Use of Life Cycle Assessment by Unilever
Benefits and Consequences
P J McKeown
Safety and Environment Assurance Centre
Unilever
Life Cycle Assessment of Food Products
Technological Institute, Aarhus
8th February 2001
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Outline of Presentation
Unilever - Who are they?
Unilever Environment Policy and Strategy
Life Cycle Assessment - supporting the strategy
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Unilever - Who are they?
Multinational organisation
>275,000 employees
Factories in >90 countries
Sales in over 150 Countries
Main product categories
Foods and Home and Personal Care Products
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Unilever - Foods Brands
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Unilever Environment Policy
Unilever is committed to meeting the needs
of customers and consumers in an
environmentally sound and sustainable
manner, through continuous improvement
in environmental performance in all our
activities
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Unilever Environment Policy
• Measure and report environmental performance of
manufacturing sites
• Target setting - continuous improvement
• EMS - all sites audited with improvement plans
• Moving towards external accreditation - ISO 14001
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Unilever Environment Strategy
• Eco-efficiency in the supply chain
• Eco-innovation in products and services
• Sustainable Development Initiatives
• Communication
•Life Cycle Assessment helps to support the Strategy
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Eco-efficiency in the Supply Chain
Historically - main focus of environmental improvements on
own processes
LCA applied to many of our product systems
• Started in late 1980s
• Identify areas of significant environmental impact
• Quantify Unilever’s contribution to the total impact
• Broaden focus of environmental improvements
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Example Product Systems Studied Using LCA
• Frozen vegetables
• Ice Cream
• Tea
• Tomato-based sauce
• Margarine and spreads
• Laundry products
• Household cleaners
• Shower gels
• Toothpaste
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Position of Unilever in Food Supply Chain
Primary Raw Material
Extraction
Agriculture
Raw Material
Processor
Unilever
Factory
Distribution/Retail
Network
Consumer
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Frozen Vegetable Life Cycle
FERTILISERS
PESTICIDES
E
N
E
R
G
Y
DIESEL FUEL
GREENHOUSE GASES
VEGETABLE
AGRICULTURE
LEACHATE
LAND, WATER
ELECTRICITY
NATURAL GAS
WATER
R
E
S
O
U
R
C
E
S
RUN-OFF
VEGETABLE
PROCESSING
FACTORY
PACKAGING
WATER POLLUTION
SOLID WASTE
REPACK PROCESS
FOR PEAS
MATERIALS
ELECTRICITY
TRANSPORT
FROZEN PRODUCT IN
COLD STORE
FUELS
W
A
T
E
R
Unilever
FUELS
DISTRIBUTION /
RETAIL
FUELS
ELECTRICITY
CONSUMER
TRANSPORT AND
STORAGE
ELECTRICITY
NATURAL GAS
CONSUMER USE /
WATER HEATING
E
M
I
S
S
I
O
N
S
PACKAGING
WASTE
PACKAGING
WASTE
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Outcome of Food LCA Studies
Many impacts occur both upstream and downstream
of our operations
To achieve significant improvements and benefits for
the environment a new approach was required:
• Engage in partnership with the supply chain
• Educate consumer
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Eco-innovation in Products and Services
• Awareness raising - product developers/marketing
• Integrate eco-efficiency into design
• Include environmental considerations in innovation awards
• Improve understanding of consumer attitudes
• Work in partnership with industry and retail trade
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Integrate Eco-efficiency into Design
• Use of existing tools to assess environmental impact
of innovation projects
• Development of a range of tools for use at decision
points in Innovation Process Model
• Pilot the use of eco-efficiency parameters to enhance
creativity
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Innovation Process Model
Decision gates
Ideas
Feasibility
Capability
Launch
Prepn.
L
A
U
N
C
H
Post
Launch
Evaln.
Rollout
Full LCA
Screening LCA
Checklist/
Matrix
Environmental Assessment Tools
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Making Tools Available
• LCA - Currently “niche” application
• Often seen as “time-consuming”, “expensive” ..
• Life cycle approaches must be simplified and made
available
• Web tool being developed for product/process developers
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LCA Web Tool
EXPERT / SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR
(SEAC LCA)
Remote PC plus Web browser (e.g. IE5)
Experts use
system for LCA
studies
Create product templates, control panels,
standard report formats, database
maintenance and access control
Windows NT Server (Port Sunlight)
LCA Web application and tools (to create control panels and
standard report formats)
Product System Templates, TEAM™ Software, Databases
Results returned via
WEB in selected
standard format
Request submitted
via WEB using
standard Control
Panel
END USER (Trained)
Remote PC plus Web browser (e.g. IE5)
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Sustainable Development Initiatives
Unilever committed to 3 sustainable development themes
• Sustainable Fisheries
• Sustainable Agriculture
• Clean Water Stewardship
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Background to Sustainability - OBIA
Overall Business Impact Assessment (OBIA) - Unilever Imprint

LCA of Unilever’s Global Business

Convert to relevant potential environmental impacts

Scale using estimated total global potential environmental impacts

Compare with normalised economic value added (sales/global GDP)

Identify areas of potential un-sustainability
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Unilever’s Contribution to Environmental
Performance Indicators
6
= sales as proportion of Global GDP
5
Bars
= Unilever potential impact as proportion of
estimated total global potential impact
4
3
environment
impact
more than
economic
value added
2
1
environment
impact
less than
economic
value added
0
energy
solid waste
ozone depletion
acidification
nutrification
global warming
photochemical smog
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Sustainable Agriculture
• The supply chain for over 2/3 of Unilever’s raw materials starts
at farms or plantations
• There are many problems associated with intensive agricultural
systems
– Loss of soil fertility
– Reduction in biodiversity
– Use of water (over 70% of global water abstraction used in
agriculture)
– Decline in quality of rural life
Sustainable Agriculture Pilot Projects
• Black leaf tea
• Peas
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Palm Oil
• Other oil seeds
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LCA and Sustainable Agriculture
• LCA methodology applied to each sustainable
agriculture pilot crop
• Provides understanding of environmental impacts across
agricultural supply chains
• Places Agricultural stage in context with rest of supply
chain
• Aids in the development of sustainability indicators
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Approach to Sustainability Indicators
• Produce high-yield crops while minimising losses during harvest
and processing; increase nutritional quality while keeping the
amount of inputs (e.g. fertilisers and pesticides) as low as
possible
• Ensure that soil fertility, water, biodiversity and air are not
adversely affected
• Use as many renewable resources as possible and minimise the
use of non-renewables
• Enable communities to protect and improve their well-being and
environments
Sustainable Agriculture
Ten Key Indicators:
• Soil Fertility & Health
• Soil Loss
• Nutrients
• Pest Management
• Biodiversity
• Product Value
• Energy
• Water
• Social and Human Capital
• Local Economy
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Clean Water Stewardship
• Water is used in the supply chain of our ingredients
• Water is used in Unilever factories
• Water is a vital ingredient in many of our products
• Consumers often need water to use our products
LCA and Clean Water Stewardship
• Water imprint undertaken based on OBIA approach
• Regional assessment is now being undertaken
• Based on Life Cycle approach across supply chain
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Communication and LCA
Internal
• Awareness Raising
• Innovation support
External
• Trade
• Regulators
• European Commission
• Industry
• Corporate Environment Report
• Unilever Internet Site
• Conferences, Presentations
• Brochures, publications
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Summary (1)
Individual Product LCA
• Identify significant environmental aspects across
the life cycle of products
• Place Unilever contribution in context
• Aid in Internal communication and awareness
raising
• Support for new product launch (PR)
• Uptake of environmental aspects in product
development/innovation (ecodesign)
• Tool development to extend use of LCA to a
wider audience (web)
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Summary (2)
Strategic Level - LCA
• Assessment of Unilever’s global environmental
impact
• Contributed to the initiation of the Sustainable
Development projects
• Life cycle approach is integral to certain aspects
of the Sustainable Development projects
LCA as a tool and concept is a key, integral
component of Unilever’s environmental
strategy
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