1.
A joint organisation
of UNEP & SETAC
Launch and Road-testing of the
Guidance on Organizational LCA by the
UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative
Julia Martínez-Blanco, Matthias Finkbeiner, Llorenç
Milà-i-Canals, Ana Quiros, Atsushi Inaba
Bordeux, France
1 September 2015

2.
Content
• “Guidance on Organizational LCA”
• Technical framework
• Next steps: road testing
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA

3.
“Guidance on Organizational
Life Cycle Assessment”
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA

4.
Acknowledgements
Producers:
Supervision, technical editing and support: Llorenç Milà i Canals (UNEP
DTIE, France) • Sonia Valdivia (UNEP DTIE, France)
Lead authors: Julia Martínez Blanco (TU Berlin, Germany) • Matthias
Finkbeiner (TU Berlin, Germany) • Atsushi Inaba (Kogakuin University, Japan)
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA
17 co-drafters in the working group
47 feedback stakeholders who participated in the consultation process
11 first movers (case studies)
Consultan
cy;25%
University
;37%
NGO;8%
Research
center;
8%
Big
company;
7%
Industrial
sector;3%
Internatio
nal Org.;
5%
Politic;3% SME;2%
Type of organisation
Women;
39%
Men;61%
Gender
Africa;
9% Asia
Pacific;
11%
Europe;
46%
Latin
America;
19%
North
America;
14%
Global;
2%
Region
Composition
co-drafters
and feedback
stakeholders

5.
Content and
recommended
reading itineraries
Features of the Guidance document
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA

6.
Reports
Summaries about specific
features of the ‘First Mover’
stories
Features of the Guidance document
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA

7.
Content
• “Guidance on Organizational LCA”
• Technical framework
• Next steps: road testing
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA

8.
• A compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental
impacts of the activities associated with the organization adopting a life cycle
perspective (ISO/TS 14072).
• O-LCA mainly differs…
– from previous LCA techniques by its
What is O-LCA?
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA
object of study: the organization;
– from other organization-oriented
methodologies by its approach:
the life cycle;
– from recent value chain tools
by the categories considered:
multi-criteria assessment.

9.
Goals definition
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA

10.
Main elements of O-LCA scope
Scope definition
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA
Other common issues to be defined: allocation procedures, LCIA methods, data quality
requirements, assumptions, etc.

11.
Reporting organization
• Subject of study
• Consolidation method
• Reference period
Scope definition
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA
Reporting flow
• per units (e.g. number of jeans,
skirts and shirts produced by a clothing manufacturer)
• per weight (e.g. kilograms of steel, iron and aluminum provided by a metal
retailer)
• non-physical terms (e.g. economic revenue and number of employees)

12.
System boundary - Which operations/activities are part of the system?
The resources use and emissions are divided into: direct and indirect.
Scope definition
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA
Cradle-to-gate
Cradle-to-grave

13.
Data collection
Inventory
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA

14.
There is not a “one-size-
fits-all” approach to O-
LCA.
Three experience-based
pathways are defined
with specific
Inventory
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA
with specific
recommendations

15.
Content
• “Guidance on Organizational LCA”
• Technical framework
• Next steps: road testing
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA

16.
Road Testing
Test the guidance document in about 10 real
organizations.
Goals: proof the potentialities of the methodology
+ add more experiences and promote its further
use + test the clarity of the document
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA
Representative set of organizations: region,
sector, size, and experience with environmental
tools.
Terms: The organizations is the main actor in the
application (providing its own resources). The
secretariat provides support.
Calendar: September 2015 – Summer 2016

17.
Provisional list of road testers
The provisional list of road testers includes:
• Sectors: Cosmetics, Agricultural machinery, Vegetable oil, Ceramic
tiles, Steel, Education, Plywoods, Consultancy, Waste management...
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA
• Countries: Italy, Thailand, Turkey, Russia, India, Canada, Bolivia,
Peru...
• Sizes: 5 – 7,000 employees; local and international
... still being defined.

18.
How to collaborate?
Download and use the Guidance document.
Be our voice and disseminate O-LCA.
Apply O-LCA and encourage others to do it.
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA

19.
Thanking our sponsors
Platinum Sponsors
Launch and road-testing of the Guidance on O-LCA
Silver Sponsors Bronze Sponsors
Gold Sponsors

20.
A joint organisation
of UNEP & SETAC
Thanks for your attention!!
Contact Life Cycle Initiative: info@lifecycleinitiative.orgContact Life Cycle Initiative: info@lifecycleinitiative.org
Contact flagship project: julia.martinezblanco@tu-berlin.de