A UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Management Guide

A UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Management Guide
Allan Astrup Jensen*,

1
Arne Remmen,
2
Jeppe Frydendal,
3
Sonia Valdiva,
4
and Guido Sonnemann
4
1
FORCE Technology, Park Alle 345, DK-2605 Broendby, Denmark, aaj@force.dk
2
Aalborg University, ar@plan.aau.dk
3
Danish Standards, jf@ecolabel.dk
4
UNEP DTIE Paris, Sonia.Valdivia@unep.fr; Guido.Sonnemann@unep.fr
In connection with the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative the publication: Life Cycle Management - a Business
Guide to Sustainability has been produced. The publication shows how application of life cycle thinking can be and
have been implemented in companies and other organizations around the World in order to reduce resource
consumption and emissions to the environment, as well as improve the socio-economic performance, in all stages of a
products life in the value chain.

Introduction
The journey towards sustainability requires that
businesses, governments and individuals take action,
i.e., changing consumption and production behaviours,
setting policies and changing practices, improving the
quality of life. Businesses have to find innovative ways
to be profitable and at the same time expand the
traditional business to include the environmental and
social dimensions coined the Triple Bottom Line,
and to introduce Product Life Cycle Thinking.
The main aim of Life Cycle Thinking is to reduce
resource consumptions and emissions to the
environment, as well as improve the socio-economic
performance, in all stages of a products life.

Results
In connection with the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle
Initiative the publication: Life Cycle Management - a
Business Guide to Sustainability has been produced.
1

Earlier, in 2005 a more detailed Background Document
for Life Cycle Management was published based on
input from three UNEP/SETAC LCM Task Forces.
2
Life Cycle Management (LCM) is a systematic
application of life cycle thinking in modern business
practice with the aim to provide the societies with more
sustainable goods and services and to manage the total
life cycle of an organizations product portfolio
towards more sustainable production and consumption.

Discussion
LCM can facilitate the link between the economic,
social and environmental dimensions within a
company.
LCM is explicitly aimed to modify and improve the
performance of product systems and supports the
business assimilation of, for example, environment-
oriented product policies.
Life Cycle Management (LCM) is for organizations,
which have adopted a strategy expressing a wish to
produce or trade products, which should be as
sustainable as feasible, to improve their public image,
visibility and general relations to stakeholders, increase
their shareholder value and keep it persistent, work
towards being a sustainable business and be in the
forefront of competitors, be at the edge of and prepared
for future legislative developments.
LCM is systematic integration of sustainability in
company strategy and planning, in product design and
development, in purchasing decisions and in
communication programs in order to minimize
environmental and socioeconomic burdens associated
with a product or product portfolio during its entire life
cycle and value chain.
LCM is voluntary and can be gradually adapted to the
specific needs and characteristics of individual
organizations. LCM is not a single tool or methodology
but a flexible management framework of programs,
concepts, techniques and procedures incorporating
environmental, economic, and social aspects of
products, processes and organizations.
LCM is not an application of Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA) but LCA is one of many tools, techniques,
concepts and programmes which may be a part of a
Life Cycle Management System. Other tools etc. could
be Life Cycle Costing, Cost Benefit Analysis, Material
Flow Cost Accounting, Eco-design, Eco-labelling,
Green Procurement, Suppliers Code of Conduct, and
Corporate Social Responsibility.
LCM is a new concept, and the definitions of terms are
not yet standardized, and procedures and
methodologies are still open for discussion.

Conclusion
All organizations can implement a LCM program, and
in this Guide there are many examples of ongoing
programmes with successful results.
Continued high priority by top management and active
participation of all departments, functions and
employees in a company are essential.
Every department have a role to play and have different
interests and stakeholders. An environmental or
sustainability department will often co-ordinate the
Proceedings of the CILCA2007 International Conference of Life Cicle Assessment
implementation of LCM and the training of employees
in the company and in suppliers.
The organization must go beyond its facility
boundaries and be willing to expand its collaboration
and communication to all stakeholders in the value
chain.
Implementation of LCM is a dynamic process;
organizations may begin with small goals and
objectives with the resources they have and get more
ambitious over time.
For the implementation a step by step approach is
useful. Special attention should be given to activities
that can secure continuous improvement.
The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is recommended to be
applied as in several other management systems.

References
1. A. Remmen, A.A. Jensen, J. Frydendal. Life Cycle
Management A Business Guide to Sustainability,
UNEP DTIE, Paris, 2006 (in press).
2. A. A. Jensen, A. Remmen (eds). Background
Report for a UNEP Guide to Life Cycle
Management A Bridge to Sustainable Products,
UNEP DTIE, Paris, 2005. (to be downloaded from
http://lcinitiative.unep.fr)

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Allan Astrup Jensen*,

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