Abstract
Every human activity determines an uptake and acquisition of natural resources as well as release of different emissions, that is, chemical or physical agents such as various substances, noise, etc.
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Notes
- 1.
Theoretically, we cannot run out of metals as they are always recyclable, although actual exhaustion of mineral resources would have a heavy economic impact.
- 2.
Like the winter smog that caused 4000 deaths in London during the winter of 1952.
- 3.
- 4.
Typical indexes of pollution degree are the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). BOD is a parameter for estimating the biodegradable organic pollution of lakes and water basins; it is equal to the amount of oxygen necessary for decomposing biodegradable pollutants, usually organic substances coming from waste. COD measures the pollutant load in a flow that might extract oxygen from the water.
- 5.
We know little, for example, about user behaviours, and similarly hard to calculate are the end-of-life treatments.
- 6.
SETAC is the acronym for the Society for Environmental Technology and Chemistry.
- 7.
ISO (International Standards Organisation) drafted, starting from the work done by SETAC, the introduction norm for LCA (ISO 14040), and specific parts dealing with definitions, goals and scopes, e.g. Definitions and Life Cycle Inventory (ISO 14041), Life Cycle Impact Assessment (ISO 14042) and Life Cycle Interpretation (ISO 14043). These expressions will be clarified later in the book.
- 8.
Referring to either authorities who define the normatives or, for example, those who attribute the eco-label, or those who during different stages of product development are in a position to make decisions.
- 9.
Cf. ISO 14040.
- 10.
E.g. transportation per persons: the functional unit is passenger per kilometre. If all transportation systems are being examined, then the comparisons, for example, are made between a bicycle, motorbike, car, public transport, train and plane; eventually several restrictions can be applied, as in the case of private transportation, trains and planes can be ignored, and reducing street traffic does not have to take into account trains, planes and bicycles. In all cases, the lifespan of products/services and the reuse and recycling possibilities have to be compared.
- 11.
Here, it is decided, for example, if the data has to be surveyed or whether it is possible to use average data.
- 12.
For further details about environmental effects, cf. Appendix A.
- 13.
E.g. NOx are, for example, toxic, acidic and cause eutrophication.
- 14.
E.g. ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential) is a parameter that measures relative potentials of different gases on ozone layer depletion.
- 15.
The most used criterion is illustrated in an example of the following paragraph.
- 16.
E.g. when comparing two systems, if one determines a smaller risk of ozone depletion and the other has fewer toxic emissions, then it is impossible to declare which one has worse environmental characteristics without calculating the relative importance of both (different) impact categories. For further details, cf. the ‘Power to Choose: Discriminant Power Versus Scientific Reliability’ paragraph in Chap. 14 of this part.
- 17.
Some examples, in the ‘Some Methods Employed on the Market’ following paragraph, show several evaluation criteria, and point out the most important ones.
- 18.
This topic is dealt with more in depth in the ‘Power to Choose: Discriminant Power Versus Scientific Reliability’ paragraph in Chap. 14 of this part.
- 19.
In Chap. 14 of this part the limits and the perspective of such an application are defined.
- 20.
A very well-established method that still has to make up some ground is the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). It is a product voluntary classification scheme, born in Sweden but valid worldwide, starting from the assumption of carrying out a Life Cycle Assessment.
- 21.
The project was supported by the Government of the Netherlands and developed by CML in cooperation with Pré Consultant, Philips, Ocè, Nedcar and Fresco.
- 22.
E.g. LCA on a washing machine would assume that the stage of utilisation has a greater impact; thus, the priority would be to consider reducing the consumption during use (energy, water and detergents) and design strategies should follow this lead and try to solve the problems.
- 23.
Cf. Chap. 15 of this part.
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Vezzoli, C. (2018). Estimating the Environmental Impact of Products: Life Cycle Assessment. In: Design for Environmental Sustainability. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-7364-9_13
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