Why a life cycle assessment is essential for sustainable product design
Without knowing your company or product’s environmental impact, it’s almost impossible to know where to begin and what changes you need to make. This is why a life cycle assessment (LCA) is a critical starting point for sustainable product design. There’s an urgency for action as climate change has become a global crisis, and the time […]
EU law will ban ‘climate-neutral’ claims by 2026
False product claims such as “eco friendly”, “carbon neutral” and “biodegradable” could be a thing of the past. The EU is moving ahead with plans to eradicate greenwashing, which is the use of misleading green labeling claims and ads. The plan The EU Parliament and Council have reached a provisional agreement on new rules to […]
Sustainability in Product Design: How To Improve Today
We all know it – consumption is ruining our planet. Therefore, it’s vital to make the products we need more sustainable. Luckily, choosing “greener” raw materials only scratches the surface of what Sustainable Product Design can do – how about enhancing the durability and repairability of your products, or leveraging sustainable consumer behavior with your […]
How to Verify Your LCA Results
How do you know you can trust someone’s LCA results? Well, LCA is a scientific method. And, akin to peer review in science, when verifying an LCA, independent experts give their “approval stamp”. Here, you’ll learn about the different protocols for verification and how to get your LCA verified. Verification confirms: The LCA complies with […]
From Data to Impact Data: Impact Assessment in LCA (LCIA)
In LCA we scientifically measure the environmental footprint of a product. And the most essential ingredient (and output) is “data”! Data has different shapes along the LCA-process: In LCA phase 2 (image below), the inventory analysis, we map and gather the total emissions (to air, soil, water), resource extractions, and land use/transformations that our product […]
How to Interpret Your LCA Results
The third Phase of LCA gave you your LCA results. Great! You know the environmental footprint of your product! Now…what does it tell you exactly? The fourth (and last) Phase of LCA is about interpreting these results and gaining the environmental insights you need. So, let’s get into: The goal and process of LCA Interpretation […]
How to define the goal & scope of your LCA
In the Goal and Scope (LCA Phase 1) phase of making a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) you specify: what, why, how, and for whom your LCA is relevant. It’s a crucial phase in making LCAs, as it determines your outcome and how you interpret and check your results. That’s why you always return to this […]
The most used LCI Databases for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
LCI databases are crucial to making Life Cycle Assessments (LCA is the scientific method to measure the environmental footprints of products). LCI databases contain information on the average environmental footprint of most materials and processes used in our daily lives and national economies. They provide environmental data companies can’t or haven’t yet measured themselves yet. […]
End-of-life (EoL) in LCA: Impacts of Waste and Benefits of Recycling
The End-of-Life (EoL) is the 5th product life-cycle phase in LCA: it’s the “grave”. Frightful (at first sight) as its name implies, this phase causes emissions and frowning faces alike. It has two main challenges: 1. How do you find out what happens to your product after it’s discarded? 2. How do you account for […]
Ecodesign Directive for Sustainable Products (ESPR): 2023 Overview
What is the Ecodesign Directive? The EU’s Ecodesign Directive (2009) prescribes energy-related Ecodesign criteria for certain products and communicates this through energy labels. So far, it saved consumers 120 Billion euros of energy expenditure (!!), and lowered energy consumption of the regulated products by 10% in 2021. The Ecodesign Directive is based on the sustainable […]
