Relevance of Impact Categories and Applicability of Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methods from an Automotive Industry Perspective

Natalia Mikosch, Tina Dettmer, Benjamin Plaga, Marko Gernuks and Matthias Finkbeiner
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Natalia Mikosch: Department of Sustainable Engineering, Institute of Environmental Technology, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Tina Dettmer: Group Research & Development, Life Cycle Optimisation, Volkswagen AG, Berliner Ring 2, 38440 Wolfsburg, Germany
Benjamin Plaga: Group Research & Development, Life Cycle Optimisation, Volkswagen AG, Berliner Ring 2, 38440 Wolfsburg, Germany
Marko Gernuks: Group Components, Circular Economy, Volkswagen AG, Berliner Ring 2, 38440 Wolfsburg, Germany
Matthias Finkbeiner: Department of Sustainable Engineering, Institute of Environmental Technology, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-19

Abstract: Climate change impacts have been extensively addressed in academia, politics and industry for decades. However, particularly within the scientific community, the importance of considering further impact categories to ensure holistic environmental assessment and avoid burden shifting is strongly emphasized. Since considering all impact categories might become overwhelming for industry, a prioritization approach can support practitioners to focus their efforts on the most relevant impacts. Therefore, within this paper, an approach for the identification of relevant impact categories is developed for the automotive sector together with Volkswagen AG. The evaluation is conducted using a criteria set including criteria groups “relevance for automotive sector” and “relevance for stakeholders”. For the impact categories identified as relevant, an evaluation of LCIA methods is conducted considering the methodologies CML and ReCiPe 2016 and the methods recommended by PEF. The results demonstrate that climate change is by far the most relevant impact category followed by resource use, human toxicity and ecotoxicity from both automotive and stakeholder perspective. Based on the evaluation of the LCIA methods, a combination of different methods can be recommended. This work provides guidance for the automotive sector to prioritize its focus on the most relevant impact categories and to select applicable LCIA methods for their quantification.

Keywords: impact categories; life cycle impact assessment; CML; ReCiPe 2016 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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