LCA use in Swedish industry

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 1996

A study of iudustry's use of I,CA has bcen performed as a special analysis of the Business Enviromnental Barometer (B.E.B.). The B.E.B. is an international questionnaire survey on industry's envi- ronmental management practices (LCA included), repeated every two years. The first round in 1993 included the Nordic countries. The 1997 round will include eight European countries. This analy- sis intends to describe industry's LCA use as such (e.g. active industrial sectors, applications, changes over time) and differences between companies working with I.CA and those not working with LCA. The survey indicates that industry is in the process of internalising LCA knowledge, although most companies are still in the learning phase. LCA companies have more developed environmental management systems than non-LCA companies. A company's LCA use seems to be a competitor-driven activity, judging from LCA distribution among industrial sectors.