Operational Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Methodology Supporting Decisions Towards a Circular Economy

Project Information

ORIENTING

Grant agreement ID: 958231

DOI

10.3030/958231

Project closed

EC signature date 30 September 2020

Start date 1 November 2020

End date 30 April 2024

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Advanced materials

Total cost

€ 5 997 338,75

EU contribution

€ 5 997 338,75

Coordinated by

FUNDACION TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ORIENTING (Operational Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Methodology Supporting Decisions Towards a Circular Economy)

Reporting period: 2022-05-01 to 2024-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The large adoption of linear take-use-dispose production and consumption systems has led over time to societal challenges, such as climate change and the sustainable management of natural resources. More sustainable business models are needed that can bring demonstrable benefits.

Life cycle approaches have been developed for assessing impacts and benefits of products (goods and services) and business systems. However, an established sustainability assessment method for products is still missing that coherently integrates all pillars of sustainability (environmental, economic and social impacts), also addressing material- and product-related aspects of relevance for the circular economy. Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) provides a comprehensive framework, but its operationalisation is not yet practical, especially for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Against this background, the main objective of ORIENTING (“Operational Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Methodology Supporting Decisions Towards a Circular Economy”) is to develop a robust and operational LCSA methodology to assess, help improve, and communicate the sustainability performance of products. The methodology builds on (and informs) other initiatives developed at international level, such as the UNEP/SETAC LCSA framework and PEF, and considers environmental, social and economic impacts, as well as product circularity and material criticality aspects, in a consistent and integrated way. The main objective described above can be broken down into more specific objectives that include:
1. To select and combine fit-for-purpose approaches, models and indicators.
2. To develop novel models and indicators for addressing current sustainability and circular economy challenges and policy priorities.
3. To develop a robust methodological approach for the integration and interpretation of information.
4. To develop new tools that enable the application of the LCSA methodology.
5. To demonstrate the usefulness of the ORIENTING LCSA methodology in decision making processes.
6. To favour the uptake of the ORIENTING LCSA methodology and work towards a future Product Sustainability Footprint, and related category rules.
7. To create a business case around the ORIENTING LCSA methodology.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The main work developed by ORIENTING and results achieved, include:
1. Concept and specifications (WP1) were defined for selecting the best available approaches to assess sustainability from a life- cycle perspective. A set of evaluation criteria to assess the best available methods for LCSA were defined and further used to evaluate over 65 methods/approaches to be considered in the LCSA methodology. The results of these evaluations were described in deliverables D1.1 to D1.6.

2. The ORIENTING LCSA methodology (WP2) was developed collaboratively in a phased approach. Using the feedback from public consultation and experiences from testing, the final LCSA methodology was described in ORIENTING D2.9 “LCSA Handbook”. 4 additional methodological reports have provided more detailed guidance for conducting the environmental (D2.4) social (D2.5) economic (D2.6) criticality and circularity (D2.7) assessments, respectively. A fifth report, D2.8 provided a stepwise guidance to perform the interpretation and integration of the LCSA results. 60 different sustainability topics (or indicators) are included in ORIENTING and guidelines for selecting most relevant (“material”) indicators and topics. To diminish the barriers towards the implementation of LCSA, two levels of application; an entry level materiality assessment; and 9 practical working tools and templates were introduced. Recommendations towards potential future product sustainability footprint category rules were also described in D2.10.

3. LCSA Operationalisation (WP3) included the definition of data ontologies (D3.1) and specifications (D3.2) together with software requirements (D3.3). Furthermore, an ORIENTING output format (OOF) was developed to overcome the lack of a common data format at the overarching LCSA level and facilitate the exchange and interoperability of data between the different software used and the ORIENTING tool. The final user friendly LCSA integration tool (D3.5) and train the trainers LCSA manual were produced (D3.6) following from this.

4. Public demonstrations (WP4) took place by research and industry partners to test the implementation of the LCSA methodology (WP2) and tool (WP3), following two distinct phases: screening and implementation. The results of the implementation were integrated in D4.3 including 5 full LCSA of different products by applying the ORIENTING LCSA methodology and tool,

5. Engagement and communication activities (WP5) have been key to ORIENTING´s active participatory approach to ensure that the LCSA methodology is responsive to stakeholders’ needs and that is relevant for ongoing and future policies. The potential role of a PSF along the policy cycle has been reflected in D5.5. Overall, more than 1750 stakeholders have been involved along the project: 824 registered as ORIENTING stakeholders on project website; 229 via in-person events; and 707 via online events. 5 events were organised for the general public, 1 Policy workshop, and 8 webinar/workshops. 99.506 persons were reached via the social networks in total.

6. Exploitation activities (WP6) were in place to analyse barriers and drivers for mainstreaming LCSA, establish five different business scenarios, and design ORIENTING´s exploitation plan around 4 main identified Key Exploitable Results, including ownership and IPR considerations. Furthermore, dissemination activities have ensured the commitment of 2 partied to further testing ORIENTING, the production of 6 scientific articles and 26 contributions to scientific conferences.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project:
1.Focused and contributed significatively to those aspects in need of greater development:
- Improved characterisation of land use impacts (including impacts on biodiversity), updating the LANCA model used in PEF.
- Development of an operational approach and indicators for S-LCA based on reference scales.
- Definition of a life cycle approach for economic assessment (LCC) that takes different stakeholder perspectives into account and is aligned with LCA.
- Definition of operational indicators and approaches for assessing product circularity and criticality of materials.
- Integration and interpretation of LCSA results.
2. Demonstrated contributions towards the following impacts:
- Enable robust early-stage evaluations and increased consistency across sectors and through value chains.
- Improve understanding, visualisation and communication of impacts for better informed investment decision-making.
- Support EU policies and initiatives addressing sustainability of products (e.g. Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation, Safe and Sustainable by Design, sustainability reporting).
- Create new business opportunities and increased competitiveness for EU industries, and support SMEs in the transition to a circular and sustainable economy.
- Improve product investment decisions for industry.
- Contribute to a future LCSA-based certification of products in the EU.
- Improve innovation capacity and integration of knowledge at EU level.

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