How can LCA support the circular economy?—63rd discussion forum on life cycle assessment, Zurich, Switzerland, November 30, 2016

Excerpt

The concept of circular economy (CE) conceives of a production and consumption system with minimal losses of materials and energy through extensive reuse, recycling and recovery (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2013; European Environment Agency 2014) and is gaining popularity in Europe and elsewhere. Both the recycling of waste and a recycling friendly eco-design are components of CE. In previous studies, however, life cycle assessment has shown that closed loops are not always favourable from an environmental point of view (Laner and Rechberger 2007; Humbert et al. 2009; Geyer et al. 2015). Nevertheless, political initiatives focus on the path towards CE without the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate actions and targets. The Swiss LCA Discussion Forum is a platform for the exchange between industry, consulting companies and LCA scientists. The 63rd Swiss LCA Discussion Forum aimed at discussing the following leading questions with representatives from academia, institutional representatives and visionaries: (i) How can LCA support the creation of a circular economy? (ii) How shall substituted materials and products be accounted for, who can claim the benefit, and how is resource quality taken into consideration? (iii) How can wastes and resources be managed to minimise their environmental impacts? To set the stage at the discussion forum, the CE concepts and the political aspects were presented. The following presentations focused on factors relevant for consideration when evaluating the benefits of a CE, such as waste and resource quality aspects and their influence on the recycling system, as well as product quality. Based on these presentations, a panel discussion tackled the leading questions above. Finally, six case studies on CE were shown, highlighting key findings and methodological issues when LCA is used as a tool to assess CE. …