Life Cycle Assessment and Innovation in Large Firms

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.