Use of Life Cycle Assessment by Unilever Benefits and Consequences

P J McKeown Safety and Environment Assurance Centre Unilever

Life Cycle Assessment of Food Products Technological Institute, Aarhus 8th February 2001
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Outline of Presentation Unilever - Who are they? Unilever Environment Policy and Strategy Life Cycle Assessment - supporting the strategy

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Unilever - Who are they? Multinational organisation >275,000 employees Factories in >90 countries Sales in over 150 Countries Main product categories Foods and Home and Personal Care Products
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Unilever - Foods Brands

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Unilever Environment Policy

Unilever is committed to meeting the needs of customers and consumers in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner, through continuous improvement in environmental performance in all our activities

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Unilever Environment Policy Measure and report environmental performance of manufacturing sites Target setting - continuous improvement EMS - all sites audited with improvement plans Moving towards external accreditation - ISO 14001

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Unilever Environment Strategy Eco-efficiency in the supply chain Eco-innovation in products and services Sustainable Development Initiatives Communication

Life Cycle Assessment helps to support the Strategy

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Eco-efficiency in the Supply Chain Historically - main focus of environmental improvements on own processes LCA applied to many of our product systems Started in late 1980s Identify areas of significant environmental impact Quantify Unilevers contribution to the total impact Broaden focus of environmental improvements

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Example Product Systems Studied Using LCA Frozen vegetables Ice Cream Tea Tomato-based sauce Margarine and spreads Laundry products Household cleaners Shower gels Toothpaste

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Position of Unilever in Food Supply Chain

Primary Raw Material Extraction

Agriculture

Raw Material Processor Unilever Factory

Distribution/Retail Network

Consumer

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Frozen Vegetable Life Cycle

FERTILISERS PESTICIDES E N E R G Y DIESEL FUEL LAND, WATER ELECTRICITY NATURAL GAS WATER R E S O U R C E S PACKAGING MATERIALS ELECTRICITY TRANSPORT FUELS DISTRIBUTION / RETAIL
PACKAGING WASTE

GREENHOUSE GASES VEGETABLE AGRICULTURE RUN-OFF LEACHATE

VEGETABLE PROCESSING FACTORY

WATER POLLUTION SOLID WASTE

REPACK PROCESS FOR PEAS

FROZEN PRODUCT IN COLD STORE

E M I S S I O N S

FUELS W A T E R

FUELS ELECTRICITY

CONSUMER TRANSPORT AND STORAGE

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ELECTRICITY NATURAL GAS

CONSUMER USE / WATER HEATING

PACKAGING WASTE

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Outcome of Food LCA Studies Many impacts occur both upstream and downstream of our operations To achieve significant improvements and benefits for the environment a new approach was required: Engage in partnership with the supply chain Educate consumer

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Eco-innovation in Products and Services Awareness raising - product developers/marketing Integrate eco-efficiency into design Include environmental considerations in innovation awards Improve understanding of consumer attitudes Work in partnership with industry and retail trade

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Integrate Eco-efficiency into Design Use of existing tools to assess environmental impact of innovation projects Development of a range of tools for use at decision points in Innovation Process Model Pilot the use of eco-efficiency parameters to enhance creativity

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Innovation Process Model Decision gates

Ideas

Feasibility

Capability

Launch Prepn.

L A U N C H

Post Launch Evaln.

Rollout

Full LCA Screening LCA Checklist/ Matrix

Environmental Assessment Tools

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Making Tools Available LCA - Currently niche application Often seen as time-consuming, expensive .. Life cycle approaches must be simplified and made available Web tool being developed for product/process developers

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LCA Web Tool

EXPERT / SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR (SEAC LCA) Remote PC plus Web browser (e.g. IE5)

Experts use system for LCA studies

Create product templates, control panels, standard report formats, database maintenance and access control
Windows NT Server (Port Sunlight) LCA Web application and tools (to create control panels and standard report formats) Product System Templates, TEAM Software, Databases

Results returned via WEB in selected standard format

Request submitted via WEB using standard Control Panel

END USER (Trained) Remote PC plus Web browser (e.g. IE5)

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Sustainable Development Initiatives Unilever committed to 3 sustainable development themes Sustainable Fisheries Sustainable Agriculture Clean Water Stewardship

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Background to Sustainability - OBIA

Overall Business Impact Assessment (OBIA) - Unilever Imprint


LCA of Unilevers Global Business Convert to relevant potential environmental impacts Scale using estimated total global potential environmental impacts Compare with normalised economic value added (sales/global GDP) Identify areas of potential un-sustainability

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Unilevers Contribution to Environmental Performance Indicators

6 5 4 3
environment impact more than economic value added

= sales as proportion of Global GDP Bars = Unilever potential impact as proportion of estimated total global potential impact

2 1

environment impact less than economic value added

0
energy solid waste ozone depletion acidification nutrification global warming photochemical smog

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Sustainable Agriculture
The supply chain for over 2/3 of Unilevers raw materials starts at farms or plantations There are many problems associated with intensive agricultural systems Loss of soil fertility Reduction in biodiversity Use of water (over 70% of global water abstraction used in agriculture) Decline in quality of rural life

Sustainable Agriculture Pilot Projects Black leaf tea Peas Spinach Tomatoes Palm Oil Other oil seeds

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LCA and Sustainable Agriculture LCA methodology applied to each sustainable

agriculture pilot crop

Provides understanding of environmental impacts across

agricultural supply chains

Places Agricultural stage in context with rest of supply

chain

Aids in the development of sustainability indicators

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Approach to Sustainability Indicators

Produce high-yield crops while minimising losses during harvest and processing; increase nutritional quality while keeping the amount of inputs (e.g. fertilisers and pesticides) as low as possible Ensure that soil fertility, water, biodiversity and air are not adversely affected Use as many renewable resources as possible and minimise the use of non-renewables Enable communities to protect and improve their well-being and environments

Sustainable Agriculture
Ten Key Indicators:

Soil Fertility & Health Soil Loss Nutrients Pest Management Biodiversity Product Value Energy Water Social and Human Capital Local Economy
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Clean Water Stewardship Water is used in the supply chain of our ingredients Water is used in Unilever factories Water is a vital ingredient in many of our products Consumers often need water to use our products

LCA and Clean Water Stewardship

Water imprint undertaken based on OBIA approach Regional assessment is now being undertaken Based on Life Cycle approach across supply chain

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Communication and LCA Internal Awareness Raising Innovation support External Trade Regulators European Commission Industry Corporate Environment Report Unilever Internet Site Conferences, Presentations Brochures, publications
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Summary (1) Individual Product LCA Identify significant environmental aspects across the life cycle of products Place Unilever contribution in context Aid in Internal communication and awareness raising Support for new product launch (PR) Uptake of environmental aspects in product development/innovation (ecodesign) Tool development to extend use of LCA to a wider audience (web)
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Summary (2) Strategic Level - LCA Assessment of Unilevers global environmental impact Contributed to the initiation of the Sustainable Development projects Life cycle approach is integral to certain aspects of the Sustainable Development projects

LCA as a tool and concept is a key, integral component of Unilevers environmental strategy
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