Organisational LCA

Abstract

The most applied and widespread approaches for environmental assessments at the organisation level have only recently extended their view beyond the factory gates. Even if they now consider the full value chain, they still mostly concentrate on a single environmental aspect like greenhouse gases (GHGs). While LCA was originally developed for products, its benefits and potential can be extended to the assessment of organisations. Organisational LCA is built on the principles, requirements and guidelines of ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, but requires some adaptations in the scope and inventory phases, when the unit of analysis and the system boundaries are defined. Also, the approach for data collection needs to be fixed. Organisational LCA is a compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impacts of the activities associated with the organisation adopting a life cycle perspective. It includes not only the facilities of the organisation itself, but also the activities upstream and downstream the value chain. This methodology is capable of serving multiple goals at the same time, like identifying environmental hotspots throughout the value chain, tracking environmental performance over time, supporting strategic decisions, and informing corporate sustainability reporting. Several initiatives are on the way for the LCA of organisations: the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative published the ‘Guidance on organizational LCA’, using ISO/TS 14072 as a backbone; moreover, the European Commission launched a guide for the organisation environmental footprint.