Ebook: Life Cycle Assessment in Industry and Business: Adoption Patterns, Applications and Implications

The challenge of our time is the greening of products. Different tools and concepts to support this process have been developed in the past decade. Among others, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) appears as one of the most instructive management instruments for gaining insight into product-related environmental impacts and for supporting an effective integration of environmental aspects in business and economy. Research on LCA was and still is focused on improving the methodology. In fact, the "LCA technique" has significantly improved over the last few years. However, this research progress did nearly not stress the application context of LCA and its embodiment into business and industry. This is precisely the primary focus of the present book. Based on the empirical information of a large survey and of 20 company case studies, the book describes the set of applications and uses, as well as the dynamics of the adoption and integration patterns of LCA within business and industry.

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The challenge of our time is the greening of products. Different tools and concepts to support this process have been developed in the past decade. Among others, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) appears as one of the most instructive management instruments for gaining insight into product-related environmental impacts and for supporting an effective integration of environmental aspects in business and economy. Research on LCA was and still is focused on improving the methodology. In fact, the "LCA technique" has significantly improved over the last few years. However, this research progress did nearly not stress the application context of LCA and its embodiment into business and industry. This is precisely the primary focus of the present book. Based on the empirical information of a large survey and of 20 company case studies, the book describes the set of applications and uses, as well as the dynamics of the adoption and integration patterns of LCA within business and industry.

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The challenge of our time is the greening of products. Different tools and concepts to support this process have been developed in the past decade. Among others, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) appears as one of the most instructive management instruments for gaining insight into product-related environmental impacts and for supporting an effective integration of environmental aspects in business and economy. Research on LCA was and still is focused on improving the methodology. In fact, the "LCA technique" has significantly improved over the last few years. However, this research progress did nearly not stress the application context of LCA and its embodiment into business and industry. This is precisely the primary focus of the present book. Based on the empirical information of a large survey and of 20 company case studies, the book describes the set of applications and uses, as well as the dynamics of the adoption and integration patterns of LCA within business and industry.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-X
Introduction....Pages 1-7
Framework and theoretical background....Pages 9-41
Application of LCA in general....Pages 43-51
A “static” perspective on LCA applications — Survey results....Pages 53-101
The dynamics of LCA adoption and integration in the firm — The results of the case-studies....Pages 103-198
The relationship between business and policy: expectations and implications....Pages 199-217
Conclusions and recommendations....Pages 219-268
Back Matter....Pages 269-280

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The challenge of our time is the greening of products. Different tools and concepts to support this process have been developed in the past decade. Among others, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) appears as one of the most instructive management instruments for gaining insight into product-related environmental impacts and for supporting an effective integration of environmental aspects in business and economy. Research on LCA was and still is focused on improving the methodology. In fact, the "LCA technique" has significantly improved over the last few years. However, this research progress did nearly not stress the application context of LCA and its embodiment into business and industry. This is precisely the primary focus of the present book. Based on the empirical information of a large survey and of 20 company case studies, the book describes the set of applications and uses, as well as the dynamics of the adoption and integration patterns of LCA within business and industry.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-X
Introduction....Pages 1-7
Framework and theoretical background....Pages 9-41
Application of LCA in general....Pages 43-51
A “static” perspective on LCA applications — Survey results....Pages 53-101
The dynamics of LCA adoption and integration in the firm — The results of the case-studies....Pages 103-198
The relationship between business and policy: expectations and implications....Pages 199-217
Conclusions and recommendations....Pages 219-268
Back Matter....Pages 269-280
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