1. Describe briefly the steps prescribed by the ISO to guide life-cycle assessment of products.
2. What are the difficulties with a full LCA? Why would a simpler, if approximate, technique be helpful?
3. Pick two of the products listed in Exercise E.3.1 and, using your judgment, attempt to fill out the simplified streamlined LCA matrix in Figure 3.16 to give an Environmentally Responsible Product Rating, Repr.
Make your own assumptions (and report them) about where the product was made, how far it has been transported thus far, and whether it will be recycled. Assign an integer between 0 (highest impact) and 4 (least impact) to each box and then add them to give an environmental rating, providing a comparison. Try the following protocol:
■ Material: Is it energy-intensive? Does it create excessive emissions? Is it difficult or impossible to recycle? Is the material toxic? If the answer to these questions is yes, score 4. If no, score 0. Use the intermediate integers for other combinations.
■ Manufacturing: Is the process one that uses much energy? Is it wasteful (meaning cut-offs and rejects are high)? Does it produce toxic or hazardous waste? Does make use of volatile organic solvents? If yes, score 4. If no, score 0, etc.
■ Transportation: Is the product manufactured far from its ultimate market? Is it shipped by air freight? If yes to both, score 4. If no to both, score 0.
■ Use: Does the product use energy during its life? Is the energy derived from fossil fuels? Are any emissions toxic? Is it possible to provide the use-function in a less energy-intensive way? Scoring as above.
■ Disposal: Will the product be sent to a landfill at end of life? Does disposal involve toxic or long-lived residues? Scoring as above.
What difficulties did you have? Do you feel confident that the results are meaningful?