IEREIERE

LCA Data Availability from an NGO Perspective

InLCA-LCM 2002

Rita Schenck, IERE

http:www.iere.org

Rita@iere.org

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What Do NGO’s Want? While it is a mistake to assume that all

NGO’s are the same, in general, most NGO’s want performance data that is:– Transparent– Accurate– Comparable between and among producers and

products Most NGO’s don’t want compliance data

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What Does Industry Want To protect its intellectual property Not to be compared environmentally with

its competitors (at least if they are not sure that their competitors are not worse than they are)

To have the necessary information for internal process improvement goals

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Most LCA Studies Are Internal Engineering Studies They are based on detailed process knowledge (and

thus imbed business confidential data) Their thought process is linear, starting at the

beginning of the process and following all processed to the end of the life cycle

The focus is on the inventory, not the impact assessment (an inside-out view of the environment).

Studies often are cradle-to gate They are useful for internal use, but difficult to

disclose

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NGO Performed LCA’s Are Impact and Externally Focused They only incorporate as much of the process as

necessary to be comprehensive Unit processes tend to be larger: an entire facility

rather than the classical unit process Studies tend to be performed on finished goods:

cradle to gate studies usually not done. Focus is on impacts rather than inventory (an

outside-in environmental view) The audience is the general public

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Typical Engineering Unit Processes

An NGO LCA might combine all these processes into one unit process: Corn Refining

Corn Refiners Association

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Data Already Available to NGO’s Facility specific data

– Toxic emissions to air, soil and water– Water-borne releases– Hazardous waste production– Permit limitations to air emissions– Utility CO2, SOx and NOx real-time emissions

Industry averages– Published LCA’s for some products– Industry average voluntary reports– Industry total production reports– Engineering estimates

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Challenges with the NGO Approach

Data depends on publicly available information– which is sometimes difficult to obtain because it is stored in local regulators offices

Significant allocation challenges remain: how much of the emissions from a facility come from a particular product at that facility?

Input data are typically not publicly available, e.g. energy use, raw material consumption

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Advantages to the NGO Approach

Responsive to needs of the public Perceived as being unbiased Does not disclose compliance-sensitive data Reduced data requirements over

engineering-type data, thus lower cost

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Disadvantages of NGO Studies

Not useful for engineering applications Publicly available data may not be

comprehensive, or may be outdated Validation by industry is limited

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What Data is Needed

Information on the amount of product made at particular sites

Information on energy and raw materials used to make a product

Industry averages for comparison

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The Opportunity:Comparisons

Producers whose product is environmentally superior have a competitive advantage they are not using

Partnering with NGO’s to produce LCA’s for public consumption can recover that advantage

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Summary

NGO based LCA’s can be useful to industry as well as to the general public

Intellectual property and compliance disclosure issues can be avoided

Comparison among competitors is both the opportunity and the barrier to disclosure of LCI data

Industries that partner with NGO’s will have a competitive advantage