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SUSTAINABILITY METRICS AND LCIA RESEARCH WITHIN ORD AND AROUND THE WORLD
Citation:
BARE, J. C. SUSTAINABILITY METRICS AND LCIA RESEARCH WITHIN ORD AND AROUND THE WORLD. Presented at USEPA, WASHINGTON, DC, April 12, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Sustainability metrics have received much attention, but not much consensus in approach. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Life Cycle Initiative is designed to provide recommendations about the direction of research and selection of LCIA methodologies which are some of the same impact assessment methodologies which are used in sustainability metrics. While some Initiative participants would like to standardize LCIA so that a single set of characterization factors will be used for all studies, others would simply appreciate additional guidance on individual impact categories. This highly contentious debate and the reasons for a lack of consensus will be explored. The Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other environmental Impacts (TRACI) is one suggested methodology in the search for consensus. TRACI was developed to allow the quantification of environmental impacts for a variety of impact categories which are necessary for a comprehensive impact assessment. TRACI is consistent with U.S. EPA regulations and policies, and assumptions and value choices have been minimized. During the development of TRACI, the decision was made not to aggregate between environmental impact categories, so many of the impact assessment methodologies within TRACI are based on the relative potency of the stressors at a common midpoint within the cause-effect chain. A new version of TRACI is expected to be released later this year, and some of the changes compared to the older version will be presented.