Using a lithium metal negative electrode may give lithium metal batteries (LMBs), higher specific energy density and an environmentally more benign chemistry than Li-ion batteries (LIBs). This study asses the environmental and cost impacts of in silico designed LMBs compared to existing LIB designs in a vehicle perspective. The life cycle climate and cost impacts of LMBs show a similar pattern: the use phase has more climate and cost impacts than the production phase. As compared to LIBs and with respect to the positive electrode, Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC) is preferable to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP). The cell cost is highly dependent on the cost of lithium metal; a cost reduction of 50% causes a cell cost reduction of 8–22% depending on the choice of positive electrode material and if the cell is optimised for power or energy. For electric vehicle usage, the total cost per km is mainly dependent on the energy consumption per km and the capacity of the positive electrode, representing cost saving potentials of about 10%. These generic results can be used as a base for investigations of other battery technology using lithium metal electrodes.

Synthetic diamond competes with the conventional cemented carbide (WC–Co) tool material in some applications due to its extreme hardness. However, so far, these materials have not been compared from a life cycle perspective regarding their environmental and resource impacts. The aims of this study are i) to provide detailed life cycle assessment (LCA) results for industrial polycrystalline diamond (PCD) production from diamond grit produced via high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) synthesis and ii) to conduct the first comparative LCA of PCD and WC-Co tools for the cases of wood working and titanium alloys machining. The results show that the main hotspot in HPHT synthesis of diamond grit, which is the main precursor to PCD, is the use of WC-Co in the high-pressure apparatus. In PCD tool production, the electricity input and the use of tungsten and molybdenum contribute the most to environmental and resource impacts. The environmental and resource impacts of the PCD tool production can be reduced with 53–83% if solar electricity and full WC-Co recycling is applied. The comparison shows high environmental and resource improvements when substituting WC-Co tools with PCD tools in wood working, but not in titanium alloys machining. © 2020 The Authors

Spent alkaline and zinc-carbon batteries contain valuable elements (notably, Zn and Mn), which need to be recovered to keep a circular economy. In this study, the black mass materials from those spent batteries are pyrometallurgically treated via a series of process steps in a pilot-scale KALDO furnace to produce an Mn–Zn product, a ZnO product, and an MnO (manganese monoxide) product, toward applications of Mn–Zn micronutrient fertilizer, zinc metal, and manganese alloy, respectively. After an oxidative roasting step, an Mn–Zn product, containing 43% Mn, 22% Zn, and negligible amounts of toxic elements (notably, Cd, Hg, and Pb), could be produced, being suitable for the micronutrient fertilizer application. After a reductive roasting step, a ZnO product and an MnO product are produced. The attained ZnO product, containing up to 84.6% ZnO, is suitable for zinc metal production when the leaching steps are taken to remove most of the Cl and F in the product. The attained MnO product, containing up to 91.7% MnO, is of premium quality for manganese alloy production, preferably for SiMn alloy production due to its low phosphorus content. The proposed application scenarios could substantially improve the recovery efficiency of those spent batteries. 

Det blir alltmer uppenbart att vi behöver vara rädda om vår jord. Miljöfrågorna startade med debatten om kvicksilver och DDT och handlade sedan om direkta utsläpp från fabriker. Idag inser vi vikten av att sätta produkten i centrum. Att förbättra produktens egenskaper under hela livscykeln är centralt för ett framgångsrikt miljöarbete. Produktutvecklare är en av de grupper som har störst möjlighet att påverka denna utveckling i en positiv riktning. Många lösningar ger – förutom bättre miljö – dessutom ökat kundvärde till lägre kostnader. Bra miljö genom ekodesign är ett nytt sätt att tänka. Denna bok ger vägledning i hur man kan integrera miljöaspekter i produktutvecklingen. Boken visar också ett antal verktyg, checklistor och exempel på ekodesign i företag. Boken vänder sig i första hand till produktutvecklare och konstruktörer men också till företagsledning, inköpsavdelning, marknadsförare och miljöansvariga. Dessutom lämpar sig boken väl för undervisning inom ekodesign.

This paper links production system research to advanced material research for the vehicle industry. Facilitated by need for reduction of fuel use, the automotive industry is pushing a radical change from using steel structures to new mixed materials structures. In production systems optimised for steel, the changes will affect productivity and material efficiency. Four industrial case studies focusing on production economy and productivity give implications of production technology demands on the material selection regarding new joining techniques and additive or forming methods which has to be investigated when considering new materials. Material efficiency analysis shows that minimising spill in production operations and regulatory demand of recycling need to be considered in material development, which implies both design for disassembly, advanced separation processes and use of recycled raw materials. To be successful in new material introduction, new information flows and knowledge sharing moving from operations and manufacturing development to materials development and design are needed. The material developers could use axiomatic design strategies to structure the production system demands on the materials. State of the art lightweight producers in vehicle and automotive industry are likely early adopters to advanced lightweight structures with need of information flows between material development and operations.

This paper compares the implementation of daily visual management (DVM) in five SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises), with practice in six large Swedish companies, considering the challenge to include sustainability aspects. With method definition from Produktionslyftet (PL), a Swedish development programme, DVM includes daily meetings around key performance indices (KPIs) and visualised information on boards. The SMEs were studied within PL while the large companies were studied in the research project SuReBPMS (Sustainable and resource efficient Business Performance Measurement Systems). The empirical result from SMEs shows that KPIs often cover few areas (most common: delivery, safety and quality) while the larger companies have wider range of areas. In some SMEs the meeting agendas, KPIs and pulse-boards are standardised while in others there are differences between teams or operations. The larger companies were mainly standardised. Both SMEs and larger companies mostly include all employees in DVM, in line with PL-DVM methodology. The general tendency is to focus on short term rather than follow-up of strategic challenges in the DVM. Furthermore, environmental issues, such as climate impact, are rarely found on boards, while often reflected in company policy. However, many KPIs have a strong, indirect, connection to sustainability and environment.

The electric vehicle market is expected to grow substantially in the coming years, which puts new requirements on the end-of-life phase and on the recycling systems. To a larger extent, the environmental footprint from these vehicles is related to raw material extraction and production, and, consequently, a material-and energy-efficient 3R system (reuse, remanufacturing, recycling) is urgently needed. The ability to understand and model the design and development of such a system therefore becomes important. This study contributes to this by identifying factors that affect 3R system design and performance, relating these factors to the various actors and processes of the system and categorising them according to time from implementation to impact. The above is achieved by applying a PEST analysis (political, economic, social and technological factors), differentiating between political, economic, social and technological factors. Data were gathered from literature, by interviews and by a number of workshops in the automotive industry and the 3R system and observations at meetings, etc. The study confirms some previous results on how vehicle battery 3R systems work and adds knowledge about the influencing factors, especially the timeframes and dynamics of the system, necessary for modelling the system and the influencing factors. For practitioners, the results indicate how to use appropriate models and which factors are most relevant to them.

Th is method is developed for the purpose of helping suppliers to the automotive industry present a potential climate footprint of their proposed products to their customers in a quotation stage. The supplier/producer company is responsible for making a complete inventory of all inputs and outputs of the proposed product in accordance with the D ata C o llection T emplate. The method is based on the modelling of a climate footprint for a fictive average product, that can be used to present an estimated potential climate footprint for future product offers. Th e method was developed as integral parts of a climate footprint project coordinated by FKG, representing Swedish automotive component suppliers. The project resulted in this method, including an inventory tool to be used by supplier s to collect data and an average product model and calculator to estimate a potential clim ate footprint of the suppliers products. The inventory data includes information on supplied materials (types and qualities), transportation ( volume , mode, and distance), and energy sources (types and suppliers) used in production during 2021 or 2022 . This data can be used in simulations for future products. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) consultants utilize the inventory to construct a simplified cradle to gate model in software tools like SimaPro, LCA for Experts (formerly GaBi )), or other LCA modelling software tool . This model, which employs a “simple cut off for recycled input materials and recyclable materials from production (“simple cut off” according to Ekvall et al. 2020 as recommended by EPD International see further chapter 2 and 3 for scope and modelling )), either utilizes certified climate data (e. EPDs) from sub suppliers or, more commonly, relies on general Ecoinvent data for materials and energy. A simplified LCA model for the average product from the previous year is documented and serves as the baseline for the calculation . Subsequently, a calculator is developed that can simulate a climate footprint for production of a new product in the factory based on the production volume and material mix from the previous year. In the calculator, the climate footprint of the 'core' for each main process and subprocess is treated as fixed factors proportional to the weight of the product. The upstream part treats the raw material mix (bill of materials) as a variable that can be adjusted for each product, where each raw material has specific materials) as a variable that can be adjusted for each product, where each raw material has specific climate footprint factorsclimate footprint factors.. Validation of the Validation of the method method toto developdevelop an an averageaverage--productproduct--model and the calculator is carried out by model and the calculator is carried out by a a validation bodyvalidation body.. In this first version of the methodIn this first version of the method, , the validation body is the validation body is RISE. The validation proRISE. The validation programgram builds on builds on review of review of assumed dataassumed data andand confirms the use of reasonabconfirms the use of reasonable and le and sufficient sufficient data for thedata for the simplifiedsimplified LCALCA modelmodel. The validation program. The validation program does not verify does not verify thatthat the bill of materials the bill of materials andand bill of bill of processes processes are sufficient are sufficient to produce to produce the the product/product/component butcomponent but validates the reasonableness of thvalidates the reasonableness of this is datadata..

This paper focuses on integration of operations management, specifically production system models with environmental management and related issues such as quality and safety. Based on knowledge concerning lean-based improvement programmes for company-specific production systems (XPS) and integration between formal management systems, such as ISO 9001 and 14001, industrial practices from integrating management systems with the XPS were studied. A literature-based comparison between formal management systems and XPS is made, indicating integration potentials. The empirical research is an analysis of five vehicle and automotive companies in which various efforts have been made to integrate their management systems with their XPS. The results show that although conscious steps have been taken since the introduction of ISO 14001 in integrating environmental management into everyday operations, there are still obstacles to overcome. To fully include sustainability aspects, the characteristics of the improvement systems have to be adapted and extended. One barrier to extended integration is the lack of integration strategy. There is further a lack of sustainability metrics and adaptation of improvement methods to push companies' operational performance. In addition, organisational issues still arise concerning the responsibility and ownership of environmental management in relation to operations. Based on these results it is concluded that processes for integration are recommended; however, each organisation needs to consider its operations, corporate culture and business opportunities of its environmental management. Still, incorporating environmental management systems into XPS is seen as an effective way of establishing company commonality in continuous improvement, resulting in holistic understanding and improved organisation performance.

Virtually every company has implemented a Business Performance Measurement System (BPMS) with the purpose of monitoring production and business performance and to execute the corporate strategy at all levels in a company. The purpose of this article is to shed light on common pitfalls related to the practical use of BPMS and further to present a life cycle model with the purpose of introducing structured approach to avoiding the pitfalls. The article contributes to further development of the BPMS life cycle concept and practical examples of how it can be used.

The purpose of this article is to empirically investigate the present state of the performance measurement systems (PMS) at 7 sites of 6 different large Swedish manufacturing companies. The methodology has both a bottom-up and a top-down perspective. Important findings are that the PMSs are very similar in how they function but differ a lot in what is measured.

Repeated recirculation of powder in AM processes ultimately results in a powder with degraded properties. We firstly discuss this topic and describe an experiment designed to understand the mechanisms behind the degradation. Secondly, we perform yield analysis for build jobs on a SLM 125 at RISE IVF. Further on, we consider the required resources and estimate the emitted carbon dioxide equivalents (kgCO2eq) during production of the PBF-LB fraction of two gas atomized powders. The first powder is a tool steel alloy that emits 3.1 kgCO2eq/kg; the second powder is Hastelloy X (HX) that emits 24.2 kgCO2eq/kg. The HX powder, if degraded, is hence very desirable to recycle. Producing 1 kg of PBF-LB fraction from recycled HX material causes 5.7 kgCO2eq vs 24.2 from virgin sources. Finally, we review the health and safety aspects of recirculation and recycling of powder.

To achieve sustainable development goals, it is essential to include the industrial system. There are sufficient numbers of tools and methods for measuring, assessing and improving the quality, productivity and efficiency of production, but the number of tools and methods for environmental initiatives on the shop floor is rather low. Incorporating environmental considerations into production and performance management systems still generally involves a top-down approach aggregated for an entire manufacturing plant. Green lean studies have been attempting to fill this gap to some extent, but the lack of detailed methodologies and practical tools for environmental manufacturing improvement on the shop floor is still evident. This paper reports on the application of four environmental assessment tools commonly used among Swedish manufacturing companies—Green Performance Map (GPM), Environmental Value Stream Mapping (EVSM), Waste Flow Mapping (WFM), and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)—to help practitioners and scholars to understand the different features of each tool, so in turn the right tool(s) can be selected according to particular questions and the industrial settings. Because there are some overlap and differences between the tools and a given tool may be more appropriate to a situation depending on the question posed, a combination of tools is suggested to embrace different types of data collection and analysis to include different environmental impacts for better prioritization and decision-making.

The digital battery passport is an essential driver of sustainable production and circular economy as it enables storing and tracking data for batteries throughout the whole value chain. The BatWoMan project is paving the way towards carbon-neutral Li-ion battery cell production via new sustainable and cost-efficient methods, and by building a prototype for a digital battery passport. In this article, we outline the concept of the battery passport, including the status of relevant regulations, standards and initiatives. We then present the BatWoMan project and its design for a battery dataspace and passport. We describe relevant stakeholders and their interactions within the data space and introduce the system architecture, which is based on the International Data Spaces and Gaia-X frameworks. Finally, limitations of the research outcome are presented. © 2023 IDIMT 2023: New Challenges for ICT and Management - 31st Interdisciplinary Information Management Talks. All rights reserved.

Med funktionsbaserad kravställning avses i detta arbete en blandning av funktionskrav och utförandekrav. Målet med en funktionsbaserad kravställning är att hitta ett optimum mellan funktionskrav och utförandekrav, så att introduktion av nya förbättrade produkter och produktionsmetoder underlättas utan att risken för misslyckanden blir alltför stora. De funktionskrav som beskrivs i denna rapport förväntas lämpa sig bäst för projekt där anbud på rostskyddet kan utvärderas separat. Sådana projekt kan vara nymålning eller komplett ommålning i projekt där målningsentreprenaden upphandlas separat. Att använda funktionskrav i nybyggnadsprojekt där målningen endast utgör en liten del av det totala projektet, riskerar att resultera i att rostskyddet får underordnad betydelse i anbudsutvärderingen. I detta arbete har vi definierat nio generella funktionsmål, vilka betraktas som oreglerade krav som definierar ett idealiskt rostskydd. Om beställaren för varje objekt inventerar behoven i entreprenaden och beslutar om en prioriteringsordning av funktionsmålen, kan rangordningen användas för att ta fram objektspecifika funktionskrav. För att stimulera till nytänkande och användning av alternativa produkter och processlösningar skulle det vara fördelaktigt att tillåta sidoanbud i upphandlingar med funktionskrav. Entreprenörerna skulle till exempel kunna lämna ett huvudanbud som ska följa den generella kravställningen med utförandekrav enligt SIS-TS 44, och ett kompletterande sidoanbud som adresserar de objektspecifika funktionskraven och funktionsmålen. Sidoanbuden kan utvärderas med livscykelanalyser, typprovning och inspektion av referensobjekt. Inom projektet har arbetsgruppen tagit fram en LCA-analys och en LCC analys för dagens målningsprogram så som det beskrivs i SIS-TS 44. Inom projektet har den gällande kravställningen i SIS-TS 44 granskats med utgångspunkt att revidera de krav som kan komma att stå i vägen för tillämpningen av nya alternativa produkter och metoder med förbättrade egenskaper. Avsnitt 9 i rapporten innehåller en sammanfattad handlingsplan för hur en funktionsbaserad kravställning skulle kunna användas för att introducera nya produkter och metoder i Trafikverkets krav för rostskyddsmålning.

The most fundamental aspect in the ISO 14001 standard Environmental management systems—Specification with guidance for use is to find out ways by which an organisation influences environment to a significant degree. This paper examines environmental data from companies manufacturing products mainly from metals and/or polymers. The data were collected in a uniform way by use of special guidelines. Weighting or valuation methods often used in life cycle assessments were used to quantitatively compare and rank environmental aspects. The study results suggest that, in general, the largest environmental impact in the investigated manufacturing sub-sector can be associated with product use and/or disposal phases. This in turn shows a need for more attention on environmental work on the design for environment than what the ISO 14001 standard requires. It is further suggested that weighting or valuation methods can aid in determining the significance of environmental impacts and aspects in the context of ISO 14001.

Electrification of vehicles has for decades been explored as a possible solution to the problem of climate change. Today, in 2021, the issue is no longer whether the electrification of vehicle fleets ought to happen but rather how it can be achieved with as little environmental impact as possible. The objective of this thesis is therefore to facilitate the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) for the evaluation and improvement of the environmental performance of electric vehicle traction batteries. The lack of LCA data on several traction battery chemistries and some associated LCA methodological difficulties have been identified as important research gaps. The broader purpose of this thesis is to contribute to sustainable industrial and societal change that involves new technologies. This thesis examines three research questions related to LCA in new technology introduction: (1) LCA data issues regarding present and future lithium traction battery chemistries. (2) LCA methodological issues regarding present and future lithium traction battery chemistries. (3) Use of LCA in product and production development to advance the introduction of sustainable consumption and production of any new technology.  The results emphasise e.g. to always include the use phase in LCA traction battery studies and to improve battery energy density but not to the detriment of battery internal efficiency. Furthermore, it points to use two abiotic depletion measures to reflect scarce materials in both the short term and the long term. Additionally, it is recommended to calculate the results for all relevant functional units, because it facilitates comparisons and reflection, to choose environmental impact categories for traction batteries from a ranking list, as well as to use chemical risk assessment from a life cycle perspective to complement and develop within-LCA toxicity impact methods. To some extent, the above results are applicable for most development of new technology. A general recommendation for all technology development striving to include LCA is to use screening LCA, chemical risk assessment and idea generation in early phases to help build engagement, competence and data for a full LCA in later phases.

This report contains a life cycle assessment of a 5Ah LiFeSO4F high-temperature battery cell weighing 110 grams. It was performed in the context of the Swedish From road to load project. The 5 Ah cell has been analyzed from cradle to grave, i.e., from raw material production over own manufacturing, use in a typical application and end-of-life. It has also been compared to other lithium battery cells. The results indicate that:

 Production in Sweden is favourable due to that electricity is a main driver of climate impact and toxicity in the production phase.

 Electricity is a main driver of climate impact and toxicity also in the use phase which emphasizes the need to keep the charge/discharge efficiency high.

 Indium tin oxide in the anode dominates abiotic depletion.

 Comparison with lithium-air cells reflects that the lithium air technology is still very far from commercial reality, while indicating that it is an interesting technology for the future.

This report contains a life cycle assessment of 10Ah lithium battery cells with metallic lithium in the anode. It was performed in the context of the Swedish TriLi - Longlife lithium electrodes for EV and HEV batteries - project. The cells have been analyzed from cradle to grave, i.e., from raw material production over own manufacturing, use in three different vehicles: Nissan Leaf, Tesla model S and a Volvo bus; and end-of-life. The study aims to highlight environmental hotspots with lithium batteries with metallic lithium in the anode in order to improve them as well as to investigate environmental benefits with such lithium batteries in different vehicles. Battery cells with metallic lithium in the anode and LFP and NMC chemistry were compared to the original vehicle batteries. In short, the study points towards the following conclusions:

 Both the LFP and NMC lithium metal anode battery cells shows lower climate impact potential, lower abiotic depletion potential and lower toxicity potential than the original NMC and NCA cells with copper anodes. The main reason for the difference is higher energy density which gives lower weight and thus lower electricity consumption. However, the lower carbon footprint of the metal anode cells rests on the assumption that they last as many cycles as the original NMC and NCA, something which has not yet been proven.

 For the same reason (higher energy density) the NMC chemistry shows lower environmental impacts per vehicle kilometre than the LFP chemistry for the metal anode battery cells, but here the difference is much smaller and probably within error margins.

 Assembly energy is a main driver for climate impact. Sensitivity calculations with Swedish average electricity mix for production of the cells show that production impacts can be reduced by 25% by producing in Sweden, compared to global average production.

This report contains a life cycle assessment of a 5Ah lithium battery cell with metallic lithium in the anode. It was performed in the context of the Swedish TriLi - Longlife lithium electrodes for EV and HEV batteries - project. The 5 Ah cell has been analyzed from cradle to grave, i.e., from raw material production over own manufacturing, use in a typical application and end-of-life. The study aims to highlight environmental hotspots with lithium batteries with metallic lithium in the anode in order to improve them as well as to verify environmental benefits with lithium batteries in vehicles.

A number of LCAs of different depth and detail will be carried out in the TriLiproject, each following more or less the steps:

1. Provision of preliminary cell design and data
2. Screening LCA
3. Workshop to present and discuss screening LCA results
4. Revised cell design and data and recalculation of LCA
5. Workshop to present and discuss LCA-results of “final” cell design
6. Manufacturing of cell and testing of cell
7. Calculation of final LCA if needed

This report concerns the final LCA of a 5 Ah cell. The results indicate that:

• LCA may be very helpful in the design process of batteries. An example is that the amount of lithium was reduced to a quarter without affecting battery performance, following that the screening LCA results pointed towards the lithium metal as the major source of climate impact.
• The largest non-recyclable contributor to climate impact and abiotic depletion in the production phase is the assembly energy. It therefore warrants special attention in further efforts to minimize cell environmental impacts.
• The cell efficiency is very important to consider. For η=0.95-0.5 electric losses range from 5 to 50% per delivered kWh. These losses are transformed into heat that may require further energy to get rid of.
• Use phase weight related losses are quite low and become lower the heavier the vehicle is, i.e., battery weight is not all that important (efficiency is, for example, much more important).
• At 4000-6000 discharge cycles and (η=0.9), production level climate impacts and use phase climate impacts are at the same level, assuming West European electricity mix for the propulsion. However, with carbonlean electricity for the propulsion, use phase climate impacts are much smaller and not at all dominant.
• Abiotic depletion is dominated by metals depletion related to electricity distribution, not production. Therefore, abiotic depletion is not all assensitive to the choice of electricity mix as climate impact is.

Denna rapport innehåller en livscykelanalys av rostskyddsmålning av broar. Analysen har gjorts inom ramen för ett uppdrag utfört åt Swerea KIMAB och Trafikverket av Mats Zackrisson vid Swerea IVF, i projektet Funktionsbaserad kravställning för rostskyddsmålning inom infrastruktur. Såväl Trafikverket, färgtillverkare, målningsentreprenörer, målningskontrollanter och forskare vid Swerea KIMAB har bidragit med data och kunskaper till studien. Så låg miljöpåverkan som möjligt under livscykeln är ett rimligt funktionskrav att ställa vid upphandling av rostskyddsmålning. Denna rapport visar på några vägar att minimera klimatpåverkan och bildandet av marknära ozon: • Minskad förbrukning av blästermedel vid reparationsmålning • Stationsmålning med kolsnål elmix • VOC-destruktion vid nymålning • Reparationsmålning i station om möjligt • Så få reparationsmålningar i fält som möjligt Man kan dock inte utesluta att resultaten i denna rapport kan inspirera till ytterligare sätt att minimera miljöpåverkan.

Abstract The research behind this licentiate is spread out over a decade of intensive development of environmental work in industry. A 1998 survey of Swedish companies with newly installed environmental management systems (EMS) concluded that such systems need more product-orientation. Data collected by companies as part of the process of creating their EMS between 1996-2001 offered further evidence that it is environmentally justified to seek improvements in the materials selection, use and disposal phases of products, i.e., to make the environmental improvement work more product-orientated. In a EU-funded project carried out between 2004-2006 it was demonstrated that developing an environmental product declaration could be a cost-effective product-oriented environmental action even for smaller companies. This licentiate thesis relates to methods for companies to orientate their environmental work on their products. In particular, it examines experience and provides insights on the possibilities for companies, including small ones, to use life cycle assessment in product development in order to design products with an environmental performance well above legal compliance. It is difficult to give general recommendations to companies about their environmental work because each company has its own unique business idea, customers, work culture, stakeholders etc. Nevertheless, the main findings of the licentiate thesis can be summed up in the following recommendations for, say, a small company in Europe without much previous experience of environmental work: §  Focus your environmental work on your products because you will accomplish more environmentally and the chance of profiting economically will motivate your personnel; §  Consider doing a life cycle assessment, LCA, on a strategically chosen product in order to learn more about your products and how to improve their environmental performance; §  Do not expect to find a general market demand for green products; start a dialogue with your best customers in order to create the demand; §  Engage an LCA specialist to do the LCA and work together with your personnel to interpret the results and generate improvement ideas; §  If your customers demand that you install an environmental management system, ask them if they would not prefer to receive an environmental product declaration on the particular product they are interested in, and a chance to discuss how its environmental performance can be improved.

The main driver for recycling cable wastes is the high value of the conducting metal, while the plastic with its lower value is often neglected. New improved cable plastic recycling routes could provide both economic and environmental incentive to cable producers for moving up the "cable plastic waste ladder". The improvement potential for the European cable industry as a whole is roughly estimated to avoidance of 30 750 tonnes of CO

2eq annually if these new techniques were to be applied to the 5% plastic waste stream from cable production. Cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of the waste management of the cable scrap is suggested and explained as a method to analyze the pros and cons of different cable scrap recycling options at hand. Economic and environmental data about different recycling processes and other relevant processes and materials are given. Cable producers could use this data and method to assess the way they deal with the cable plastic waste today and compare it with available alternatives and thus illuminate the improvement potential of recycling cable plastic waste. Through using the data and methods provided, the user will be able to show the climate impacts of improving the cable waste recycling (compared to how it is done today) and also to show the economic and technical implications of such improvements.

The main aim of the study was to explore how LCA can be used to optimize the design of lithium-ion batteries for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Two lithium-ion batteries, both based on lithium iron phosphate, but using different solvents during cell manufacturing, were studied by means of life cycle assessment, LCA. The general conclusions are limited to results showing robustness against variation in critical data. The study showed that it is environmentally preferable to use water as a solvent instead of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, NMP, in the slurry for casting the cathode and anode of lithium-ion batteries. Recent years' improvements in battery technology, especially related to cycle life, have decreased production phase environmental impacts almost to the level of use phase impacts. In the use phase, environmental impacts related to internal battery efficiency are two to six times larger than the impact from losses due to battery weight in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, assuming 90% internal battery efficiency. Thus, internal battery efficiency is a very important parameter; at least as important as battery weight. Areas, in which data is missing or inadequate and the environmental impact is or may be significant, include: production of binders, production of lithium salts, cell manufacturing and assembly, the relationship between weight of vehicle and vehicle energy consumption, information about internal battery efficiency and recycling of lithium-ion batteries based on lithium iron phosphate. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The main driver for recycling cable wastes is the high value of the conducting metal, while the plastic with its lower value is often neglected. New improved cable plastic recycling routes could provide both economic and environmental incentive to cable producers for moving up the “cable plastic waste ladder”. The improvement potential for the European cable industry as a whole is roughly estimated to avoidance of 30 750 tonnes of CO2eq annually if these new techniques were to be applied to the 5% plastic waste stream from cable production. Cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of the waste management of the cable scrap is suggested and explained as a method to analyze the pros and cons of different cable scrap recycling options at hand. Economic and environmental data about different recycling processes and other relevant processes and materials are given. Cable producers could use this data and method to assess the way they deal with the cable plastic waste today and compare it with available alternatives and thus illuminate the improvement potential of recycling cable plastic waste both in an environmental and in an economic sense. Recycling production cable waste - Environmental and economic implications. (PDF Download Available).

Lithium-air batteries are investigated for propulsion aggregates in vehicles as they theoretically offer at least 10 times better energy density than the best battery technology (lithium-ion) of today. A possible input to guide development is expected from Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the manufacture, use and recycling of the lithium-air battery. For this purpose, lithium-air cells are analyzed from cradle to grave, i.e., from raw material production, cathode manufacturing, electrolyte preparation, cell assembly, use in a typical vehicle to end-of-life treatment and recycling. The aim of this investigation is highlighting environmental hotspots of lithium-air batteries to facilitate their improvement, in addition to scrutinizing anticipated environmental benefits compared to other battery technologies. Life cycle impacts are quantified in terms of climate impact, abiotic resource depletion and toxicity. Data is partly based on assumptions and estimates guided from similar materials and processes common to lithium-ion technologies. Laboratory scale results for lithium-air systems are considered, which include expectations in their future development for efficiency gains. At the present level of lithium-air cell performance, production-related impacts dominate all environmental impact categories. However, as the performance of the lithium-air cell develops (and less cells are needed), battery-related losses during operation become the major source of environmental impacts. The battery internal electricity losses become heat that may need considerable amounts of additional energy for its transportation out of the battery. It is recommended that future battery cell development projects already at the design stage consider suitable methods and processes for efficient and environmentally benign cell-level recycling. LCA could provide additional arguments and a quantitative basis for lithium battery recycling. This emphasizes the need to develop LCA toxicity impact methods in order to properly assess lithium.

Utilization of renewable energy supply is limited by fluctuations and lack of alignment with demand. Including storage technology in the grid can increase self-consumption of renewable energy in local applications as well as reduce peaks in supply and demand for local low voltage grids with a high share of renewable energy input. The project NETfficient, funded by the European Union under the Grant Agreement 646463, explores requirements and effects of storage solutions in a grid on different levels. On the island of Borkum in the North Sea, a variety of grid-connected use cases is installed and tested in pilot studies. This paper focusses on homes equipped with photovoltaic panels for harvesting energy and two different storage solutions. The research addresses the resource demand and emissions due to novel components and the potential to decrease resource demand during the use phase, applying a life cycle perspective for components and systems. Data from the project as well as from LCA databases are collected and used to calculate environmental impacts for three different systems or applications: Stand alone photovoltaic (PV) panels, PV panels and customized Li- Ion-batteries and PV panels with a disused Li-Ion battery from an electric vehicle. The results indicate that the customized or dedicated Li-Ion battery in combination with PV panels have a larger climate impact avoidance than the other systems.

Life cycle assessment of remanufacturing of vehicle components Life cycle assessment, LCA, has been used to compare the environmental impact of new vehicle components with remanufactured vehicle components. The aim was to develop simplified guidelines for decisions when a component, for environmental reasons, should be remanufactured, or scrapped and recycled. The study focuses on a stay, wheel spindle, link arm and electric motor from the rear trailer on a Volvo XC90 Hybrid, a traction battery from the plug-in Volvo V60 and various seats cover constructions. The figure below shows how much climate impact is avoided if a damaged component is replaced with a remanufactured component, instead of a new component.

The reduced climate impact per component or part (blue bars) varies greatly between different parts, while the climate gain per kilogram part (orange bars) is between 2-14 kg CO2 per kg part or component. Also with regard to resource depletion, all examined parts provide resource savings in remanufacturing compared with new production. The results are so unequivocally positive and the components so different that one should be able to assume that, if it is economically advantageous to remanufacture a car component, it is in all probability also environmentally beneficial. The difference between the bar in steel and the aluminium components (link arm, wheel spindle) indicates that one can count on more environmental benefits the more precious metal is used. Both the battery and the electric motor indicate potentially very large environmental benefits from remanufacturing. However, it is important that driveline components do not lose efficiency due to remanufacturing, as the use phase dominates the life cycle environmental impact of driveline components. Seat covers were investigated with an alternative focus. Remanufacturing of seat covers as an isolated component is not practiced and also not foreseen with the current construction, since they are an integrated part of a seat. Investigations therefore focused on proposed design changes and on changes of material choice. For the seat covers as they are currently used, remanufacturing assumes that they remain on the seat and are transferred to another vehicle. This requires removal of the airbag and addition of a new one in all cases. For remanufacturing of seats, economic barriers have been identified due to the relatively high demand for storage space and transport volume of car seats, and the large number of variations in seat design with covers in textile and leather in several colours. Regarding the simplified LCA methodology used in the project, the following can be concluded: • New manufacturing is often complex and thus resource-intensive to model. An alternative is then to instead compare with existing LCA studies on similar components. This strategy was applied, in this study, regarding battery and electric motor. • The seat cover manufacturing is modelled based on existing models for textile processes intended for apparel and fashion evaluation (Mistra future fashion and several studies related to environmental product declarations, EPD). With the perspective of a supplier who explores options in design that reduce the climate impact of a future seat cover, the focus for this case was on the cradle to gate stages of seat cover manufacturing. Remanufacturing of seat covers is not well established and based on assumptions and thus not modelled as completely as the other parts of the life cycle. • The sub-components that are replaced in the remanufacturing need not be included in the remanufacturing model if they are included in the new manufacturing model, since they even out. However, this simplification presupposes a separate, or sufficiently detailed LCA model of the new production, so that replaced sub-components can be removed there. • Large uncertainty about how material recycling gains should be calculated. The rule of crediting with the same material data set used for the new manufacture provides a degree of certainty, but further guidelines would be desirable. Use of cut-off methodology is a possibility.

The main driver for recycling cable wastes is the high value of the conducting metal, while the plastic with its lower value is often neglected. New improved cable plastic recycling routes can provide both economic and environmental incentive to cable producers for moving up the “cable plastic waste ladder”. Cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment, LCA, of the waste management of the cable scrap is suggested and explained as a method to analyze the pros and cons of different cable scrap recycling options at hand. Economic and environmental data about different recycling processes and other relevant processes and materials are given. Cable producers can use this data and method to assess the way they deal with the cable plastic waste today and compare it with available alternatives and thus illuminate the improvement potential of recycling cable plastic waste both in an environmental and in an economic sense. The methodology applied consists of: cradle-to-gate LCA for waste material to a recycled material (recyclate); quantifying the climate impact for each step on the waste ladder for the specific waste material; the use of economic and climate impact data in parallel; climate impact presented as a span to portray the insecurities related to which material the waste will replace; and possibilities for do-it-yourself calculations. Potentially, the methodology can be useful also for other waste materials in the future.

With increasing interest in reducing fossil fuel emissions, more and more development is focused on electric mobility. For electric vehicles, the main challenge is the mass of the batteries, which significantly increase the mass of the vehicles and limits their range. One possible concept to solve this is incorporating structural batteries; a structural material that both stores electrical energy and carries mechanical load. The concept envisions constructing the body of an electric vehicle with this material and thus reducing the need for further energy storage. This research is investigating a future structural battery that is incorporated in the roof of an electric vehicle. The structural battery is replacing the original steel roof of the vehicle, and part of the original traction battery. The environmental implications of this structural battery roof are investigated with a life cycle assessment, which shows that a structural battery roof can avoid climate impacts in substantive quantities. The main emissions for the structural battery stem from its production and efforts should be focused there to further improve the environmental benefits of the structural battery. Toxicity is investigated with a novel chemical risk assessment from a life cycle perspective, which shows that two chemicals should be targeted for substitution. © 2019 by the authors.

Mall för miljöutredning hjälper dig att samla in och redovisa kvantitativa data om material- och energiflödet genom det egna företaget. Med hjälp av dessa data skapas en bild som beskriver miljöpåverkan av företagets verksamhet och produkter i ett livscykelperspektiv.

Till skriften hör bland annat:

• en Wordmall för miljöutredningen, där man fyller i tabeller och justerar texten

• ett inventerings- och beräkningsverktyg i Excel, som räknar ut miljöpåverkan av företagets transporter, material, utsläpp och energi

• en översikt av miljölagarna för inventering av lagkrav

• instruktioner och blanketter för Miljö-FMEA; ett sätt att identifiera och värdera miljöpåverkan.

203 miljöchefer i svensk verkstadsindustri har intervjuats via telefon på temat integration av formella ledningssystem som ISO 14001 och ISO 9001 med Lean-baserade förbättringsprogram.

Intervjuerna tyder på att verkstadsföretag med lean-baserade förbättringsprogram och formella ledningssystem samordnar dessa i hög utsträckning. Hela 73% tycker att nivån på samordningen är lagom. Dock är studien för begränsad för att dra några slutsatser om hur väl systemen/programmen är integrerade i verksamheten i övrigt och den sammantagna effektiviteten.

En hypotes som framförts av många är att leanarbete främjar miljöarbete på ett positivt sätt. Intervjuerna tyder på att verkstadsföretag med lean är mer miljöinriktade än verkstadsföretag i gemen, eftersom de låter miljöchefen sitta med i ledningsgruppen i större utsträckning. Dock ser de (verkstadsföretag med lean) inte större ekonomiska vinster av miljöarbetet än andra verkstadsföretag.

En intressant observation i denna studie som bekräftas av andra data är att ISO 14001 håller på att bli vanligare än ISO 9000 i Sverige. Totalt i världen är ISO 9000 fyra gånger större än ISO 14001.

This article investigates sustainability in the performance measurement systems of Swedish manufacturing companies. It builds on a previous study that documents relatively few direct environmental indicators at shop floor level, which raises questions about possible indirect links between existing indicators and the environment that could be used to improve the environmental aspect of company’s sustainability ambitions. A method for identifying and categorizing indirect links to sustainability issues was defined and used. The results suggest that at shop floor level 90% of the indicators have at least an indirect relation to one or more of the sustainability dimensions economy, environment and social, of which 26% are at least indirectly related to the environmental dimension. Despite the many indirect connections, participating companies perceive a need to improve sustainability indicators and some ideas are suggested.

The lack of reliable communication tools is anticipated to become an important barrier to design and sell products with improved environmental performance. In this paper, environmental product declarations, EPDs, and in particular a Stepwise EPD approach is investigated as a means to overcome the communication barrier. The experiences of ten European SMEs who have tried to use Stepwise EPDs for market communication and as a basis for eco-design are described and discussed. The experiences suggest that Stepwise EPDs based on life cycle assessment can be a cost-efficient tool to improve the environmental performance of products. For normal marketing activities the Stepwise EPDs were disappointing. Using the underlying LCA as a platform for in-depth communication with selected parties in the supply chain showed more promise. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This report contains a life cycle assessment, LCA, of recycling of lithium-ion battery, LIB, cells. It was performed in the context of the Swedish Scope-lib project. The study aims to highlight environmental hotspots with LIB recycling and shows the potential of LIB recycling. In short, the results indicate that: • the Scope-lib process operated in full scale, can potentially recover almost half of the climate impacts of producing a new NMC traction battery, the currently most common traction battery chemistry. The main reason is that the climate impact (data) of cobalt production has four folded since 2018. It emphasizes the importance of recycling scarce battery materials. • the Scope-lib process is not dependent on carbon-lean electricity to achieve a lot of climate impact avoidance. Using average European electricity mix (around 400 g CO2-eq/kWh) instead of Swedish electricity mix (around 40 g CO2-eq/kWh) only decrease the climate impact avoidance with less than 1 kg CO2-eq/kg cell or less than 10%. • recovery and recycling of ethylene carbonate (used as solvent in LIB electrolytes) shows much smaller potential climate benefits than recovery and recycling of the metals. • the resource depletion gains of the Scope-lib process follow the same trend as the climate impact gains, with the exception of aluminium. To complement the LCA, a life cycle-based risk mapping was performed which identified a particular high risk with fluorinated materials present in binders and electrolytes in NMC batteries which could potentially form hazardous chemical emissions during recycling (such as persistent PFAS) and thus need special attention.

In the end-of-life phase the risks related to toxicity, fire and high voltage inherent in the traction LIB life cycle become apparent and amplified. LIBs are a green technology but contain different hazardous substances, that can be emitted especially during fire events. These emissions are of high risks since chemical transformation processes are not well understood so far. Additional risk occurs during production of raw materials such as highly fluorinated organic chemicals used in LIBs e.g. for binder materials. Due to the electrochemical stability of fluorinated materials their use might be unavoidable to produce batteries with a long life. However, their production, use and disposal need to be controlled. A high temperature treatment in recycling is a possibility to control emissions in the end-of-life phase. Any laboratory, recycling facility or actor involved in the end-of-life phase of LIBs must carry out risk assessment for their unique activities and equipment and develop and maintain site specific safety protocols for their personal.

This report contains a life cycle assessment of hot dip galvanized steel and refurbishment methods for hot dip galvanized steel. The purpose of the report is to investigate the environmental impact of different refurbishment methods and to compare the environmental impact of replacing hot-dip galvanized steel structures with maintenance of the corrosion protection of hot-dip galvanized steel structures. The analysis was carried out within the framework of an assignment performed for RISE KIMAB by Mats Zackrisson at RISE IVF, in the project Optimal maintenance of hot-dip galvanized products. Paint manufacturers, painting contractors, painting inspectors and researchers at RISE KIMAB have all contributed data and knowledge to the study. The results show that the pre-treatment and the zinc can give significant impacts for the refurbishment options. From a climate perspective, the results indicate that the refurbishment options need only prolong the life with 1-6 years, which, compared to the expected life extension 30 years indicates a large climate impact reduction potential with any of the refurbishment options. From an ozone formation perspective, the results indicate that the refurbishment options need to prolong the life with 3-33 years, which, compared to the expected life extension 30 years indicates that the right choice of refurbishment option is crucial in order to achieve potential ozone impact reductions with refurbishment. The practical corrosion tests carried out in the project will give more definite answers. The difference in potential impact between the refurbishment options should not be taken as absolute, since the information was mostly gathered from open sources, like safety data sheets and product information sheets. Nevertheless, the low (inherent) ozone formation impacts associated with the waterborne zinc silicate is worth mentioning, as well as Induraguard 9200´s environmentally benign pre-treatment (wire brushing). The study focuses on 8 mm thick steel structures. The thicker and heavier object, the more is, in general, to gain by refurbishing instead of replacing with new infrastructure object.