Life cycle assessment and sustainability analysis of products, materials and technologies. Toward a scientific framework for sustainability life cycle analysis

There are many approaches to study the environmental and sustainability aspects of production and consumption. Some of these reside at the level of concepts, e.g., industrial ecology, design for environment, and cleaner production. Other approaches are based on the use of quantitative models, e.g., life cycle assessment, material flow accounting and strategic environmental assessment. This paper focuses on the development of a framework that is able to incorporate different models for environmental analysis, with the option of a broader scope that also includes economic and social aspects, thus covering the three pillars of sustainability. This framework builds on the ISO-framework for life cycle assessment, but takes a broader view, and allows us to move from micro questions on specific products, via meso questions on life styles up to macro questions in which the entire societal structure is part of the analysis.