| Front page | | Next |

Handbook on environmental assessment of products

Contents

Preface to the series
  
Preface
  
Part A
   
1 Introduction
1.1 Why carry out environmental assessments?
1.2 How can small companies carry out environmental assessments?
1.2.1 Preconditions
1.2.2 Who should carry out the work?
1.3 What are the principles of LCAs?
1.3.1 The method used
1.3.2 Goal and scope definition
1.3.3 Inventory
1.3.4 Impact assessmen
1.3.5 Interpretation
1.4 References
   
2 The simplified LCA
2.1 The principles behind the simplification
2.1.1 Why stepwise LCAs?
2.2 Comparing ISO, EDIP, and the MECO chart
   
3 What can the environmental assessment be used for?
3.1 Marketing
3.2 Environmental management
3.3 Product development
3.4 LCA can be used for dialogue
  
Part B Cookbook
   
1. Define the task
1.1 Describe the goal of the environmental assessment
1.2 Choose your product
1.3 Define the service provided by the product
1.3.1 What is comparable?
1.3.2 What are the obligatory and positioning properties of a product?
1.3.3 Define the functional unit
1.3.4 Identify the secondary services provided by the product
1.3.5 Plan the secondary services when constructing your product
  
2 Describe the product life-cycle
2.1 Define your task
2.1.1 Where in the life-cycle are the significant environmental impacts found?
2.1.2 Use a chart for your planning
2.1.3 Information about disposal and transport
2.1.4 What should be included?
2.2 Collect data for the product life-cycle
2.2.1 Would a flow diagram of the product  life-cycle be more suitable?
2.2.2 Compensation
  
3 Carry out an initial environmental assessment
3.1 Preparing a MECO chart
3.1.1 Materials
3.1.2 Energy
3.1.3 Chemicals
3.1.4 Other
3.2 Interpreting the MECO chart
3.2.1 The MECO chart
3.2.2 Interpreting the information on materials
3.2.3 Interpreting energy figures
3.2.4 Interpreting chemical figures
3.2.5 Other
3.3 Did you get answers to your questions?
3.3.1 Insufficiently clarified issues
3.3.2 Where do you go from here?
3.4 Find additional data
   
4 Carry out environmental assessment with a PC tool
4.1 Advantages of the PC tool
4.2 Before you begin
4.2.1 Choosing a PC tool
4.2.2 Data
4.2.3 Other issues
4.2.4 Modelling in the PC tool
4.3 Interpret the environmental assessment in the PC tool
4.3.1 The cause of the environmental impact of the product
4.3.2 Assigning impacts to phases with EDIP PC tools
4.3.3 Comparing two products
4.3.4 Uncertainties
4.4 Were your questions answered?
4.5 Collect more data
4.5.1 Suppliers
4.5.2 Sector organisations
4.5.3 Databases and literature
4.5.4 Knowledge centres
  
5 Carry out an extended chemical assessment
5.1 Expand the chemical assessment
5.1.1 Screening for harmful impacts on health and the environment
5.1.2 The EDIP screening method
5.1.3 Detailed assessment of chemical substances with high scores
5.2 Interpreting the chemical assessment
5.3 Did you get answers to your questions?
5.4 Find additional data
  
6 Complete the environmental assessment
6.1 Instructions on reporting
6.2 Suggested contents of your report
6.2.1 Reporting the MECO chart
6.2.2 Reporting PC modelling
6.2.3 Reporting the chemical assessment
6.3 Using the results in actual practice
6.4 What's next?
  
List of references
  
Glossary of acronyms
  
Appendix A Formulae
  
Appendix B Reference tables
   
Appendix C Overview of publications in the "mini series" about life-cycle perspectives and assessments

 

| Front page | | Next | | Top |