To understand the environmental performance of a product, its entire life cycle needs to be taken into consideration. A life cycle assessment (LCA) of a steel product looks at resources, energy and emissions, from the steel production stage to its end‐of‐life stage, including recycling. Steel can be recycled over and over again, indefinitely, without any loss of its inherent properties.
Life cycle assessment: compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle (ISO 14040).
APEAL is currently
- Collaborating with Worldsteel LCA Forum in order to develop up-to-date & EU representative steel for packaging LCIs
- Delegating an expert member to CEN TC261for packaging LCA’s related issues
- Co-operating with our customers to develop up-to-date Life Cycle Inventories (LCIs) for steel packaging applications
Position papers
LCA results always need to be associated with a clear definition of the scope, the system boundaries and applied methodology. The packaging always needs to be considered together with the content it is protecting. LCAs need to be holistic, covering the entire life cycle of the product or service, going from cradle to grave.