LCA Compendium – The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment Series Editors: Walter Klöpffer · Mary Ann Curran Guido Sonnemann Manuele Margni Editors Life Cycle Management LCA Compendium – The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment Series editors Walter Klöpffer, LCA Consult & Review, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Mary Ann Curran, BAMAC, Ltd., LCA & Sustainability Consultant, Rock Hill, SC, USA Aims and Scope Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become the recognized instrument to assess the ecological burdens and human health impacts connected with the complete life cycle (creation, use, end-of-life) of products, processes and activities, enabling the assessor to model the entire system from which products are derived or in which processes and activities operate. Due to the steady, world-wide growth of the field of LCA, the wealth of information produced in journals, reports, books and electronic media has made it difficult for readers to stay abreast of activity and recent developments in the field. This led to the realization of the need for a comprehensive and authoritative publication. The LCA Compendium Book Series will discuss the main drivers in LCA (SETAC, UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, etc.), the strengths and limitations of LCA, the LCA phases as defined by ISO standards, specific applications of LCA, Life Cycle Management (LCM) and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). Further volumes, which are closely related to these themes will cover examples of exemplary LCA studies ordered according to the importance of the fields of application. They will also present new insights and new developments and will keep the whole work current. The aim of the series is to provide a well-structured treatise of the field of LCA to give orientation and guidance through detailed descriptions on all steps necessary to conduct an LCA study according to the state of the art and in full agreement with the standards. The LCA Compendium Book Series anticipates publishing volumes on the following themes: • Background and Future Prospects in Life Cycle Assessment (published in March 2014) • Goal and Scope Definition in Life Cycle Assessment • Life Cycle Inventory Analysis (LCI) • Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) (published in March 2015) • Interpretation, Critical Review and Reporting in Life Cycle Assessment • Applications of Life Cycle Assessment • Special Types of Life Cycle Assessment • Life Cycle Management (LCM) (to be published in August 2015) • Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) • Life Cycle Assessment Worldwide More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11776 Guido Sonnemann • Manuele Margni Editors Life Cycle Management ISSN 2214-3505 ISSN 2214-3513 (electronic) LCA Compendium – The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment ISBN 978-94-017-7220-4 ISBN 978-94-017-7221-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-7221-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015945498 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London ' The Editor(s) (if applicable) and the Author(s) 2015. 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Dordrecht is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Editors Guido Sonnemann University of Bordeaux, ISM, UMR 5255 Talence Cedex , France Manuele Margni CIRAIG, Polytechnique MontrØal MontrØal , QC , Canada v Pref ace Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a science-based technique to assess resource consumption and potential environmental impacts associated with a product or ser- vice throughout its whole life cycle, from extraction via manufacturing and use to end-of-life by compiling an inventory of relevant energy, material, water and land inputs, and releases to the environment. Life Cycle Management (LCM) is a management concept applied in industrial and service sectors to improve products and services while enhancing the overall sustainability performance of business and its value chains. In this regard, Life Cycle Management is an opportunity to differentiate through sustainability perfor- mance on the market place, working with all departments of a company such as research and development, procurement, and marketing, and enhance the collabora- tion with stakeholders along a company’s value chain. LCM is used beyond short- term business success and aims at long-term achievements minimizing environmental and socioeconomic burden while maximizing economic and social value. What was our reason to prepare this LCM book? We believe that Life Cycle Management is a key concept within the life cycle community that allows opera- tionalizing sustainability within organizations by putting life cycle thinking into business practice. In the LCM context, Life Cycle Assessment is one important technique among others, hence, the need for providing with this book a space for further explaining what LCM is about and its relationship to Life Cycle Assessment. Moreover, there is confusion with different similar terms such as product life cycle management and application life cycle management, which are not linked to sustainability, so that we identified a need for clarification. Finally, there is progress in implementing LCM, and there are challenges in mainstreaming LCM in business practice and beyond in public policy, which we felt was worth reporting on. This volume of the LCA Compendium aims to give the reader a thorough insight into Life Cycle Management presenting its origin, evolution, and the state of prac- tice, including progress made, current challenges, the way forward to its operation- alization in more and more organizations, and its linkage to business value creation. vi With this open-access book, which we were able to prepare thanks to our role as cochairs of the LCM 2015 Conference, we target not only the scientific community but in particular also the life cycle professionals in business and industry as well as administration. We expect the readers to find inspiration on how to implement Life Cycle Management in organizations throughout multiple value chains. The book is structured in five parts: Part I Introducing Life Cycle Management) The first part defines what Life Cycle Management is within the realm of sustain- ability and what are the opportunities and challenges to implement it into busi- ness practice. Part II Advancing the Implementation of Life Cycle Management in Business Practice The second part continues focusing on progress made with regard to implementation processes of life cycle approaches and its linkage to business value creation. Part III Life Cycle Management as Part of Sustainable Consumption and Production Strategies and Policies The third part broadens the scope of Life Cycle Management and presents it as part of sustainable consumption and production discussing strategic opportunities for policy action and related responsibilities of consumers and policy makers, among other stakeholders, along the value chain. Part IV Mainstreaming and Capacity Building on Life Cycle Management The fourth part provides a series of chapters addressing the challenges of main- streaming Life Cycle Management. It discusses opportunities to build opera- tional capability and the potential for mainstreaming LCM in emerging economies through capacity building, concluding on the need to enhance com- munication and collaboration within the global LCA community. Part V Implementation and Case Studies of Life Cycle Management in Different Business and Industry Sectors Finally this book concludes by providing a few practice examples of Life Cycle Management in different economic sectors. All the chapters of this book have been elaborated by recognized and experi- enced experts in the LCM domain to provide the reader a qualified and comprehen- sive insight into the dynamic and increasingly relevant field of Life Cycle Management. Each chapter functions as a self-containing unit within each part of the book, simultaneously playing its individual role in the overall concept of this volume of the LCA Compendium Our vision is a sustainable global society where Life Cycle Management approaches are well established and fully integrated into regular decision-making processes. We will be grateful if this book helps the reader to make a step forward in this direction. Bordeaux, France Guido Sonnemann MontrØal, QC, Canada Manuele Margni Editors – Life Cycle Management Preface vii Acknowledgments The LCA Compendium Book Series complements The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment , which has been published by Springer since 2008. This is the volume on Life Cycle Management of the LCA Compendium . We first acknowledge and appreciate that Springer accepted to publish a volume on Life Cycle Management (LCM) jointly with LCM 2015, the 7th International Conference on Life Cycle Management, in Bordeaux, 30 August–2 September 2015. In particular we thank Fritz Schmuhl (Environmental Sciences) for recognizing the window of opportunity to publish such a comprehensive volume thanks to the momentum generated by the LCM 2015 Conference. Second, we would like to thank Walter Kloepffer and Mary Ann Curran, the series editors of the LCA Compendium , for their support in making the idea of pub- lishing the volume jointly with the LCM 2015 Conference coming up. Without their experience as editors of journal articles, it would have been difficult to get this col- lection of chapters reviewed and edited in the short time frame we had available between the first submission of the draft chapters to us and the final submission to Springer. Our third thank you is to Almut B. Heinrich, the former managing editor of The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment , who is acting as the managing edi- tor for this book series and backed us throughout the process. Fourth, we would like to thank our numerous chapter authors and coauthors who did not know if their chapter would be accepted or not. Without their willingness to cooperate on this volume, devotion of time, and sharing of expertise and experience, it would not have been possible to produce this book. In this context, our special thanks go to the authors from the industry and business who provided first hand insight on how LCM is implemented. A special thank you goes also to Eskinder Gemechu, a postdoc at the Life Cycle Group CyVi of the University of Bordeaux, who helped to manage the status and to edit the chapters. viii Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to our families who have had us less with them during these months of preparing the LCM 2015 Conference and this LCM volume in particular. Guido Sonnemann and Manuele Margni Editors – Life Cycle Management Acknowledgments ix Contents Part I Introducing Life Cycle Management 1 Introduction: Life Cycle Management .................................................. 3 Gerald Rebitzer 2 Life Cycle Management: Implementing Sustainability in Business Practice ................................................................................. 7 Guido Sonnemann, Eskinder Demisse Gemechu, Arne Remmen, Jeppe Frydendal, and Allan Astrup Jensen 3 Life Cycle Management as a Way to Operationalize Sustainability Within Organizations ............................................................................. 23 Sarra Harbi, Manuele Margni, Yves Loerincik, and Jon Dettling 4 How to Implement Life Cycle Management in Business? ................... 35 Eskinder Demisse Gemechu, Guido Sonnemann, Arne Remmen, Jeppe Frydendal, and Allan Astrup Jensen 5 Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Tool for Exercising Due Diligence in Life Cycle Management ............................................. 51 Bernard Mazijn and Jean-Pierre RevØret 6 Life Cycle Management: Labelling, Declarations and Certifications at the Product Level – Different Approaches ............... 65 Frieder Rubik x 7 Mainstreaming the Use of Life Cycle Management in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Using a Sector Based and Regional Approach .......................................................................... 79 Naeem Adibi, Vanessa Pasquet, Aubin Roy, Alice Salamon, Jodie Bricout, Catherine Beutin, Quentin Renault, Marie Darul, François Xavier Callens, Marc Haquette, Patrick Orlans, Jeanne Meillier, Joanne Boudehenn, Sophie Reynaud, Sophie Cabaret, Christophe Bogaert, and Christelle Demaretz Part II Advancing the Implementation of Life Cycle Management in Business Practice 8 From Projects to Processes to Implement Life Cycle Management in Business ........................................................................ 93 Martin Baitz 9 How to Make the Life Cycle Assessment Team a Business Partner .......... 105 Mark Goedkoop, Eric Mieras, Anne Gaasbeek, and Soledad Contreras 10 Sustainability Improvements and Life Cycle Approaches in Industry Partnerships ........................................................................ 117 Peter Saling 11 Sustainable Value Creation with Life Cycle Management .................. 129 B.M. Krishna Manda, Henk Bosch, and Ernst Worrell Part III Life Cycle Management as Part of Sustainable Consumption and Production Strategies and Policies 12 Hotspots Analysis: Providing the Focus for Action .............................. 149 Mark Barthel, James A. Fava, Curtis A. Harnanan, Philip Strothmann, Sofia Khan, and Simon Miller 13 From Sustainable Production to Sustainable Consumption ............... 169 Marc-Andree Wolf and Kirana Chomkhamsri 14 Life Cycle Management Responsibilities and Procedures in the Value Chain ................................................................................... 195 Fritz Balkau, Eskinder Demisse Gemechu, and Guido Sonnemann 15 Policy Options for Life Cycle Assessment Deployment in Legislation ........................................................................................... 213 Annekatrin Lehmann, Matthias Finkbeiner, Clare Broadbent, and Russ T. Balzer Part IV Mainstreaming and Capacity Building on Life Cycle Management 16 Taking Life Cycle Management Mainstream: Integration in Corporate Finance and Accounting .................................................. 227 Cornelis Theunis Van Der Lugt Contents xi 17 Building Organizational Capability for Life Cycle Management ...... 239 Thomas E. Swarr, Anne-Claire Asselin, Llorenç Milà i Canals, Archana Datta, Angela Fisher, William Flanagan, Kinga Grenda, David Hunkeler, Stephane Morel, Oscar Alberto Vargas Moreno, and M. Graça Rasteiro 18 Promoting Life Cycle Thinking, Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Management Within Business in Brazil ...................... 257 Marina Santa Rosa Rocha, Luiz Gustavo Ortega, Yuki Hamilton Onda Kabe, Maria da Graça C.B. Popi, Felipe Duarte, and Maria Luisa Nerys 19 Mainstreaming Life Cycle Sustainability Management in Rapidly Growing and Emerging Economies Through Capacity-Building ....... 263 Sonia Valdivia, Sanjeevan Bajaj, Guido Sonnemann, Ana Quiros, and Cassia Maria Lie Ugaya 20 Communication and Collaboration as Essential Elements for Mainstreaming Life Cycle Management ......................................... 279 Philip Strothmann, Jodie Bricout, Guido Sonnemann, and Jim Fava Part V Implementation and Case Studies of Life Cycle Management in Different Business and Industry Sectors 21 Exploring Challenges and Opportunities of Life Cycle Management in the Electricity Sector .......................................................................... 295 Miguel Fernandez Astudillo, Karin Treyer, Christian Bauer, and Mourad Ben Amor 22 Life Cycle Management Applied to Urban Fabric Planning .............. 307 Xavier Gabarrell, Joan Rieradevall, Alejandro Josa, Jordi Oliver-Solà, Joan Manuel F. Mendoza, David Sanjuan-DelmÆs, Anna Petit-Boix, and Esther SanyØ-Mengual 23 Implementing Life Cycle Engineering in Automotive Development as a Helpful Management Tool to Support Design for Environment .......................................................................... 319 Florian Broch, Jens Warsen, and Stephan Krinke 24 Managing Life Cycle Sustainability Aspects in the Automotive Industry .................................................................... 331 Marzia Traverso, Patrick Kim, Stefan Brattig, and Volkmar Wagner 25 Life Cycle Management as a Way to Operationalize the Creating Shared Value Concept in the Food and Beverage Industry: A Case Study .................................................. 341 Angela Adams, Urs Schenker, and Yves Loerincik Index ................................................................................................................. 349 Contents xiii Contributors Angela Adams Quantis-International, Lausanne , Switzerland Naeem Adibi [avniR] Platform – cd2e, Rue de Bourgogne, Loos en Gohelle, France Mourad Ben Amor Department of Civil Engineering , UniversitØ de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke , QC , Canada Anne-Claire Asselin Division of Technology, Industry and Economics , UNEP, Paris , France Miguel Fernandez Astudillo Department of Civil Engineering , UniversitØ de Sherbrooke, Quebec , Canada Martin Baitz thinkstep AG, Leinfelden-Echterdingen , Germany Sanjeevan Bajaj Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, New Delhi , India Fritz Balkau Sustainable Solutions, Paris , France Russ T. Balzer WorldAutoSteel, Springboro , OH , USA Mark Barthel Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), Banbury, Oxon , UK Christian Bauer Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis , Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), Villigen , Switzerland Catherine Beutin Aquimer competitivity cluster, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France Christophe Bogaert ADEME Nord-Pas de Calais, Centre tertiaire de l’Arsenal, Douai , France Henk Bosch DSM Nutritional Products, Kaiseraugst , Switzerland xiv Joanne Boudehenn Nord Picardie Bois, Villeneuve-d’Ascq , France Stefan Brattig Product Sustainability, BMW Group, Munich , Germany Jodie Bricout [avniR] Platform – cd2e, Rue de Bourgogne, Loos en Gohelle, France Clare Broadbent World Steel Association, Brussels , Belgium Florian Broch Volkswagen AG, Environmental Affairs Product, Wolfsburg , Germany Sophie Cabaret CCI Grand Lille, Lille , France François Xavier Callens cd2e excellence cluster, Rue de Bourgogne, Loos en Gohelle , France Llorenç Milà i Canals Division of Technology, Industry and Economics , UNEP, Paris , France Kirana Chomkhamsri P.P.P. Intertrader, Nonthaburi , Thailand Soledad Contreras PRØ Consultants, Amersfoort , The Netherlands Marie Darul cd2e excellence cluster, Rue de Bourgogne, Loos en Gohelle , France Archana Datta Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), New Delhi , India Christelle Demaretz Nord-Pas de Calais Regional Council, Lille , France Jon Dettling Quantis-International, Boston , MA , USA Felipe Duarte Vale, Rio de Janeiro , Brazil James A. Fava thinkstep, West Chester, PA, USA Matthias Finkbeiner Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin , Germany Angela Fisher General Electric, Ecoassessment Center of Excellence, Niskayuna , NY, USA William Flanagan General Electric, Ecoassessment Center of Excellence, Niskayuna , NY, USA Jeppe Frydendal Ecolabelling Denmark, Stockholm , Sweden Danish Standards Foundation, Charlottenlund , Denmark Anne Gaasbeek PRØ Consultants, Amersfoort , The Netherlands Xavier Gabarrell Sostenipra (ICTA-IRTA-InŁdit; 2014 SGR 1412)-Institut de CiŁncia i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra , Spain Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra , Spain Contributors xv Eskinder Demisse Gemechu University of Bordeaux, ISM, UMR 5255, Talence , France Mark Goedkoop PRØ Consultants, Amersfoort , The Netherlands Kinga Grenda University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Marc Haquette cd2e excellence cluster, Rue de Bourgogne, Loos en Gohelle, France Sarra Harbi Quantis-International, EPFL Innovation Park, Bât D, Lausanne , Switzerland Curtis A. Harnanan thinkstep, Ottawa , ON, Canada David Hunkeler aquaTECH, Geneva , Switzerland Allan Astrup Jensen Nordic Institute of Product Sustainability, Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology (NIPSECT), Copenhagen/Frederiksberg , Denmark Alejandro Josa Department of Geotechnical Engineering and Geosciences, School of Civil Engineering, Universitat PolitŁcnica de Catalunya-Barcelona Tech (UPC), Barcelona , Spain Institute of Sustainability, UPC, Barcelona , Spain Yuki Hamilton Onda Kabe Brakem, Sªo Paulo , Brazil Sofia Khan UNEP, Albany, NY, USA Patrick Kim Product Sustainability, BMW Group, Munich , Germany Stephan Krinke Volkswagen AG, Environmental Affairs Product, Wolfsburg , Germany Annekatrin Lehmann Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin , Germany Yves Loerincik Quantis-International, Lausanne , Switzerland B.M. Krishna Manda Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development , Utrecht University, Utrecht , The Netherlands Manuele Margni Quantis-International, EPFL Innovation Park, Bât D, Lausanne , Switzerland CIRAIG, Polytechnique MontrØal, MontrØal , Canada Bernard Mazijn Ghent University and IDO vzw, Bruges , Belgium Jeanne Meillier UP-tex competitivity cluster, Marcq-en-Baroeul , France Joan Manuel F. Mendoza Sostenipra (ICTA-IRTA-InŁdit; 2014 SGR 1412)-Institut de CiŁncia i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra , Spain Sustainable Industrial Systems (SIS) Group, School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK Contributors xvi Eric Mieras PRØ Consultants, Amersfoort , The Netherlands Simon Miller 3keel LLP, Oxford , UK Stephane Morel Renault, Alliance Technology Development, Guyancourt , France Oscar Alberto Vargas Moreno Secretaría Distrial de Ambiente (SDA), BogotÆ , Colombia Maria Luisa Nerys Vale, Rio de Janeiro , Brazil Jordi Oliver-Solà Sostenipra (ICTA-IRTA-InŁdit; 2014 SGR 1412)-Institut de CiŁncia i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra , Spain InŁdit. InŁdit Innovació, S.L. UAB Research Park, Cabrils , Spain Patrick Orlans CETIM Technical Centre for the Mechanical Industry, Marcq-en- Baroeul, France Luiz Gustavo Ortega Brakem, Sªo Paulo , Brazil Vanessa Pasquet [avniR] Platform – cd2e, Rue de Bourgogne, Loos en Gohelle, France Anna Petit-Boix Sostenipra (ICTA-IRTA-InŁdit; 2014 SGR 1412)-Institut de CiŁncia i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra , Spain Maria da Graça C.B. Popi Oxiteno, Sªo Paulo , Brazil Ana Quiros Association for Life Cycle Assessment in Latin America (ALCALA), San Jose , Costa Rica M. Graça Rasteiro University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Gerald Rebitzer Amcor, Zurich , Switzerland Arne Remmen Aalborg University, Aalborg , Denmark Quentin Renault Agroe, excellence cluster, Quartier des Trois ParallŁles, La Citadelle Avenue du MØmorial des FusillØs, Arras , France Jean-Pierre RevØret CIRAIG – UniversitØ du QuØbec à MontrØal, MontrØal , Canada Sophie Reynaud MATIKEM competitivity cluster, Parc scientifique de la Haute Borne, Villeneuve d’Ascq , France Joan Rieradevall Sostenipra (ICTA-IRTA-InŁdit; 2014 SGR 1412)-Institut de CiŁncia i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra , Spain Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra , Spain Contributors xvii Marina Santa Rosa Rocha Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development, Rio de Janeiro , Brazil Aubin Roy [avniR] Platform – cd2e, Rue de Bourgogne, Loos en Gohelle , France Frieder Rubik Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), Heidelberg , Germany Alice Salamon [avniR] Platform – cd2e, Rue de Bourgogne, Loos en Gohelle , France Peter Saling BASF SE, Sustainability strategy, Ludwigshafen , Germany David Sanjuan-DelmÆs Sostenipra (ICTA-IRTA-InŁdit; 2014 SGR 1412)-Institut de CiŁncia i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra , Spain Esther SanyØ-Mengual Sostenipra (ICTA-IRTA-InŁdit; 2014 SGR 1412)-Institut de CiŁncia i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra , Spain Urs Schenker NestlØ Research Center, Lausanne 26 , Switzerland Guido Sonnemann University of Bordeaux, ISM, UMR 5255, Talence , France Philip Strothmann Strothmann Consulting, Berlin , Germany Thomas E. Swarr Yale University, New Haven , CT, USA Marzia Traverso Product Sustainability, BMW Group, Munich , Germany Karin Treyer Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis , Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), Villigen , Switzerland Cassia Maria Lie Ugaya Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanÆ (UTFPR), Curitiba , Brazil Sonia Valdivia World Resources Forum, St. Gallen , Switzerland Cornelis Theunis Van Der Lugt Center for Corporate Governance in Africa, Stellenbosch University Business School, Cape Town , South Africa Volkmar Wagner Product Sustainability, BMW Group, Munich , Germany Jens Warsen Volkswagen AG, Environmental Affairs Product, Wolfsburg , Germany Marc-Andree Wolf maki Consulting, Stephanskirchen , Germany Ernst Worrell Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht , The Netherlands Contributors This part defines what life cycle management is within the realm of sustainability and what are the opportunities and challenges to implement it into business practice. Part I Introducing Life Cycle Management 3 ' The Author(s) 2015 G. Sonnemann, M. Margni (eds.), Life Cycle Management , LCA Compendium – The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-7221-1_1 Chapter 1 Introduction: Life Cycle Management Gerald Rebitzer Abstract Environmental management practices in most business organizations from the early 1990s were characterized by their focus on internal operations, cost savings, and compliance and risk management approaches. Such a traditional view of sustainability management, however, is not sufficient to address current business challenges – to create competitive advantages while contributing to sustainable development. There is a need for a life cycle management practice that expands the scope through including the complete value chain and that links sustainability man- agement and performance of organizations and products to business value and value creation. Being an extremely powerful concept and process, life cycle management can ensure businesses deliver real-world improvements for all stakeholders. In the long term, it can also help to transform the market by making sustainability a dif- ferentiator just as quality is today. Keywords Business organization • Life cycle assessment • Life cycle management • Life cycle sustainability assessment • Life cycle sustainability management • Sustainability • Value creation 1 The Business Context Paradigm shifts in the world of international business and economics and a shift from a view that focuses purely on profit to one that takes a more balanced and long-term approach to also address environmental, governance, and social factors have been discussed for many years now. There is a growing understanding that businesses cannot only focus on short-term profitability and internal factors such as productivity improvements to be successful in the long run. On the other side, G. Rebitzer ( * ) Amcor, Affolternstrasse 56 , CH-8050 Zurich , Switzerland e-mail: gerald.rebitzer@amcor.com