Upcoming studies

2024-01: LCA and critical materials

The materials criticality assessment method used by the European Commission includes criteria relating to availability and geopolitical risks, but not to the environmental aspects associated with these materials.
The aim of the study would be to investigate the extent to which environmental impacts, quantified in particular via LCA, could complement the definition of raw material criticalities.
Possible link with planetary limits applied to raw materials?

Planned launch of the call for tender: January 2024
Estimated start of the study: March 2024

2024-02: LCA of projects and infrastructures

Today, building products are well documented in terms of their LCA impacts. The same cannot be said for products used in the construction of infrastructures or large-scale projects.
What's more, the construction phase (on greenfield sites) is generally poorly documented. We are often inclined to use a carbon footprint.
The aim of the study is to take stock of existing databases, studies and tools on infrastructure LCA, and to draw up recommendations for:
- the use of LCA to support decisions on this type of project
- the construction of a reference database (if relevant), in particular for "low-carbon concrete".
The project will also focus on the construction phase.

Planned launch of the call for tender: February 2024
Estimated start of the study: April 2024

2024-03 : Water footprint and LCA Aware indicator: practices and recommendations

LCA practitioners wishing to analyze a product's water footprint may find it useful to use the "AWARE" LCA indicator adopted by the PEF method. More broadly, the ISO 14046 "Water Footprint" standard offers an extensive methodological framework for taking into account the various environmental impacts associated with water consumption.
The aim of the study is therefore to provide feedback on the treatment of the water issue for "product/system" assessments: are companies/industrial firms using ISO 14046 (and if so, how?) or are they content with an LCA indicator?
In addition, it is proposed to carry out a case study using the AWARE LCA indicator, to analyze its advantages/limitations, particularly in terms of applicability: quality and completeness of the necessary data, geographical and temporal scales, interpretation of results, most suitable LCA software, consistency with ISO 14046, etc.

Planned launch of the call for tender: March 2024
Estimated start of the study: May 2024

2024-04: Conditions of applicability of the CFF and evolution of standardization and weighting factors (PEF, planetary limits...)

In the new EU battery regulation, the carbon footprint of the battery will have to be published. It is envisaged that this will be assessed by applying the CFF, as for other forthcoming regulations.
Applying the CFF to complex, long-life products raises many questions of principle and practice:
- upstream materials are not the same as the results of recycling,
- the recycling processes that will be industrialized in 15 years' time are not known,
- nor are the processes for producing virgin materials.

Planned launch of the call for tender: April 2024
Estimated start of the study: June 2024

2024-05: LCA and sustainable purchasing + KPIs for implementing green purchasing initiatives in companies

There are still many obstacles to the implementation of LCAs at all levels of the value chain, both operational and contractual.
Controlling the environmental impact of the upstream value chain is essential, but often highly complex.
The aim is to identify the obstacles to integrating LCA into sustainable purchasing practices, based in particular on feedback. All aspects will be addressed, both practical (what format should be used to exchange LCA data?) and contractual (how should tender documents be filled in? What can be imposed on suppliers?)

Planned launch of the call for tender: May 2024
Estimated start of the study: July 2024

NOTA: This current description of the studies is a first approach : the final requirements will be written in each call. These summaries can just be used by potential service providers to plan their work.