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Improving national electricity mixes and increasing a share of renewable energy covered by credible and reliable tracking systems are vital topics, also in a context of life cycle assessment. There are many publications devoted to the relevance of energy in the life cycle of products, but only few LCA examples applying residual mixes have been found in the literature. The paper presents the results of an LCA study for a refrigerator calculated with using different electricity mixes and technologies. The life cycle was divided into eight stages and the electricity consumption was modelled as renewable energy, national residual mix, or national supplier mix. Electricity mixes for three different countries were selected and used. The study aimed to answer the following questions: “what are the most relevant elements in the life cycle of the analysed refrigerator?”, “do the elements change if various electricity mixes are applied?”, and “what differences are there in the environmental impact of electricity generation modelled as residual and supplier mixes?”. From the life cycle perspective, not only may differences in national electricity systems between countries turn out to be important, but equally significant may be the choice between different types of mixes for a certain country.

The article presents a two-dimensional comparison of the alternative manufacturing processes of laminates used in food industry packaging. The main aim of the presented study was an assessment of potential environmental impacts occurring during the production of two-layer laminates containing a patented polypropylene film Metallyte™ 28UBW-ES and the hitherto used pap/LDPE/Al/LDPE multilayer laminates. The environmental assessment was supplemented by a cost calculation with special regard to the investment required for the production of the two-layer laminates. In the research both the life cycle assessment and the life cycle cost methods were applied. Based upon the obtained environmental impact indicator and the discounted costs the eco-efficiency indicator was determined. The results of the comparative analysis are shown on a two-dimensional eco-efficiency diagram. Based on the conducted study it was found that replacement of traditional packaging materials by laminates containing the Metallyte™ 28UBW-ES structure is justified. This is illustrated by a higher eco-efficiency indicator. The difference in the costs between the manufacturing processes under analysis is relatively small. However, when it comes to the environmental impact, there is a clear disproportion in favor of the two-layer laminates.

Implementation of the circular economy is one of the priorities of the European Union, and energy efficiency is one of its pillars. This article discusses an effective use of agri-food industry waste for the purposes of waste-to-energy in biogas plants. Its basic objective is the comparative assessment of the eco-efficiency of biogas production depending on the type of feedstock used, its transport and possibility to use generated heat. The environmental impact of the analysed installations was assessed with the application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Cost calculation was performed using the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) method. The LCA analysis indicated that a biogas plant with a lower level of waste heat use where substrates were delivered by wheeled transport has a negative impact on the environment. The structure of distributed energy production cost indicates a substantial share of feedstock supply costs in the total value of the LCOE ratio. Thus, the factor affecting the achievement of high eco-efficiency is the location of a biogas plant in the vicinity of an agri-food processing plant, from which the basic feedstock for biogas production is supplied with the transmission pipeline, whereas heat is transferred for the needs of production processes in a processing plant or farm.

More and more often a life cycle thinking is considered as a valuable element of environmental management. Product-based environmental management systems often refer to ecodesign, which can be used in various aspects of product management. Due to their own specificity, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) often encounter difficulties when conducting ecodesign activities. The paper presents a simplified approach based on the life cycle-based environmental classification of products intended for using in SMEs as a starting point for eco-design. A main goal of the paper is to propose such classification and discuss its role in improving the environmental performance of products. The presented analysis included 50 products classified according to the chosen criteria. As the first step, a cluster analysis has been performed and a distinction between passive and active products has been made. A main conclusion was that the information received from the cluster analysis may be insufficient to be a sole basis for ecodesign. A second classification has been performed basing on the selected environmental impact indicators (GWP100a and CED) calculated for three life cycle stages: a production, an use and a final disposal. The final products' classification reflects the differences in environmental hotspots between products and can be used for supporting the SMEs in implementation of life cycle-based eco-design processes.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an analytical tool used for the environmental optimization of products and services within the entirety of its life cycle. ISO 14040 recommends use of the technique in numerous areas of environmental management such as in designing for the environment, eco-labelling, environmental communications and the assessment of the effects of environmental activities. Despite being theoretically feasible, certain applications of the ecological assessment of a life cycle such as the possibility of identification and evaluation of environmental aspects with the use of LCA are, in practice, still new to many environmental managers. With its strong points, the technique seems to be a valuable tool, especially in the context of apparent concepts of Product-Oriented Environmental Management Systems (POEMS). In order to verify the hypothesis, the author decided to verify the level of use of LCA in the area of identification and assessment of environmental aspects in selected organizations. Therefore, questionnaire interviews were conducted with representatives of selected Polish and Swedish enterprises who, at the time of the interview, had certified environmental management systems. The organizations were analyzed with respect to applied methods and techniques used for identification and assessment of environmental aspects as well as the degree of use of LCA both in this respect and in other areas of environmental management. This paper will present the results of this research and conclusions.

Purpose In this two-part paper (Background and Initial Assumptions (Part 1) and Results of Survey Research (Part 2)), we present surveys whose main objective is to determine, whether and to what extent the life cycle assessment (LCA) technique is used for the identification and assessment of environmental aspects in environmental management systems (EMS) and whether there are any differences in this respect between the companies and countries analysed. Methods The survey research was carried out using the computer assisted self-administered interviewing (CASI) method among selected Polish, German and Swedish organisations which implement EMS in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14001 and/or the EMAS regulation. Results The organisations investigated, regardless of their country, are dominated by qualitative and semi-quantitative techniques of assessment and identification of environmental aspects. LCA was used sporadically, although some differences can be observed between the countries analysed. Conclusions The environmental managers accustomed to traditional qualitative and semi-quantitative solutions, have not been given preparation to enable them to understand and adopt the different approaches such as LCA. On the other hand, representatives of the organisations investigated declared that they were ready to accept an even longer timescale for the identification and assessment processes relating to environmental aspects, which represents a potential opportunity for LCA. The more precise understanding and definition of environmental problems that are precisely defined in LCA would represent a novelty for environmental managers. In practice, environmental problems are defined in a general sense and rather ambiguously, as this level of detail is sufficient in the context of qualitative and semi-quantitative techniques commonly used for the identification and assessment of environmental aspects.

Purpose In this two-part paper (Background and Initial Assumptions (part 1) and Results of Survey Research (part 2)), we present surveys whose main objective is to determine whether, and to what extent, the life cycle assessment (LCA) technique is used for the identification and assessment of environmental aspects in environmental management systems (EMS) and whether there are any differences in this respect between the companies and countries analysed. Methods The survey research was carried out using the computer assisted self-administered interviewing method among selected Polish, German and Swedish organisations which implement EMS in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14001 and/or the EMAS regulation. Results The organisations investigated, regardless of their country, are dominated by qualitative and semi-quantitative techniques of assessment and identification of environmental aspects. LCA was used sporadically, although some differences can be observed between the countries analysed. Conclusions The environmental managers accustomed to traditional qualitative and semi-quantitative solutions have not been given preparation to enable them to understand and adopt different approaches such as LCA. On the other hand, representatives of the organisations investigated declared that they were ready to accept an even longer timescale for the identification and assessment processes relating to environmental aspects, which represents a potential opportunity for LCA. The more precise understanding and definition of environmental problems that are precisely defined in LCAwould represent a novelty for environmental managers. In practice, environmental problems are defined in a general sense and rather ambiguously, as this level of detail is sufficient in the context of qualitative and semi-quantitative techniques commonly used for the identification and assessment of environmental aspects.

The paper presents a discussion on the possibilities of using LCA in identification and assessment of environmental aspects in environmental management systems based on the requirements of the international ISO14001 standard and the European Union EMAS regulation. Some modifications of LCA methodology are proposed in Part 1 while the results of a review of environmental aspects for 36 organisations with implemented EMS are presented in Part 2 of the article. The scope of the systems analysed in EMS and in LCA is different. This comes as the result of the fact that both ISO 14001 and EMAS are focused on an organisation on contrary to ISO14040x which are focused on a product life cycle. For the present work, this resulted in a need of adjusting the LCA methodology to EMS specificity and vice versa. Some suggestions of such modifications are presented and discussed in the paper. A preliminary analysis was carried out on 36 organisations which have environmental management systems compliant with the ISO14001 or EMAS regulations. A certain disproportion between input and output related environmental aspects included in most of the analysed registers was found. The probable reasons for such disproportion could be the fact that the output related environmental aspects are easier to manage by organisation and are often regulated by laws. Legal requirements are a significant criterion in the environmental aspects assessment. Based on the assessments carried out and the observations made, some conclusions have been drawn with regard to weaknesses and strengths and usefulness of LCA, as a result of a comparison to the traditional approaches used in EMS in the discussed area. LCA has evident advantages like: standardised methodology, possibility of inclusion of the quantitative information, presence of some methodological steps enabling the verification of the collected data, and ability to generate of reproducible results. At the same time, the following potential weak points can be observed: a complexity of the procedure, higher time, and cost requirements (especially related to an inventory phase); difficulties with assessing of environmental aspects with the qualitative character and these related to emergency situations; and limitation related to the lack of relevant characterisation factors in the currently used life cycle impact assessment methods. LCA ought to be considered as a tool used for identification and assessment of environmental aspects in environmental management systems. The listed limitations do not disqualify its suitability to be used. After certain simplifications, LCA seems to be a valuable alternative to the methodologies currently in use.

Sustainable production and consumption patterns require a change in approach at the early conceptual stages, i.e., when planning and designing products and services. This article presents an example of sustainable kitchen design aimed at the needs of seniors and people with physical disabilities, which takes into account social, economic, and environmental aspects. The interdisciplinary project team used a variety of traditional design methods such as the identification of requirements using QFD (Quality Function Deployment) and FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis), the development and verification of the technical concepts of the designed objects and their use, the development of construction and technological documentation, assembly drawings of the product architecture and its parts, function cost analysis, virtual and real prototyping, and tools based on the concept of a life cycle such as environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC). The analysis of the design solutions from the point of view of several criteria and several life cycle stages shows the complexity of the decision-making process and the difficulties in selecting a clearly favourable solution. Environmentally preferred materials may be difficult for users to accept due to their costs. On the other hand, materials that have a high environmental impact at the production stage may show great potential for final disposal.