How to bring absolute sustainability into decision-making: An industry case study using a Planetary Boundary-based...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Sustainability Science
• Industrial Ecology

Background:

• The Planetary Boundaries concept provides a framework for environmental limits, increasingly applied to business, policy, and international guidelines.
• There is growing interest in integrating Planetary Boundaries into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate absolute environmental sustainability.
• Current LCA methodologies often lack a framework for assessing impacts against globally defined environmental limits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the applicability of a novel Planetary Boundaries-based life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methodology.
• To assess the environmental impacts of a hypothetical laundry washing case study at the EU level against Planetary Boundaries.
• To explore different principles for allocating a share of the safe operating space (SoSOS) to specific activities.

Main Methods:

• Development and application of a novel Planetary Boundaries-based LCIA methodology.
• Case study analysis of a hypothetical laundry washing scenario within the EU.
• Quantification of impacts related to individual Planetary Boundaries control variables and their uncertainties.
• Testing of four distinct sharing principles for allocating the safe operating space (SoSOS).

Main Results:

• The study successfully applied the Planetary Boundaries-based LCIA methodology to a laundry washing case study.
• Impacts were expressed relative to individual Planetary Boundaries, including measures of uncertainty.
• The selection of the sharing principle exerted the most significant influence on the assessment outcomes.
• The analysis indicated potential for relating human activity impacts to environmental boundaries via LCA.

Conclusions:

• Further research is essential for developing and selecting appropriate sharing principles for the safe operating space (SoSOS).
• Operationalizing Planetary Boundaries within LCA requires additional development but shows significant potential.
• This approach offers valuable information for corporate and policy decision-makers aiming to enhance environmental sustainability.