1. Survey on methods for modelling multiple life cycles, reuse, remanufacturing, etc. in LCA

SCORELCA (http://www.scorelca.org/en/index.php) is an association which aims to promote and organise cooperation between industrial, institutional and scientific actors to promote a positive, shared and recognised evolution of global environmental quantification methods at the European and international level, in particular of life cycle assessment (LCA), and putting them into practice.

SCORELCA is currently carrying out a study, notably including the following objectives:
  • To establish a state of the art of methodologies for the allocation of environmental impacts of each application of a product or service having multiple successive applications, to synthetize as operational methodological guidelines for SCORELCA’s members.
  • To illustrate these methodologies on a concrete case study related to the LCA of batteries benefitting from a second life.
This study is conducted by Deloitte Sustainability and Gingko 21 for SCORELCA. It aims to identify all publications dealing with methodological issues in case of several successive life cycles when assessing the environmental impacts of various types of products or services (including batteries but not only) and to perform a critical analysis of these methods to understand their suitability in different use contexts.

Note: this study aims to focus on product loops in LCA, i.e. cases of reuse, remanufacturing, second life, etc. Considerations regarding material loops in LCA are excluded from the scope of this study as they were addressed in previous SCORELCA studies.

The objectives of this quick survey are to:
  • Understand the current challenges faced by practitioners when modelling the environmental impacts of several successive life cycles of a given system;
  • Identify methods or approaches recently developed (or still under development) to address these challenges, that were not identified through the literature review performed so far;
  • Collect LCA practitioners’ opinion on the recent methodological developments in the field.
If you have any questions about the survey, please email us at: pduvernois@deloitte.fr

Answering this questionnaire should not take you more than 5-10 minutes. We thank you in advance for taking the time to complete the survey!

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* 1. According to you, what are the most important challenges that LCA practitioners face when assessing the environmental impacts of a system over multiple life cycles (in either similar or different applications)? Please rank the following challenges relative to their importance (1=most important; 7= least important) or add any other challenge(s) that you see missing and provide any comment/explanation in the section below.

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Defining the functional unit of the system studied according to the goal of the study
Defining the most appropriate system boundary between two or more life cycles of the system studied
Finding the best allocation method between the multiple life cycles studied
Adopting a methodology which is compatible with waste and end-of-waste status (regulation perspective)
Dealing with uncertainties and time representativeness related to the future life cycles of the system studied
Inventory datasets for intermediary steps (reconditioning, remanufacturing, etc.) between two successive life cycles
Integrating into the modelling the notion of quality of the product or system studied over several life cycles (i.e. loss of quality / decrease of performance)

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* 2. At this stage of the study, we have already identified several methodologies and/or case studies that deal with product loops with similar or different applications. A few of them are cited here below:
From your perspective, are there any significant missing publications that use innovative methodologies to deal with product loops (be it operational methods or methods under development) which would not be mentioned in the previous list (acknowledging it is not exhaustive)?

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* 3. Have you (or your organisation) been involved in the development of one or several of the publications you mentioned in Q2?

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* 4. Which methodological challenge(s) from Q1 do the additional publications you proposed in Q2 try to address?

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Defining the functional unit of the system studied according to the goal of the study
Defining the most appropriate system boundary between two or more life cycles of the system studied
Finding the best allocation method between the multiple life cycles studied
Adopting a methodology which is compatible with waste and end-of-waste status (regulation perspective)
Dealing with uncertainties and time representativeness related to the future life cycles of the system studied
Availability of representative and robust Life Cycle Inventory datasets for intermediary steps (reconditioning, remanufacturing, etc.) between two successive life cycles
Integrating into the modelling the notion of quality of the product or system studied over several life cycles (i.e. loss of quality / decrease of performance)

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* 5. According to you, are there limitations in the additional publications you proposed in Q2?

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* 6. On which type(s) of products/services do you think methodologies for dealing with multiple life cycles would be particularly relevant?

  Never Occasionally Frequently Often
Batteries
Other EEE
Mechanical parts
Buildings
Textile
Functionality economy or collaborative economy

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* 7. Beyond specific publications, do you have any other feedback regarding the modelling of product loops?

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* 8. We have already identified several publications on LCA of batteries. A few of them are quoted below:
  • Tran, Ha Phuong et al. Recycling portable alkaline/ZnC batteries for a circular economy: An assessment of natural resource consumption from a life cycle and criticality perspective. 2017.
  • Tchertchian, Nicolas et al. Influence of the Multiples Life Cycles on the Environmental Impact of a Product. 2016.
  • Ahmadi, Leila et al. A cascaded life cycle: reuse of electric vehicle lithium-ion battery packs in energy storage systems. 2015.
  • Nordelöf, Anders et al. Environmental impacts of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles—what can we learn from life cycle assessment? 2014.
  • Konstantinos, Genikomsakis et al. A Life Cycle Assessment of a Li-ion urban electric vehicle battery. 2013.
  • Ager-Wick Ellingsen, Linda et al. Life cycle assessment of a lithium-ion battery vehicle pack. 2013
  • Zackrisson, Mats et al. Life cycle assessment of lithium-ion batteries for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles - Critical issues. 2010.
From your perspective, are there any significant missing recent publications on LCA of batteries? 

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* 9. Optional - Could you please provide the following information so we can contact you for further discussion if needed?

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* 10. Optional - What is the name of your organisation? What is your role within your organisation (job title/position)?

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