Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
SC Johnson's GreenList™
GreenList is a patented system (U.S. Patents 6, 973,362 and 7, 096,084) used to classify raw
materials based on their impact on the environment and human health. The process rates each
raw material on a scale from 3 to 0, where a 3 is considered the Best, 2 Better, 1 Acceptable,
and 0 is rated as Restricted Used Material and used only on a limited basis. Approval from
senior management must be obtained to use a Restricted Use Material (Long  and Martin,
2003). Before rating, materials are classified into functional categories (e.g., surfactants,
solvents, propellants, packaging, etc.) and then rated based on four to seven criteria for each
category. Typical criteria are biodegradability, aquatic toxicity, human toxicity, EU
environmental hazard classification, source/supply, vapor pressure, octanol/water partition
coefficient, and other criteria appropriate for the functional category (Long and Martin, 2003).
At the end of categorization, each material ends up with a score resulting from averaging the
individual rating for each criterion. This score can be lowered when other significant concerns
are present, such as reproductive toxicity, endocrine disruptors, and so on.
INTENSITY INDICATORS AND METRICS
LCA is a powerful tool to compare different product performances, the impact of a production
system, or the impacts of different stages of the production. In the LCIA, indicators are used
to evaluate the effects of a product, a system, or a process at different levels in the environ-
ment. The magnitude of each impact is calculated by multiplying mass flows with a
characterization factors. Two types of analysis are conducted at this stage of the LCA, namely
midpoint and endpoint methodologies. Examples of midpoint “indicators” are eutrophication
and acidification. Eco-Indicator 99 is an example of an endpoint indicator that encompasses
the impact of resource use and environmental releases on human health, ecosystem health, and
resource availability (Tanzil and Beloff, 2006).
However, one important limitation of using LCIA indicators is dictated by the limitations
of LCA, such as its complexity, the enormous amount of reliable data needed, the almost
never-ending number of decision that needs to be made, the need to run LCAs for every single
product in the portfolio, and most importantly, the difficulty of communicating the results to
those who are not versed in environmental sciences, including the public.
As a result, other indicators have been developed at different scales to evaluate the
environmental performance of systems, including the planet, countries, regions, communities,
cities, companies, processes, and technologies. These indicators can be applied to the system
of interests without the need of conducting a LCA. Examples of these indicators are the
Human Development Index, the Environmental Sustainability Index, and the Green Gross
Domestic Product that are normally used to evaluate the environmental performance and
social standards of countries or extended regions. Another indicator is the ecological
footprint—a measure of human impact on Earth's ecosystems—that can be practically used at
all levels from the whole planet to nations, businesses, and individuals.
In the journey of developing sustainability metrics, the scale of the system at which the
indicator will be applied needs to be stated from the beginning, so the indicators will turn
out to be measurable and achievable. Systems in the planet are hierarchical in nature and
interconnected in their inputs and outputs. A food company is a subsystem of a more global
economic system that is a subsystem of a social system that is part of the ecological system.
The company takes materials and energy from the ecological system, labor from the social
system, and capital from the economic system, and then uses these resources to produce
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