Socio-Economic Life Cycle-Based Framework for Safe and Sustainable Design of Engineered Nanomaterials and Nano-Enabled Products

Stella Stoycheva, Alex Zabeo, Lisa Pizzol and Danail Hristozov
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Stella Stoycheva: East European Research and Innovation Enterprise (EMERGE), 1303 Sofia, Bulgaria
Alex Zabeo: Green Decision Srl., 30175 Venice, Italy
Lisa Pizzol: Green Decision Srl., 30175 Venice, Italy
Danail Hristozov: East European Research and Innovation Enterprise (EMERGE), 1303 Sofia, Bulgaria

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: This manuscript describes an innovative approach to socio-economic assessment of (advanced) engineered nanomaterials and nano-enabled products (NEPs) to support safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD) decision making by industries in the early stages of product development. This semi-quantitative methodology is based on a sound conceptual framework grounded in the combination of social life cycle analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis methods and supports decision making based upon socio-economic impacts assessed over the full life cycle of a product. To facilitate its application by industries, the methodology was implemented as an Excel-based self-assessment tool. This easy-to-use, cost- and time-efficient tool can guide users through their SSbD decision making regarding newly developed nanomaterials and NEPs and can also be applied to re-evaluate existing materials and NEPs in order to improve their sustainability from a socio-economic perspective. The relatively low requirements of this tool regarding the level of efforts and expert knowledge needed for its application make it a good starting point for initial assessment to highlight socio-economic issues in the value chain. The results of this initial screening can be further used for more detailed analysis in the later stages of product development by performing a full social life cycle assessment (S-LCA).

Keywords: socio-economic impacts; product life cycle; engineered nanomaterials; nano-enabled products; life cycle thinking; social life cycle assessment; multi-criteria decision analysis; safe-and-sustainable-by-design (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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