Status of life cycle assessment and engineering research in South Africa

In view of the upcoming 2002 World Summit in Johannesburg, sustainable development is a topic of high priority in South Africa. Although the South African competency in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) has grown to some extent over the last ten years, South African industry and government have been slow to realise the benefit of LCAs and LCE as tools to support cleaner production and sustainable development. However, the local application of these tools, as well as considerations during their use, differs from practices in developed countries. The applications of LCAs and LCE, the type of organisations involved and the limitations and common problems associated with these tools in South Africa are discussed.