Search

The cosmetics industry is facing growing pressure to offer more sustainable products, which can be tackled by applying eco-design. This article aims to present the Sustainable Product Optimization Tool (SPOT) methodology developed by L’Oréal to eco-design its cosmetic products and the strategies adopted for its implementation while presenting the challenges encountered along the way. The SPOT methodology is based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) of a finished product and its subsystems (formula, packaging, manufacturing and distribution). Several environmental indicators are assessed, normalized and weighted based on the planetary boundaries concept, and then aggregated into a single footprint. A product sustainability index (a single rating, easy to interpret) is then obtained by merging the environmental product rating derived from the single environmental footprint with the social rating (not covered here). The use of the SPOT method is shown by two case studies. The implementation of SPOT, based on specific strategic and managerial measures (corporate and brand targets, Key Performance Indicators, and financial incentives) is discussed. These measures have enabled L’Oréal to have 97% of their products stated as eco-designed in 2022. SPOT shows how eco-design can be implemented on a large scale without compromising scientific robustness. Eco-design tools must strike the right balance between the complexity of the LCA and the ease of interpretation of the results, and have a robust implementation plan to ensure a successful eco-design strategy.

Aluminum recycling follows a downcycling dynamic where wrought alloys are transformed into cast alloys, accumulating tramp elements at every cycle. With the saturation of stocks of aluminum and the reduction of the demand for cast alloy due to electrification of transport, improvement in the recycling system must be made to avoid a surplus of unused recycled aluminum, reduce the overall environmental impacts of the industry, and move toward a circular economy. We aim to evaluate the potential environmental benefits of improving sorting efforts by combining operations research, prospective material flow analysis, and life cycle assessment. An optimization defines the optimal sorting to minimize climate change impacts according to different sorting efforts, dismantling conditions, and collection rates. Results show how the improvement of sorting can reduce by around 30% the greenhouse gas emissions of the industry, notably by reducing unused scrap generation and increasing the recycled content of the flows that supply the demand of aluminum. The best performance is achievable with four different sorting pathways. Further improvements occur with a better dismantling and an increase of collection rates, but it requires more sorting pathways. Results point to different closed-loop recycling initiatives that should be promoted on priority in specific sectors, like the building and construction sector and the aluminum cans industry. To implement a better material circularity, the mobilization of different stakeholders is needed. From a wider perspective, the article shows how operations research can be used to project a circular future in a specific industry.

RÉSUMÉ: Face à l'urgence climatique, l'industrie de l'aluminium doit trouver un moyen de réduire ses impacts environnementaux tout en continuant à répondre à une demande qui sera vraisemblablement croissante. Une transformation vers une économie circulaire, notamment à l'aide d'une amélioration du recyclage, a le potentiel de réconcilier ces deux objectifs qui peuvent sembler contradictoires. Cependant, le recyclage de l'aluminium est limité par la contamination inter-alliage lors de la refonte. Cette contamination mène à un recyclage en cascade où une perte de qualité est subie à chaque cycle. Cela laisse présager que des surplus d'aluminium recyclé trop contaminés pour être utilisés seront générés dans les prochaines années. L'ajout d'aluminium primaire à ce mélange permet aux recycleurs de compenser la perte de qualité, mais limite les gains environnementaux du recyclage et du système global, en plus de limiter sa circularité. Il est donc nécessaire de connaitre précisément les flux actuels et futurs d'aluminium et d'en évaluer les impacts environnementaux afin de mener une transformation circulaire de l'industrie. Les outils disponibles pour y arriver sont : l'analyse du cycle de vie (ACV) pour quantifier les impacts environnementaux de la production d'aluminium et ses alliages, l'analyse de flux de matière (AFM) pour comprendre la dynamique des flux et stocks, et ainsi quantifier la demande en aluminium et les stocks disponibles pour le recyclage, la modélisation par scénario pour mener des travaux prospectifs et la recherche opérationnelle pour optimiser un système. Une revue critique de littérature a permis d'identifier les principales limites de ces outils qui devront être surmontées. Premièrement, l'ACV n'est pas adaptée pour l'identification des impacts futurs ni pour l'identification des meilleures voies de réductions des impacts du système. Deuxièmement, les AFM existantes sur l'aluminium sont soit trop agrégées pour évaluer les flux et stocks au niveau

Aluminum is an energy-intensive material that is typically used as an alloy. The environmental impacts caused by its production can potentially be spread out over multiple uses through repeated recycling loops. However, inter-alloy contamination can limit the circularity of aluminum, which highlights the importance of analyzing prospective stock dynamics of aluminum at an alloy and alloying element level to inform a more sustainable management of this resource. A dynamic material flow analysis (MFA) of aluminum alloys was developed in line with the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP) framework to generate consistent scenarios of the evolution of aluminum stocks and flows from 2015 to 2100 covering 11 economic sectors in 5 world regions. A sector-specific and bottom-up modeling approach was developed. Results show no saturation of global stock per capita before 2100, reaching a range between 200 and 400 kg per capita according to different socioeconomic scenarios. For the business-as-usual scenario, the global annual inflow rises to 100 Mt in 2050 and peaks at 130 Mt in 2090, showing a saturation in total stock. Electricity-sector demand has the highest relative growth over the century, while building and construction demand saturates and decreases from 2090. No major mismatch between inflows and outflows of aluminum alloy is observed. This means that with appropriate dismantling and sorting, changes in alloy demand would not limit the implementation of a closed-loop aluminum industry. This study demonstrates the advantages of combining detailed MFAs and SSPs, both for greater consistency in circular economy modeling and for furthering scenario development efforts.