Social life cycle assessment for industrial product development: A comprehensive review and analysis

Mármol, Carmen; Martín-Mariscal, Amanda; Picardo, Alberto; Peralta, Estela

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22861

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…The selection of methods was justified in individual stages of the procedure, the general procedure of which is shown in Figure 1. Furthermore, as part of the development of the procedure, the main assumptions were adopted, which were selected based on a review of the literature on the subject, e.g., [34][35][36] and previous research results [37][38][39][40]. These assumptions were as follows:  the product to be verified is unlimited [38,39];  quality level refers to customer satisfaction with the use of the product [35,36];  the number of product quality criteria according to which the quality level is estimated is approximately 7 ± 2 [34,37];  life-cycle assessment is made on the basis of one criterion, which is considered environmental burden [40,41].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The analysis concerns the current state of the product and its prototype (alternative) design solutions. Furthermore, as part of the development of the procedure, the main assumptions were adopted, which were selected based on a review of the literature on the subject, e.g., [34][35][36] and previous research results [37][38][39][40]. These assumptions were as follows:…”

Section: Selecting a Reference Product And Defining The Research Goalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• the number of product quality criteria according to which the quality level is estimated is approximately 7 ± 2 [34,37]; • life-cycle assessment is made on the basis of one criterion, which is considered environmental burden [40,41].…”

Section: Selecting a Reference Product And Defining The Research Goalmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Procedure for Aggregating Indicators of Quality and Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Product-Improvement Process

Pacana,

Siwiec

2024

Processes

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Sustainable product development requires combining aspects, including quality and environmental. This is a difficult task to accomplish. Therefore, procedures are being sought to combine these aspects in the process of product improvement. Therefore, the objective of the investigation was to develop a procedure that supports the integration of quality-level indicators and life-cycle assessment (LCA) to determine the direction of product improvement. The procedure involves determining the quality indicators based on the expectations of the customer, which are subsequently processed using the formalised scoring method (PS). A life-cycle assessment index is determined for the main environmental impact criterion. According to the proposed mathematical model, these indicators are aggregated, and this process takes into account their importance in terms of product usefulness and environmental friendliness. Interpretations of the results and the direction of product improvement are from the results obtained from the modified IPA model (importance–performance analysis). The procedure is used in the verification of product prototypes, wherein the proposed approach, and its test, was carried out for a self-cooling beverage can (and its alternatives) with a “chill-on-demand” system, which is a technology supporting rapid cooling on demand. The life-cycle assessment was carried out to assess the carbon footprint, which is crucial for activities to reduce greenhouse gases. The direction of improvement of this product was shown to concern the selection of transport means, the reduction of energy use in the production phase, or the change of the method of opening the can. What is original is the proposal of a procedure for integrating the quality indicator and the life-cycle assessment indicator, taking into account the key environmental burden. The procedure can be used in manufacturing companies when designing and improving products in terms of their sustainable development.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Selecting a Reference Product And Defining The Research Goalmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Procedure for Aggregating Indicators of Quality and Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Product-Improvement Process

Pacana,

Siwiec

2024

Processes

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“…Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) is a methodology developed by the United Nations to assess the social performance of products throughout their life cycle [11]. The importance of S-LCA lies in its ability to provide a comprehensive understanding of the social impacts of products, which can contribute to sustainable development [12]. Research has shown that S-LCA is a valuable tool for identifying social hotspots and guiding product design and policy development [12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The importance of S-LCA lies in its ability to provide a comprehensive understanding of the social impacts of products, which can contribute to sustainable development [12]. Research has shown that S-LCA is a valuable tool for identifying social hotspots and guiding product design and policy development [12,13]. The S-LCA follows the standardized framework for environmental LCA [14]; however, in contrast to LCA, it follows both a qualitative and quantitative approach to assess social impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing the Occupational Health and Safety Potential Midpoint Impact Indicator in Social Life Cycle Assessment

Tsalidis

2024

Sustainability

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Occupational health and safety (OSH) is crucial for sustainable development, recognized by corporations, the European Union, and Sustainable Development Goals. This study introduces a characterization model for OSH in the social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) to support the quantification of OHS along product supply chains and sustainable decision making. The characterization model aims to provide a practical approach for assessing OHS at the product level with actual working hours or recommends a secondary approach with monetary data, when working hours are unavailable, to calculate the Occupational Health and Safety Potential (OHSP). The developed model was tested in a theoretical case study on shirt production in Europe and globally. The case study shows that the European shirt value chain resulted in higher OHSP values than the global shirt values chain. In addition, the model shows which life cycle stages and organizations highly contributed to the OHSP results. In both approaches, the shirt production stage contributed highly. Differences in results emerged based on the calculation approach, underscoring the model’s versatility, because increasing the complexity of calculating the CFs with monetary values will affect the results based on sectorial monetary output. Additionally, the study mentions benefits to the operationalization of social impact assessment and limitations when the developed characterized model is employed. Last, this study aids in offering a tool for organizations to meet the demands of the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive by quantifying and publicizing OHS data.

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Towards social life cycle assessment of food delivery: findings from the Italian case study

Ruggeri,

Zaki,

Vinci

2024

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose The growth of global food delivery (FD), which could reach a market value of 1510 billion dollars by 2027, could raise significant sustainability concerns, especially in terms of the social impact related to the expansion of the gig economy. This study, therefore, aims to analyze the social sustainability of the FD, taking Italy as a case study. The results could be a baseline to suggest practices that could promote a more socially responsible FD sector. Methods Social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) was used, following the guidelines of the Product Social Impact Life Cycle Assessment (PSILCA) and considering four categories of stakeholders (workers, value chain actors, society, and local community), 11 risk categories, and 13 subcategories, mainly based on both the availability of data and their adherence to the objectives of the study and FD. Results and discussion The main risks are associated with low wages, improper working hours, high accidentality, and approximation in food handling. Specifically, the wages of riders, 23% of whom are migrants, are just 14% above the poverty line in Italy and 67% below the median income. With 30-h work weeks, moreover, riders may face high risks of economic vulnerability. Stressful working conditions and the absence of mandatory protective equipment have resulted in 17 fatalities × 100,000 workers and 25 accidents × 1000 workers, which could generate a medium risk that violations of labor laws will occur. All this is also due to the low unionization in the Italian FD. Finally, results also show a flaw in food safety, as riders are not required to have HACCP and ATP attestation. Conclusions Italian legislation and the business models of FD companies are still shown to be insufficient to guarantee the fairness of protections for riders, which are substantiated by low wages, high accident rates, poor union rights, and improper working hours. In addition, doubts are raised about the hygiene of containers carrying food during transport, as they could induce a potential microbiological health risk for consumers, especially related to food handling during transport.

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Social life cycle assessment for industrial product development: A comprehensive review and analysis

Cited by 8 publications

References 77 publications

Procedure for Aggregating Indicators of Quality and Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Product-Improvement Process

Procedure for Aggregating Indicators of Quality and Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) in the Product-Improvement Process

Introducing the Occupational Health and Safety Potential Midpoint Impact Indicator in Social Life Cycle Assessment

Towards social life cycle assessment of food delivery: findings from the Italian case study

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