Social Life Cycle Assessment of a product State of the art and further development
3rd International Conference
Series on LCA
23-25 October Jakarta, Indonesia
Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marzia TraversoInstitut of Sustainability in Civil Engineering (INaB)
at RWTH Aachen [email protected]
Agenda 2030 – Sustainable Development Goals
Life Cycle Assessment used in Automotive sector – ecodesign
Neugebauer/Traverso 4
• Consider all three dimensions of sustainability
Environment – Society – Economy
• Life Cycle Thinking for assessing products´ life cycles
LCSA* = LCA + LCC + S-LCA
Life Cycle Sustainability
Assessment
(LCSA*)
Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA)
ISO 14040/44
Life Cycle Costing
(LCC)
Hunkeler & Swarr
Social Life Cycle
Assessment
(S-LCA)
UNEP/SETAC Guidelines
*(Klöpffer 2008, Finkbeiner 2010, UNEP 2012)
Life cycle sustainability assessment
Why the social dimension should be considered?
A miner collecting shards of iron ore outside of Bellary in southern India. CreditLynseyAddario for The New York Times
Why the social impact assessment of a product?
Page 6
Identification of more sustainable materials and components in the earliest strategic phase of a product development process.
Reduction potential of
CO2e and economic
costs
Renewable materials
Potential increase of Social Risk
How should we assess the social impact of a product along its life cycle?
• Guidelines were published in 2009 by UNEP/SETAC LCI
and currently under review to make it more practical
and user- friendly
• Assessment of social and socio-economic positive and
negative impacts along products´ life cycles => a
complementary approach of
• Methdological Sheets to complete the guidelines were
published in 2013.
[UNEP/SETAC 2009]
7
State of the art
SLCA, LCC, and LCA
8
Packaging and
distribution
Packaging and
distribution
Design and
production
Design and
production
Extraction of raw
materials
Extraction of raw
materials
Natural resourcesNatural resources
ReuseReuse
Recycling of
materials and
components
Recycling of
materials and
components
Use and
maintenance
Use and
maintenance
DisposalDisposal
Incinerating
and landfilling
Incinerating
and landfilling
Recovery
S-LCA: Social effectsLCC: Microeconomic costs and benefits (E-)LCA: Environmental impacts
along the whole life cycle of a product
State of the Art on Social Impact Assessment of a Product
Social lifeCycle
Assessment
Roundtable of Product SocialMetrics – new version 2018
WBCSD
Database of Risk
Assessment
Special Issue on Social LCA
Consortium of the Project for the revision of S-LCA guidelines
Sponsored by the Life Cycle
Initiative
Social LC Alliance including
steering committee:
o Harvard/New Earth
o CIRAIG
o Institute of Sustainability for
Civil Engineering (INaB), RWTH
Aachen University
o World Resources Forum
o Swedish Technical Institute
Chair of Sustainable Engineering
(SEE), Technische Universität Berlin
Project Phase I – Revision of the S-LCA Guidelines
Revision of the Social LCA Guidelines
Workshop Pescara, Italy, September 12-13-14
Project Phase II– Pilots for the Implementation of the revised S-LCA Guidelines
Calendar Overview – Phase II
Sept 2019 Nov 2020 August 2021
Call for road-
testersSept 2019
Online trainingJan 2020
Preli-minaryreports
Nov 2020
Selection of road-testers
Dec 2019
Steering Committee
& roadtester´s
work
Stage 1 Stage 2
Monthly follow up-meetings Start March 2020
S-LCA & SOLCA case studies &development of a report
Stage 3
Jan 2020
4 months 14 months 6 months
24 months period
Peer review process
Feb 2021
Formatting, UN Env review,
PublicationJune/July 2021
Final reports
Feb 2021
Internal review of reportsStart Nov 2020
Febr2021
Road-testing
Dissemination phaseAugust 2021
How to assess Social Impacts of a product life cycle?
ELCA & S-LCA - Similarities
15
ELCA and S-LCA have a lot in common. Both methodologies…
• …are based on the ISO framework (though some specificities exist for each of these phases in S-LCA);
• …work as iterative procedures;
• …provide useful information for decision-making;
• …do not have the purpose to provide information on whether or not a product should be produced;
• …conduct hotspots assessments;
• …have a huge need for data (and conduct data quality assessment);
• …request peer review when communication to the public or comparative assertions are planned;
Environmental LCA and Social LCA are complementary approaches!
Principle approach of S-LCA Guidelines – Aim
16
Aim: Assessment of social impacts of a product as complete as possible, over the whole life cycle
“The ultimate objective for conducting an S-LCA is to promote
improvement of social conditions and of the overall socio-economic
performance of a product throughout its life cycle for all of its
stakeholders”
Define stakeholders, impact categories, subcategories, inventory indicators for distinct impacts (e.g. human rights, working conditions)
nships – Policy relevance
17Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marzia Traverso
Distinguish several stakeholders
Principle approach of S-LCA Guidelines – Stakeholder
Supplier relationships – Policy relevance
18Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marzia Traverso
Distinguish relevant impact category / subcategory / indicator chains per stakeholder
Principle approach of S-LCA Guidelines – Impacts & Indicators
Supplier relationships – Policy relevance
19Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marzia Traverso
stakeholder – subcategory relations
Principle approach of S-LCA Guidelines – Impacts & Indicators
“Workers”1. Freedom of Association and Collective
Bargaining2. Child Labour3. Fair Salary4. Working Hours5. Forced Labour6. Equal opportunities/Discrimination7. Health and Safety8. Social Benefits/Social Security
“Consumer”9. Health & Safety10. Feedback Mechanism11. Consumer Privacy12. Transparency13. End of life responsibility
“Local community”14. Access to material resources15. Access to immaterial resources16. Delocalization and Migration17. Cultural Heritage18. Safe & healthy living conditions19. Respect of indigenous rights20. Community engagement21. Local employment22. Secure living conditions
“Society”23. Public commitments to sustainability issues24. Contribution to economic development25. Prevention & mitigation of armed conflicts26. Technology development27. Corruption
Value chain actors (not including consumers)28. Fair competition29. Promoting social responsibility30. Supplier relationships31. Respect of intellectual property rights
Social Life Cycle Assessment – Further developmetStep 1: State-of-the-art and identification of relevant topics
Address Children's needs!Establishment of children as a key stakeholder group to address their needs and implications with Sustainable Development
Address Small Farmers!Redefine the Area of Protection to suit their livelihood – health, living income, interest groups, land etc.
Ensure fair living wages along the supply chainRemuneration of workers along cotton´s supply chain must fulfil daily needs!
Step 1: State-of-the-art
Step 2: Gathering of Primary Data
– Questionnaire includes workers and local communities
– Inclusion of positive as well as negative indicators
S-LCA need of primary data
Social Life Cycle Impact Assessment
Step 3: Social Impact Assessment
– Following the Guidelines for SLCA of Products and the Handbook of Product Social Impact Assessment
– Description of Social Consequences (positive & negative) by means of social cause-effect chains
Fair wage
Human health
(Social) equity
Social well-being
Social justice
Economic welfare
Nutrition & housing
Insurances & medicine
Education
Recreation, leisure,
cultural activity
From S-LCA to LCSA
Step 4: Sustainability Assessment
‒ Consideration of economic chances and challenges for cotton farmers
‒ Monetization of sustainability impacts and integration into one sustainability metric
‒ Development of an integrated sustainability index and/or interpretation tool
Step 3: Social Impact Assessment
– Following the Guidelines for SLCA of Products and the Handbook of Product Social Impact Assessment
– Description of Social Consequences (positive & negative) by means of social cause-effect chains
Fair wage
Human health
(Social) equity
Social well-being
Social justice
Economic welfare
Nutrition & housing
Insurances & medicine
Education
Recreation, leisure,
cultural activity
Communicating Products' Social Impacts - a White Paper of the Consumer Information Programme
• The white paper analyses:• Why it is important to communicate products’ social impacts• State of the art of current methodologies, best practices and
initiatives on the methods and tools to measure product life cycle social impacts (Social Life Cycle Assessment)
• Ideas and best practices on how to communicate products’ social impacts through consumer information tools
• Recommendations for effective communication of products’ social impacts, including the different roles that government, NGOs and companies can play to advance this issue, as well as ideas for collaborative efforts and harmonization of certification schemes, and the need for additional methods, tools and guidance
• Link: http://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/resource/communicating-products-social-impacts-white-paper-consumer-information-programme
SPECIAL ISSUE
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/resources/special_issues/social_LCA