SIEMENS

What's the purpose of environmental life cycle assessments?

Olsen: The purpose is to register all of the negative impacts on the environment that are connected with the manufacture of a product, an item, or the provision of a service. It's a holistic approach in which the environmental compatibility of every step of production — from the extraction and processing of raw materials to the disposal of a product — is registered and evaluated. This body of knowledge then has to be taken into account in the development of new products and goods.

What progress have environmental life cycle assessments made so far?

Olsen: The energy crisis of the early 1970s marked the birth of environmental life cycle assessments, but the concept was not subsequently pursued consistently. In the mid 1980s the packaging industry showed interest, but that was more for marketing reasons in order to enhance its profile and position itself better in the market in comparison with other actors. A scientific approach was gradually worked out, and in 1997–2000 it was standardized by a series of ISO norms. Today, environmental life cycle assessments are part of many EU directives, such as EC2002/96, which covers end-of-life electric and electronic devices.

What are the limits of this method?

Olsen: Environmental life cycle assessments are very time-consuming and sometimes very hard to perform. That's especially true if the links of the production chain and the disposal process haven't been adequately described in terms of their environmental effects. Increasingly short life cycles for high-tech industrial goods are a big challenge because of rapidly changing production technologies. Another problem lies in the complex processes used by the chemicals industry, where reactions are often inadequately documented and thus hard to take into account.

What are some examples of the use of environmental life cycle assessments?

Olsen: Environmental life cycle assessments are conducted in almost all areas of industry, from the sectors that process raw materials to the consumer goods and waste disposal industries. One can also conduct environmental life cycle assessments of materials such as steel, aluminum, and plastics. In principle, almost all products can be evaluated using environmental compatibility criteria. That also applies to complex production processes such as those that support agriculture and meat production. In these areas it is important to also take into account the production processes of the raw materials involved, such as animal feed. The petrochemical industry with its refining processes is also a candidate for environmental life cycle assessments.

How did you organize your work with Siemens?

Olsen: Our department has accumulated wide experience with European companies. However, many of these projects were academic in nature. In other words, they were managed by the university, but the results were not necessarily implemented within companies. With Siemens, it was clear from the start that the research results would be incorporated into the company's own environmental protection program and implemented. Besides, it was very important for Siemens that the results be applicable in practice.

What have you learned from working with Siemens?

Olsen: The aim was to create a framework for Siemens so that it could improve the environmental compatibility of its products and production processes. To do so, we had to adjust our assessment methods so that Siemens could use them effectively. The assessment process also had to be compatible with the Corex/Finex process we studied for Siemens in order to show how the method works. Of course the company couldn't adjust its technical processes to our methods; instead, we had to subordinate our method to existing production processes. As external scientific advisers, we could only offer our ideas and expertise; Siemens' management was responsible for implementing them. However, we didn't want to prepare a report that would only gather dust on a shelf once the project was over. We considered it important to sensitize Siemens employees to the importance of conducting environmental life cycle assessments.

Do you make a distinction between the requirements of industry and those of public authorities or of a university?

Olsen: It's obvious that an industrial company has to operate profitably. Companies have an interest in enhancing their attractiveness to customers and public sector clients with the help of environmental life cycle assessments. Such assessments not only improve the environmental compatibility of products and their production processes, they also sharpen consumers' awareness of environmental issues. And they help people to identify potential ways of saving resources and reducing energy consumption. At universities, the focus is generally on the academic interest — in other words, on research. For politics and the public sector, environmental life cycle assessments are important tools that can encourage companies to engage in greener and more sustainable production and consumption.

What's the outlook for environmental assessments?

Olsen: They are increasingly developing into an instrument with whose help environmental policy directives can be gently implemented in the EU and other parts of the world. They also support the increasing interest in sustainable lifestyles by providing concrete data. In contrast to the carbon footprint, which mainly takes into account CO₂ emissions, environmental life cycle assessment are holistic. They take into account all the substances that impact the environment. Companies everywhere are starting to recognize the signs of the times and are using environmental life cycle assessments not only to optimize their products but also to correct weak spots in production processes. The European Commission is now preparing a handbook with directives and data sets that will serve as universal guidelines for many industrial sectors. The aim is to increase trust in the assessment process and the level of acceptance within industry. The climate debate has greatly increased industrial companies' efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions as much as possible and produce CO₂-neutral products. But focusing only on CO₂ isn't the right way to arrive at the most environmentally compatible lifestyle, as it doesn't take into account the toxic risks of many chemical substances. There's a danger that people will assume that minimizing CO₂ emissions is the same thing as achieving a good level of environmental compatibility. We have to counteract this tendency early on.