Carina Weingaertner, Åsa Moberg

Title

Exploring Social Sustainability: Learning from Perspectives on Urban Development and Companies and Products.

Published in

Sustainable Development (2011),  doi: 10.1002/sd.536

Abstract

There is a fragmented approach to social sustainability in the literature, and this paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the meanings and interpretations of that concept while reviewing and discussing the social dimension of sustainability from the perspectives of two fields: urban development as well as companies and products. The analysis identifies commonalities and differences in the understanding of the conceptualization of social sustainability and helps to identify core aspects that cross disciplinary boundaries. The paper shows that compiling a list of comprehensive aspects that is representative of social sustainability is not straightforward, as interpretations are context dependant and aspects are often closely interconnected. Differences often occur because of variations in scoping and context, or whether or not a life cycle perspective is used. Nonetheless, there seems to be an underlying common understanding of what social sustainability is, and a set of key themes (social capital, human capital and well-being) is suggested as an alternative to put more specific measures and indicators in perspective. However, context-specific information is still necessary in practical applications.

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Maria Enroth
Clara Borggren
Åsa Moberg

Title

Klimatpåverkan från konceptet Klimatsmart pocket

Published in

Rapport från KTH Centre for Sustainable Communications, Stockholm.
ISSN:1654-479X
TRITA-SUS 2011:2

Sammanfattning

Idén med konceptet Klimatsmart pocket är att producera pocketböcker utgivna inom varumärkena Bonnier Pocket och Månpocket på ett sådant sätt att miljöhänsyn tas vid val av produktutformning, material, processteg och leverantörer. Särskilt viktigt har varit att välja miljöanpassade papper med låg klimatpåverkan för produktionen. Miljöpåverkan från Klimatsmart pocket har kvantifierats genom beräkning av klimatpåverkan baserat på en typproduktion. Denna beräkning presenteras i föreliggande studie.

Beräkningen av klimatpåverkan har i princip utförts i enlighet med rekommendationer för beräkningar av klimatgasutsläpp från den europeiska branschorganisationen Intergraf (Intergraf 2010) och den internationella standarden GHG protocol (WBCSD och WRI, 2004). Även intentioner i den brittiska standarden PAS 2050:2008 (BSI 2008) har följts i möjligaste mån.

Den studerade pocketboken är en typprodukt med 320 sidor (0,17 kg/ex). Studien är en ”cradle to gate” analys (”vagga till grind” analys) vilket i detta fall innebär att produktens belastning från råvaruuttag till bokhandel har inkluderats. De livscykelsteg som har inkluderats i beräkningen är följande: skogsbruk, massa- och pappersproduktion, transport av skogsråvara och massa, transport av papper från pappersbruk till tryckeri, redaktionellt arbete, tryckning och efterbehandling samt distribution av produkt till bokhandel.

Total klimatpåverkan för den aktuella produktionen har beräknats till 1960 kg CO₂ekvivalenter. Detta innebär ett utsläpp av 0,73 kg CO₂ekvivalenter/kg produkt eller 0,12 kg CO₂ekvivalenter/pocketbok. Nyckeltalet 0,73 kg CO₂ekvivalenter/kg produkt kan användas för uppskattning av klimatpåverkan från andra produktioner av Klimatsmart pocket förutsatt att pappersval och produktionsförhållanden är desamma.

Klimatpåverkan från Klimatsmart pocket kan jämföras med uppgifter om utsläpp av klimatgaser motsvarande 0,70-9,5 kg CO₂ekv/kg produkt för olika typer av tryckta produkter (Enroth 2010, Moberg 2010, Pihkola et al 2010). Dessa jämförande data gäller förutom olika typer av produkter även olika trycktekniker, något olika systemgränser samt produktion i olika delar av världen. Klimatpåverkan från föreliggande produktion, 0,73 kg CO₂ekv/kg produkt, är förhållandevis låg även om det inte är direkt jämförbara studier. Detta beror till stor del på produkttypen samt på val av papper med låg klimatpåverkan från miljöanpassade produktionsställen.

För den studerade pocketproduktionen är det papper inklusive skogsbruk och massaproduktion (39%), distribution av produkt till bokhandel (20%) samt tryckning och efterbehandling (15%) som bidrar mest till klimatpåverkan.

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Moberg, Åsa
Borggren, Clara
Finnveden, Göran

Title

Books from an environmental perspective – Part 2: e-books as an alternative to paper books

Published in

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 16, 238-246, (2011), doi:10.1007/s11367-011-0255-0

Abstract

Purpose

Information and communication technology (ICT) has been proposed as a means to facilitate environmental sustainability. Dematerialisation is one potential way of doing this. For books, this could be realized through using e-book readers, which share many of the qualities of printed media and have notably low-energy requirements during use. The main aim of this study was to analyse the environmental impacts of an e-book read on an e-book reader, and to identify key issues determining the magnitude of the impact. A second aim was to compare the e-book product system with a paper book product system using a life cycle perspective.

Materials and methods

A screening LCA was performed on an e-book produced and read in Sweden. The e-book reader was assumed to be produced in China. The data used were general data from Ecoinvent 2.0 and site-specific data from companies participating in the study, whenever average data were not available.

Results and discussion

The results showed that production of the e-book reader was the life cycle step contributing most to the environmental impact of the system studied, although data on the e-ink screen were lacking. The disposal phase leads to avoided impact as materials are recycled; however, these results are less certain due to limited data availability. When the e-book was compared with a paper book, the results indicated that the number of books read on the e-book reader during its lifetime was crucial when evaluating its environmental performance compared with paper books. The results indicate that there are impact categories and circumstances where paper books are preferable to e-books from an environmental perspective and vice versa.

Conclusions

There is no single answer as to which book is better from an environmental perspective according to the results of the current study. To improve the e-book environmental performance, an e-book reader should be used frequently, the life time of the device should be prolonged, as far as possible, and when not in use anymore, the device should be disposed of in a proper way, making material recycling possible. In addition, the production of the e-reader should be energy efficient and striving towards minimisation of toxic and rare substances.

Borggren, Clara
Moberg, Åsa
Finnveden, Göran

Title

Books from an environmental perspective – Part 1: environmental impacts of paper books sold in traditional and internet bookshops

Published in

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 16, 138-147 (2011), doi:10.1007/s11367-011-0254-1

Abstract

Purpose

The sale and distribution of books are activities that have changed through increased use of the internet. The main aim of this paper was to determine the potential environmental impacts of paper books and identify key issues determining the magnitude of those impacts. A second aim was to study the environmental difference between a paper book bought in a traditional bookshop and through an internet bookshop. In addition, areas with a lack of data and major uncertainties were to be noted.

Materials and methods

A screening life cycle assessment was performed on an average hardback novel produced and read in Sweden. The data used were general data from Ecoinvent 2.0 and site-specific data from companies participating in the study, whenever average data were not available.

Results and discussion

The results showed the most important processes to be pulp and paper production. However, if a substantial distance was travelled by car, to buy a book or collect it, this had a major influence on the environmental performance. Comparing the two bookshop alternatives, the results showed a slight benefit for the internet bookshop due to fewer books being returned to the publisher and the avoidance of energy use at the traditional bookshop. The buyer of a book could significantly influence the total impact by choosing to walk to the bookshop or to combine the trip with several other activities to decrease the impact of the travel per activity performed. When books ordered via the internet were sent by postal services directly to the end consumer, the climate change impact was lowered.

Conclusions

This study showed that, in addition to the paper used, the way books are bought and distributed, including possible personal transportation, can significantly affect the total environmental impact of paper books. The impact per book read can be significantly decreased by sharing books with others.

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Moberg, Åsa
Borggren, Clara
Finnveden, Göran
Tyskeng, Sara

Title

Environmental impacts of electronic invoicing

Published in

Progress in Industrial Ecology 7, 93-113 (2010), doi: 10.1504/PIE.2010.036044

Abstract

Climate change threatens ecosystems and health and may cause severe economic impacts. All sectors of society need to act. New solutions based on information and communication technology (ICT) have been proposed to enable action. One possible conversion is from paper invoices to electronic invoices. The aim of this article is to increase current knowledge about the advantages and disadvantages of a possible total transition from all paper invoicing to all electronic invoicing in Sweden regarding cumulative energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. A screening life cycle assessment (LCA) was performed as a life cycle perspective should preferably be used when considering environmental impacts of products. The results of the study show that there are benefits from transition to electronic invoices regarding cumulative energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. The magnitude of the benefits is mainly dependent on the amount of paper used for the traditional invoices and whether the electronic invoices are printed.

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Räsänen, Minna
Moberg, Åsa
Picha, Malin
Borggren, Clara

Title

Meeting at a distance: Experiences of media companies in Sweden

Published in

Technology in Society 32, 264-273, (2010), doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2010.10.002

Abstract

Solutions based on information and communication technology (ICT) have been put forward as a possible means to decrease greenhouse gases, e.g. through replacing travel. However, their success depends on how the ICT solutions are implemented and put into practice. This study sought to identify and discuss conditions for business meetings at a distance. Practices that facilitate and those that prevent meeting at a distance were examined in four Swedish media companies. Time and financial savings were identified as the main forces driving companies and individuals to consider meeting at a distance. Appropriate technology, infrastructure and confidence in using and handling the equipment were also necessary for meeting at a distance. Environmental considerations within the companies appeared to be a side-effect rather than a direct driver. Understanding such conditions is crucial in striving for change. It is suggested that companies consider the everyday practices their employees are engaged in and reflect on the broader context within which these practices take place.

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Malmodin, Jens
Moberg, Åsa
Lundén, Dag
Finnveden, Göran
Lövehagen, Nina

Title

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Operational Electricity Use in the ICT and Entertainment & Media Sectors

Published in

Journal of Industrial Ecology 14, 770-790, (2010), doi: 10.1111/j.1530-9290.2010.00278.x

Abstract

The positive and negative environmental impacts of information and communication technology (ICT) are widely debated. This study assesses the electricity use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to the ICT and entertainment & media (E&M) sectors at sector level, including end users, and thus complements information on the product level. GHGs are studied in a life cycle perspective, but for electricity use, only the operational use is considered. The study also considers which product groups or processes are major contributors. Using available data and extrapolating existing figures to the global scale for 2007 reveals that the ICT sector produced 1.3% of global GHG emissions in 2007 and the E&M sector 1.7%. The corresponding figures for global electricity use were 3.9% and 3.2%, respectively. The results indicate that for the ICT sector, operation leads to more GHG emissions than manufacture, although impacts from the manufacture of some products are significant. For the E&M sector, operation of TVs and production of printed media are the main reasons for overall GHG emissions. TVs as well as printed media, with the estimations made here, led to more GHG emissions on a global level in 2007 than PCs (manufacture and operation). A sector study of this type provides information on a macro scale, a perspective easily lost when considering, for example, the product-related results of life cycle assessments. The macro scale is essential to capture changes in total consumption and use. However, the potential of the ICT sector to help decrease environmental impacts from other sectors was not included in the assessment.

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Moberg, Åsa

Title

Assessment of media and communication from a sustainability perspective

Published in

PhD dissertation
Environmental Strategies Research – fms, Department of Urban Planning and Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm 2010.
TRITA-SoM 2010-05
ISSN 1653-6126
ISRN KTH/SoM/10-05/SE
ISBN 978-97-7415-636-2

Abstract

This thesis aims to assess potential environmental impacts of media and communication and to contribute to the development of methods for sustainability assessment. Although the main focus is on printed and electronic media products and environmental impacts, a broader sector analysis is also included and social aspects are discussed. The thesis provides a review of different environmental assessment tools in order to better understand their relationships and the appropriateness of different tools in different situations. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to assess printed and electronic versions of newspapers, books and invoices. Results of the screening LCAs of newspapers and books indicate that when comparing printed and electronic versions there are benefits and drawbacks for both. For news and books read on e-reading devices with energy efficient e-ink screens, the main environmental impacts in the studies stemmed from the production of the device and partly from disposal, with the latter having the potential to reduce some environmental impacts through recycling of materials. However, there are data gaps regarding the production of the e-reading devices, most notably for the e-ink screen and the waste management of obsolete e-reading devices. Existing data on internet energy use are uncertain. The potential impacts from a hypothetical total change from paper invoices to electronic invoices in Sweden were assessed through a screening consequential LCA regarding greenhouse gas emissions and cumulative energy demand.

The results indicate that emissions and energy demand could decrease as a result of a change. The screening LCAs performed indicate that users’ practices could substantially influence the environmental impacts. Key factors which can influence results and comparisons of printed and electronic media products are total use of electronic devices, total use of printed media, amount and type of paper, energy use of electronic devices, potential printing of electronic media, electricity mix, and the system boundaries set for the assessments.

To get a wider perspective, a sector study of the ICT sector and media sector concerning global greenhouse gas emissions and operational electricity use was performed. It was estimated that the contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions in 2007 was roughly 1-2 % for each sector. To assess media and communication products from a sustainability perspective, social aspects should also be covered. The author participated in an international project group on social aspects and LCA, one outcome from which was guidelines for social LCA (S-LCA). In addition to providing guidance for S-LCA, another important role of the guidelines is to facilitate discussions, criticism and proposals for improvement and development of the methodology being developed.

The LCA and sector studies in this thesis are limited to direct and to some extent indirect environmental impacts. Further studies of the environmental impacts of more long-term changes in practices and potential structural changes, as well as potential social impacts, could provide important additional insights. This could increase the possibility of facilitating sustainable practices related to ICT and media.

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List of papers

Paper I
Finnveden G. and Moberg Å. (2005). Environmental systems
analysis methods – an overview. Journal of Cleaner Production 13:1165-
1173.

Paper II
Moberg Å., Johansson M., Finnveden G. and Jonsson A. (2010).
Printed and tablet e-paper newspaper from an environmental
perspective- a screening life cycle assessment. Environmental Impact
Assessment Review 30:3:177-191.

Paper III
Borggren C., Moberg Å. and Finnveden G. Books from an
environmental perspective – Part 1: Environmental impacts of paper
books sold in traditional and internet bookshops. Submitted to
International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

Paper IV
Moberg Å., Borggren C. and Finnveden G. Books from an
environmental perspective – Part 2: e-books as an alternative to
paper books. Submitted to International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

Paper V
Moberg Å., Borggren C., Finnveden G. and Tyskeng S.
Environmental impacts of electronic invoicing. Accepted with
minor revisions by Progress in Industrial Ecology.

Paper VI
Malmodin J, Moberg Å, Lundén D, Finnveden G. and Lövehagen
N. Greenhouse gas emissions and operational electricity use in the
ICT and entertainment & media sectors. Submitted to Journal of
Industrial Ecology.

Paper VII
Benoit C., Norris G.A., Valdivia S., Ciroth A., Moberg Å., Bos U.,
Prakash S., Ugaya C. and Beck T. (2010). The Guidelines for Social
Life Cycle Assessment of products: Just in time! International Journal
of Life Cycle Assessment, Volume 15, Number 2.

Contact asa.moberg@abe.kth.se if you want to order a paper copy of the thesis!

Benoît, C., Norris, G., Valdivia, S., Ciroth, A. Moberg, Å., Bos, U., Prakash, S. Ugaya, C., Beck, T.

Title

The guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products: just in time!

Published in

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 15, 156-163, Springer 2010, doi:10.1007/s11367-009-0147-8

Abstract

Purpose Authors of different sustainability journals, including authors of articles in past issues of the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment have acknowledged the rising interest and the pressing need for a social and socio-economic life cycle assessment methodology and identified challenges in its development and implementation. Social life cycle assessment (LCA) allows identification of key issues, assessing, and telling the story of social conditions in the production, use, and disposal of products. In this article, the United Nations Environment Programme/The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of Products will be presented.

Aim and scope The guidelines demystifies the assessment of product life cycle social impacts and presents an effective framework representing the consensus of an international group of experts leading research in this field. The guidelines complement those for environmental life cycle assessment and life cycle costing, and by doing so contribute to the full assessment of goods and services within the context of sustainable development. They enable a larger group of stakeholders to engage. Key aspects of the framework and the research needs identified in the guidelines will be summarized.

Conclusions In a globalized world where transparency and information occupies a predominant place and where consumers and companies reach out to shed light on both the brightest and the darkest side of the economy and, when applicable, transform its condition, social LCA brings strong value. At a moment where major companies and initiatives are going forward with using LCA and are trying to track and communicate about the social impacts of their products they are increasingly held accountable for the guidelines for social life cycle assessment arrive just in time to inform their efforts.

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Moberg, Åsa (KTH Centre for Sustainable Communications)
Picha, Malin (TU – The Swedish Media Association)
Erlandsson-Segerström, Birgitta (TeliaSonera)
Karagianni, Catherine (TeliaSonera)
Malmodin, Jens (Ericsson)
Wiklund, Lennart (Bonnier Group)

Title

Using a life cycle perspective to assess potential social impacts of ICT services – a pre-study.

Published in

Report from the KTH Centre for Sustainable Communications, Stockholm.
ISSN:1654-479X
TRITA-SUS 2009:1

Abstract

Buying that new mobile phone may make your life easier, provide continuous access to the net and change your image, but what social impact will your action have on others? Different stakeholders along the life cycle of the mobile phone will be affected, in positive and negative ways. Who is responsible and how can we know the impact?

Handling environmental impact with a life cycle perspective, for example using life cycle assessment (LCA), is today common practice. A similar technique for social impact, social and socio-economic LCA (S-LCA) is under development (Benoit and Mazijn, 2009). The aim of the current pre-study was to consider the use of S-LCA for information and communication technology (ICT) services to learn more about the product and facilitate consideration of social impact in different decision-making situations.

From a company perspective, social responsibility is handled in various ways, often under the heading of CSR, corporate social responsibility. Firstly, the company’s own employees are easily targeted and acted on by providing good working conditions, fair wages and working hours, etc. Considering social impact throughout a product’s life cycle is the next step and here measures and responsibilities are less clear-cut.  How is a product distributed (supply chain), how is it used and how is it finally disposed? Different stakeholders are differently affected, positively and negatively.

Four companies and organisations, all partners in the Centre for Sustainable Communications, took part in this study. They currently have different experiences and degrees of activity regarding social responsibility. The telecommunications companies, Ericsson and TeliaSonera, have started to consider social aspects in their supply chain and for their consumers. Social aspects are not only considered in terms of impact of the company management but also of impact related to products (goods and services). The media organisations (Bonnier Group and the Swedish Media Association) have not handled social aspects to the same extent as the telecommunications companies, but of course their products also give rise to social impact throughout their life cycles.

To enable a discussion on the usability of S-LCA, a simplified test was carried out, inspired by the ongoing work on including social aspects into LCA within the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative (Benoit and Mazijn, 2009). This screening test was based on a selection of published and readily available information on potential social impacts along the life cycle of two defined ICT services. The goal was not to provide an assessment of social impact, but rather to give a rough sketch and reflect on possibilities and limitations with the method. The two ICT services in the test were mobile news and video conferencing, provided by a newspaper company and a telecommunications company respectively. An interesting feature of both these services was that the company providing the service was not providing the electronic device, the hardware platform of the service. This gives one more dimension in the consideration of who is responsible for social impacts with a life cycle perspective.

There was a lot of information available on potential social impact for parts of the respective life cycles. This kind of information is gathered by scientists, NGOs and others. A small share of the information was compiled for the selected stakeholder groups: worker and consumer. This information indicated that there are social impacts all along the life cycle and that these may be positive or negative and of differing magnitude. As stakeholders become aware of the possible negative social impact, increasing engagement from organizations and companies in social responsibility will be requested.

When companies start to consider social impacts in the supply chain, it is expected to be easier to reach the first and second tier of suppliers. However, ILO (2007) has established that the workers at the beginning of the supply chain (farthest away from the end-product) are generally the most disadvantaged. In some cases, handling e-waste is also leading to major negative social impacts. Raw material acquisition and waste management may have large implications on the social impact related to a product, with best case or worst case possibly leading to significantly different results. A life cycle perspective would facilitate identification of improvement potential.  A key question is who is responsible, or rather who will accept responsibility.

As there is information available for parts of the processes and stakeholders throughout the life cycle of the ICT services studied, the question remains how this information can be used by companies providing products for end-consumers. This pre-study indicates that it can be useful to apply a life cycle perspective and compile data in relation to a specific product also when considering potential social impacts. This would facilitate the inclusion of processes and stakeholders for example at the beginning of the life cycle, where impact may be considerable and negative, and make these more visible. Development of S-LCA is thus interesting in order to provide transparent and ‘standardised’ assessments of potential social impact. By providing guidelines or standards, the assessments of social impact could be interpreted and criticised more easily. The possibilities for using S-LCA to increase knowledge and ultimately improve social conditions should be further studied and developed.

In the field of S-LCA there is plenty of future research to be carried out, examples of which are provided by Benoit and Mazijn (2009). One important way of getting more experience and enabling further development of the method and its practice is through performing case studies. ICT products would be an interesting field for this.

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