Abstract
The aim of this paper is to guide the next steps of a PhD thesis through a structured review of the state of the art and implementation of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), and to identify challenges and potentials for its adoption at an automotive company. First, the structured literature review was conducted on LCSA to screen the current methodological and practical implementations and to identify the main research needs in the field. Second, a research on the current status of LCSA within the automotive industry was carried out by means of investigation of published sources of 15 Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). By combining the results of both steps and consulting with decision makers, the challenges and potential for adopting LCSA at an automotive company were identified. The main challenges for adoption of LCSA were found to be: (1) the consistent execution of the three life cycle based assessment methods; (2) the comparatively low maturity of Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA); and (3) the adequate presentation and interpretation of results. Next steps towards implementation would be a case study to gather experience on the combined execution of the three life cycle based assessments at an automotive company. Furthermore, it should be determined what the needs of decision makers at an automotive company are regarding the aggregation and interpretation of environmental, social, and economic impacts.
Highlights
Products influence all three dimensions of sustainability, i.e., economy, environment, and society
The aim of this paper is to guide the steps of a PhD thesis through a structured review of the state of the art and implementation of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), and to identify challenges and potentials for its adoption at an automotive company
The structured literature review was conducted on LCSA to screen the current methodological and practical implementations and to identify the main research needs in the field
Summary
Products influence all three dimensions of sustainability, i.e., economy, environment, and society. Their manufacturing and often their usage is linked to resource use, land use, and pollution of the environmental media. Products have an effect on both economy and society because their life cycle, i.e., manufacturing, use, and disposal, give rise to employment and contribute to value generation. How sustainability is understood has a decisive impact on the mode of assessment. There are two fundamentally different approaches to assessing sustainability, the first one is viewing the three dimensions of sustainability partially independent from one another while the second one understands the three dimensions to be integrated and not independently manageable [1,2]. Product sustainability assessment should take the impacts over the entire product’s life cycle into account [3]
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