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Packaging LCA Scoping Project - 1 November 2007
Background
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a very flexible and powerful tool to measure the environmental performance of products and services. It is especially powerful as a tool for comparison between different products performing the same function. It therefore is a technique that is perfectly suited to the Wal-Mart Sustainability program, because it supports purchasing decisions very well.
However, the very flexibility of the technique allows quite different approaches to LCA studies and can interfere with the buyer’s ability to make comparisons between studies. The solution to this problem is to develop an LCA scope that provides a level playing field for all the providers of products that have the same function. Ideally, representatives of all the industries making the products should work together and agree on the scope of any studies to be performed.
IERE is proposing an LCA scoping exercise for packaging, to support the Wal-Mart sustainable packaging initiatives. Soft drink containers are suggested as the first product to be scoped, because these primary containers are made out of plastic, glass, steel and aluminum, and because there are few other packages that are made out of such a diverse group of materials. Representatives of each of these industries have agreed to participate in discussion on the topic.
Goals
The initial goal of this exercise is to provide
1. A scoping document for a single packaging product or group of products, and
2. Another document that describes the scoping process itself as a model for other scoping processes.These other efforts can be undertaken if and when the relevant industries seek to do so.
The scoping exercise should conform to the requirements of the ISO 14040 series standards (the LCA standards), and possibly to the requirements of the TR14025 (on environmental product declarations). These standards not only provide a complete list of the issues that need to be addressed, but also include a high requirement for transparency.
Caveat
This process has not even started, and it would be premature to speculate on any outcomes or the details of the process for developing the scoping documents. If you want more information, contact Rita Schenck at 206-463-7430 or rita@iere.org.