Critique of selected peer-reviewed publications on applied social life cycle assessment: focus on cases from developing countries

Govindarajan, Venkatesh

doi:10.1007/s10098-018-1644-x

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Furthermore, the presentation of results based on the objective of the study is a vital step to confirm the effectiveness of LCSA, but the addition of qualitative and quantitative indicators makes clarity and equivalence challenging [15].…”

Section: Literature Review On Lcsamentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Electricity Generation from Municipal Solid Waste in Nigeria: A Prospective Study

2022

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Globally, rising population and rapid urbanisation have resulted in the dual issues of increased electricity demand and waste generation. These exacerbate diverse global problems, ranging from irregular electricity supply and inadequate waste management systems to water/air/soil pollution, climate change, etc. Waste-to-Energy (WtE) approaches have been proposed and developed to address simultaneously these two issues through energy recovery from waste. However, the variety of available waste materials and different WtE technologies make the choice of an appropriate technology challenging for decision-makers. The evaluation of the different WtE technologies in terms of their sustainability could provide a solid comparative base for strategic decision making in the power and waste management domains. This paper presents research conducted using a multidimensional Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) approach to estimate and compare the environmental, economic, and social impacts associated with the generation of electricity from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in two major cities, Lagos and Abuja, in Nigeria. These cities provide case studies in a developing world context to explore how their similarities and differences may influence the LCSA impacts for four WtE systems (Anaerobic Digestion, Incineration, Gasification, and Landfill Gas to Energy), and this is the first research of its kind. An LCSA ranking and scoring system and a muti-attribute value theory (MAVT) multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) were employed to evaluate the overall sustainability of the prospective use of WtE over a 20-year timeframe. The results from both approaches indicated that the adoption of WtE offered sustainability benefits for both cities, marginally more so for Lagos than Abuja. It was concluded that, for optimal benefits to be achieved, it is vital for decision-makers to think about the various trade-offs revealed by this type of analysis and the varying priorities of relevant stakeholders.

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Section: Literature Review On Lcsamentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Electricity Generation from Municipal Solid Waste in Nigeria: A Prospective Study

2022

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“…Generally, life cycle assessments were first introduced in the 1960s to display environmental stressors, followed by economic stressors in the early 1970s [40]. After that, it took nearly two more decades until the social dimension of sustainability made its first appearance in assessment methods.…”

Section: Past Developments and Milestones Of S-lca Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This period is characterized by the emergence of very diverse assessment methods, indicator proposals, inventory datasets, weighting options, impact category pathways or interpretation methods to satisfy the research recommendations made by the Guidelines [51]. Researchers now agree that empirical experience is indispensable for the further development of S-LCA, which triggered an exponential increase in publications and case studies [40,67]. Scientists concentrated on the testing of the Guidelines while adding and adapting certain areas, or even developed entirely new methodologies applied to their own case studies [67].…”

Section: The Development Years (2014-2019)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Life Cycle Assessments: A Review on Past Development, Advances and Methodological Challenges

et al. 2021

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Society’s interest in social impacts of products, services and organizational behaviors is rapidly growing. While life cycle assessments to evaluate environmental stressors have generally been well established in many industries, approaches to evaluate social impacts such as Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) lack methodological consistency and standardization. The aim of this paper is to identify past developments and methodological barriers of S-LCA and to summarize how the automotive industry contributed to the advancement or application of this method. Therefore, a qualitative content analysis of 111 studies published between 2015 and 2020 is used to gather information on past scientific and political milestones, methodological barriers impeding S-LCA and the participation of the automotive sector. The review shows that a broad range of sectors such as the automotive industry contributed to the testing and advancement of S-LCA in the past but that S-LCA remains a young and immature method. Large-scale application is impeded by major barriers such as the variety of impact categories and sub-categories, the lacking integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), issues of linking LCA structures to social phenomena or the difficult tracking of social impact pathways. Further research on standardization possibilities, the connection to political social targets and the testing of methods is necessary to overcome current barriers and increase the applicability and interpretability results.

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“…This analysis shows the application of the S-LCA methodology to a product and company instead of a whole sector as it is usually the case in literature [16,31,36,37], or a geographical area or country [23]. The results are directly applicable to the company's social policies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The usage of S-LCA for product assessment in industry is scarce, very recent, and comes completing the more matured environmental and cost life cycle assessments [23]. A literature review shows that the application of S-LCA under a Circular Economy approach is lacking application in referring to suppliers' selection or creating indicators to measure sustainability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Impact Analysis of Products under a Holistic Approach: A Case Study in the Meat Product Supply Chain

et al. 2021

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Social impact assessment of products can be approached through different methodologies that need to be adapted to the particularities and features of the studied subject. Thus, the Social Life Cycle Assessment methodology can be used to assess different innovative practices of product manufacturing, under a circular economy approach, by identifying potential positive as well as negative impacts along products’ life cycle. This paper presents the results of the Social Life Cycle Impact Assessment of a reference product from the Spanish meat industry using existing and new innovative methods of social impact analysis. Worker discrimination, health and safety for workers, consumers and local community were identified as the social aspects with relevant significance into the business or for the influence on customer’s perception of the products studied. Therefore, results can represent a reference scenario for the future assessment of innovative solutions in the Spanish meet sector. Despite the scarce use of Social Life Cycle Impact Assessment, this case study is a good example of how this innovative kind of assessment can be helpful for companies to identify their weak and strong social performance areas and design strategies to improve in Social Responsibility Management.

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Critique of selected peer-reviewed publications on applied social life cycle assessment: focus on cases from developing countries

Abstract: This is the accepted version of a paper published in Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy. This paper has been peer-reviewed but does not include the final publisher proofcorrections or journal pagination.

Cited by 19 publications

References 67 publications

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Electricity Generation from Municipal Solid Waste in Nigeria: A Prospective Study

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Electricity Generation from Municipal Solid Waste in Nigeria: A Prospective Study

Social Life Cycle Assessments: A Review on Past Development, Advances and Methodological Challenges

Social Impact Analysis of Products under a Holistic Approach: A Case Study in the Meat Product Supply Chain

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