How do you deal with the trade-offs and uncertainties in setting your LCA system boundary?

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Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a powerful tool to measure the environmental impacts of a product, service, or process from cradle to grave. But how do you define the scope and boundaries of your LCA? How do you decide what to include and exclude in your analysis? How do you deal with the trade-offs and uncertainties in setting your LCA system boundary? In this article, we will explore some of the key concepts and methods to help you choose a suitable system boundary for your LCA project.

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1 What is a system boundary?

A system boundary is the set of criteria that determines which unit processes, inputs, outputs, and impacts are considered in an LCA. A unit process is a discrete step in the life cycle of a product, such as extraction, manufacturing, transportation, use, or disposal. A system boundary defines the spatial, temporal, and functional aspects of your LCA, as well as the level of detail and data quality required. A system boundary can be drawn at different levels, depending on the goal and scope of your LCA.

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2 Why is a system boundary important?

A system boundary is important because it influences the results and interpretation of your LCA. A system boundary can affect the completeness, accuracy, and relevance of your LCA data and indicators. A system boundary can also affect the comparability and transparency of your LCA results with other studies or standards. A system boundary can help you focus on the most significant and relevant aspects of your LCA, while avoiding unnecessary complexity and uncertainty.

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Siti Syuhaida M.
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Yes, system boundary is very important, because it will help you to identify which data is needed for the study. It eases you to limit from where to where for the data collection.

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Gustavo Vieira

Founder @ Mossgreen | Environmental Engineer | Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) | Innovating Sustainability in Events and Exhibitions | Life Cycle Thinker
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For me, the system boundary is one of the most crucial parts of LCA, as it defines what’s included in the analysis and sets clear edges for our focus. I think creating a flowchart is key. It helps us map out each step accurately, rather than relying on pre-made templates, so we can see where the boundaries fall, what to analyze, and in which stages. In short, setting the boundary shapes the whole LCA, keeping it precise and transparent. This makes reporting clearer and allows others to understand and compare the results, making the analysis practical for decision-making.

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3 How to choose a system boundary?

When selecting a system boundary for your LCA, there are some general principles and steps to consider. First, define the goal and scope of your LCA, including the functional unit, the system function, and the intended audience. Additionally, identify the main unit processes and flows relevant to your system function and functional unit in a flow diagram. Subsequently, apply cut-off criteria to exclude any unit processes or flows that are insignificant or irrelevant to your LCA goal and scope. Furthermore, check the consistency and completeness of your system boundary, making sure it covers all relevant life cycle stages and impact categories. Lastly, document and justify your system boundary assumptions and choices while reporting any limitations or uncertainties that may affect your LCA results.

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Bret Strogen

Advancing Innovations in the Energy, Water, Materials, and Defense Technology Sectors
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The relevance of the goal and scope can not be understated. Is the LCA attributional (most common) or consequential (e.g., factoring in market-induced activities, such as byproduct-product substitution implications)? Also, cut-off criteria may sound easy to determine (e.g., below a certain mass or value), but this is not straightforward to do correctly, and some supporting activities may not be captured in a typical process flow diagram or bill of materials (e.g., government-funded infrastructure maintenance).

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4 What are some common challenges and trade-offs in setting a system boundary?

Setting a system boundary for your LCA is not always straightforward or easy. You may face some challenges and trade-offs in choosing an appropriate and feasible system boundary for your LCA. For instance, you must find a balance between comprehensiveness and simplicity when capturing the full life cycle of your product. Additionally, you must also consider the balance between specificity and generality when selecting data for your unit processes and flows. Furthermore, when deciding on your system boundary, you must be mindful of the balance between transparency and confidentiality to protect sensitive or proprietary information about your product or process.

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Stephen McCord

Assessing sustainability impacts in carbon management (CCU, CDR, CCS) | TEA, LCA, S-LCA
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Setting a system boundary, like almost all of an LCA, is an iterative exercise. Contribution, sensitivity and uncertainty analyses in the interpretation phase should be used to help revise the boundary. Ideally any input or unit process that makes a significant contribution to the overall impact assessment (IA) should be included within the boundary. The importance of this only grows when the IA results are shown to be particularly sensitive to changes in the unit/input and the profile or performance of the unit shows high uncertainty.

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Contzen Pereira

Global Chemical Regulatory Manager at Beckers Industrial Coatings
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The biggest challenge is the current inconsistent regulatory requirements and disclosure agreements that can be very tricky while setting up system boundaries. What we currently need is a robust regulatory governed system of working that supports the entire chain of custody along the supply chain with guided limitations on transparency and confidentiality.

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5 How to improve your system boundary choices?

Choosing a system boundary for your LCA is not a one-time or fixed decision. You may need to revise and improve your system boundary choices as you progress with your LCA project. For instance, you can review and update your system boundary according to the latest scientific knowledge and data available, as well as the feedback and comments from stakeholders. Additionally, sensitivity analysis can be used to test how different system boundary choices affect your LCA results and conclusions, while scenario analysis can be utilized to explore how different system boundary choices reflect different perspectives or assumptions about your product or process. Furthermore, comparative analysis can be conducted to benchmark your system boundary choices with other LCA studies or standards in your field or sector, and evaluate the consistency and compatibility of your system boundary.

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How do you deal with the trade-offs and uncertainties in setting your LCA system boundary?

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1 What is a system boundary?

2 Why is a system boundary important?

3 How to choose a system boundary?

4 What are some common challenges and trade-offs in setting a system boundary?

5 How to improve your system boundary choices?

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