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Life Cycle Assessment And Innovation In Large Firms

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  • Frans Berkhout

Abstract

Life cycle assessment (LCA) applications within large European firms are discussed. Many industrial applications have been proposed for cradle to grave assessments of environmental burdens of products, including technology design and optimization, technology strategy, green marketing and environmental foresight. There is evidence of a growth of LCA competences and applications within industrial firms, although there are few examples of systematic applications of the instrument in business decisions. The influence of life cycle approaches on the generation of product and process innovations is assessed. The paper argues against the assumption that LCA will be ‘internalized’ pervasively across industry. Commodity producers will maintain externally oriented approaches, whereas some engineering based final goods producers may find more routine uses for internally oriented LCAs. These applications may influence technological innovation. In most cases the capacity to appropriate LCA‐based innovations will be constrained.

Suggested Citation

  • Frans Berkhout, 1996. "Life Cycle Assessment And Innovation In Large Firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 145-155, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:5:y:1996:i:3:p:145-155
    DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0836(199609)5:33.0.CO;2-P
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Raphaëlle Stewart & Peter Fantke & Anders Bjørn & Mikołaj Owsianiak & Christine Molin & Michael Zwicky Hauschild & Alexis Laurent, 2018. "Life cycle assessment in corporate sustainability reporting: Global, regional, sectoral, and company‐level trends," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1751-1764, December.
    2. Rick Edgeman & Jacob Eskildsen, 2014. "Modeling and Assessing Sustainable Enterprise Excellence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 173-187, March.
    3. David P. Angel & Joseph Huber, 1996. "Building Sustainable Industries For Sustainable Societies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 127-136, September.
    4. David Lazarevic & Michael Martin, 2018. "Life cycle assessment calculative practices in the Swedish biofuel sector: Governing biofuel sustainability by standards and numbers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1558-1568, December.

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