
- Tags:
- EHS Strategies Inc.
- LCA