TITLE:
LCA in Environmental Management Systems—Results of Individual Interviews with Selected Enterprises from Poland and Sweden
AUTHORS:
Katarzyna Joachimiak-Lechman
KEYWORDS:
Environmental Management System; Life Cycle Assessment; ISO 14001; Environmental Aspects; Identification; Assessment
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.4 No.7,
July
18,
2013
ABSTRACT: 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.