LCA Life Cycle Assessment (and PEF Product Env Fooprint) for Small and Medium Enterprises: a multistakeholder approach based on cooperative resources

For more than 20 years, our research group @Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna has applied a (still innovative) approach based on cooperative mechanisms, which is aimed at supporting SMEs in effectively using the LCA – Life Cycle Assessment as a design tool as well as a communication tool. Since the early 2000s, we have been awarded many EU-funded research project and studies to test this approach “in-field”, such as for example the following LIFE projects: PREFER - PRoduct Environmental Footprint Enhanced by Regions, EFFIGE – Environmental Footprint For Improving and Growing Ecoefficiency, MAGIS – MAde Green in Italy Scheme… and many others. Our recently published article, “How to overcome barriers limiting LCA adoption? The role of a collaborative and multi-stakeholder approach”, describes the process and the outcome of one of these studies.

Our original approach is based on cooperation among small companies that operate in the same cluster, industrial district and/or supply chain. Companies, and especially SMEs, face several hindrances and difficulties in adopting the LCA as a way to identify and assess the environmental impacts of their products and services. Collaborative approaches that are able to involve companies, researchers, trade associations, and other stakeholders can support the organizations in overcoming the LCA barriers by developing common resources.

This article presents the results achieved by 15 organizations, operating within five different supply chains, where the collaborative approach was tested. The research method we followed in our research is the “action research,” focused on the so called “engaged scholarship.” Action research is based on a strong cooperation between researchers and practitioners belonging to the organizations involved. It relies on extensive interaction in order to solve a specific problem and generate new knowledge. Our cooperative approach was designed and proposed to five supply chains (foundry, furniture, two food chains, and catering services) and in particular to 15 Italian companies that adopted LCA and PEF to improve their environmental performance. Each supply chain tested and internalized the proposed collaborative approach: In partnership with trade associations and researchers, companies participated in training initiatives, contributed to the development of PEF Category Rules, measured the environmental footprint of their products, and adopted improvement actions. Thanks to the action-research experience, all the involved companies achieved environmental improvements such as energy saving and emissions reduction, which demonstrates how the collaborative approach to LCA is effective in terms of footprint reduction.

Our project highlighted how a collaborative and multi-stakeholder approach can contribute to improve the environmental performance of products operating in the sectors involved in the project by means of the implementation of PEF method. By using PEF as a tool for supporting decision process within the involved companies, and by removing information asymmetries on the final goods market, the study has shown that a collaborative approach can effectively support companies, especially SMEs, which want to improve their environmental “hot spots” and to market products and ser-vices more environmentally sustainable. Moreover, the study stressed that connecting different actors around a common and multi-faceted goal has contributed to the development and dissemination of EU environmental footprint, which has become a top priority in the policy agenda of the European Commission in terms of green market and circular economy. Different SMEs of some traditional sectors in Italy could take advantage of this opportunity, in particular companies whose products are not included in in the EU pilot studies. The collaborative approach has proven to be useful and productive especially by “substituting” those tasks and activities that SMEs were not able to carry out on their own, due to their lack of resources. Thanks to the collaborative approach, typical drawbacks affecting the implementation of PEF within SMEs could be removed, e.g. by setting and sharing clear guidelines on how to carry out the PEF study and how to improve the effective communication of environmental performance of products to the client. The study provides valuable contribution on the current debate on how to support LCA. First of all, the study extends the amplitude of the benefits that a collaborative approach can generate. Besides benefits for adopters as highlighted by numerous studies, the described experience demonstrates the effectiveness of a collaborative approach in supporting policy development. In details, by developing PEFCRs based on the results of the PEF screening and following the structure defined in the PEF method, it was possible to produce credible and robust results that can be easily used by SMEs for implementing screening PEF studies and to provide these companies with a practical support to overcome the barriers that usually hinder the adoption of LCA.

Second, the study contributes to the debate concerning the typical barriers on LCA adoption affecting SMEs. The study’s results demonstrate that the PEF can be adopted by all companies, regardless of their size or the sector in which they operate. The application of PEF in SMEs is feasible through a collaborative approach, because this balances the typical drawbacks due to their lack of human and financial resources. Third, the collaborative approach enriches a growing debate about the effectiveness of the PEF as a tool to manage and improve the environmental performances of products and to increase the competitiveness of SMEs. The PEF has been used in the research project as a tool to verify and provide a quantitative evaluation about the improvement of the environmental performance. The implementation of PEF has enabled SMEs to identify the environmental hot spots in their products lifecycle and the “margins for improvement” in terms of product environmental performance. Building on the PEF results, in fact, each pilot SME has set objectives and targets for footprint improvements, which could be translated in action plans (e.g. technical measures, cooperation initiatives with the suppliers) by the company’s managers. Moreover, the results of the screening studies performed are to be considered as representative of the average product of each category, i.e. a “benchmark” in terms of environmental impact of the average product sold on the market. This was a greatly appreciated help for the SMEs involved in the project in comparatively assessing the environmental performance of their product versus the benchmark and, therefore, in rede-signing and improving their products to achieve environ-mental excellence. Finally, the study sheds some lights on to how to stimulate and endorse the use of the PEF in marketing and communication strategies, by proving a key role of a collaborative approach. Thanks to this approach, in fact, the SMEs involved in the project had the opportunity to test how the PEF, and the knowledge developed through the underlying LCA study, can become the basis for an effective communication and marketing campaign. Avoiding greenwashing practices has been the aim of one of the tools that have been cooperatively developed during the research project. Indeed, the pilot SMEs were able to rely on this tool to identify the most “user-friendly” communication approach of PEF results for consumers, retailers, and many other target groups. Finally, we can emphasize that the experience gained by the SMEs participating in the research project, and the accompanying initiatives of dissemination and transferability that have been carried out thanks to the collaborative approach, has led to increase the interest about the PEF method. In particular, the Italian and European companies involved have appreciated the possibilities offered to manage and communicate the environmental improvement results and to increase competitiveness. Many of the project partners have decided to launch new projects aimed at improving the environmental performances of products/services in their sector. Some have joined the Made Green in Italy (MGI) scheme of the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition, based on the calculation of the PEF and the communication of the results. Starting from its limitations, the study offers valuable insights for future research.

The full-text of the article can be requested at my Researchgate webpage, using the following link:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361431892_How_to_overcome_barriers_limiting_LCA_adoption_The_role_of_a_collaborative_and_multi-stakeholder_approach