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Cradle to Cradle and LCA

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Life Cycle Assessment

Abstract

Cradle to Cradle (C2C) offers a positive vision of a future, where products are radically redesigned to be beneficial to humans and the environment. The idea is not to reduce negative impacts (as in LCA), but to increase positive impacts . This chapter presents the C2C concept and its relationship with the circular economy , the C2C certification and examples of C2C certified or inspired products and systems. This is followed by a comparison of C2C with eco-efficiency and LCA . Because of their important differences, we conclude that care should be taken when combing C2C and LCA, e.g. using LCA to evaluate products inspired by C2C. We then provide an in-depth analysis of the conflicts between C2C and LCA and offer solutions. Finally, we reflect upon how LCA practitioners can learn from C2C in terms of providing a vision of a sustainable future, creating a sense of urgency for change and communicating results in an inspiring way.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cradle to Cradle® and C2C® are trademarks of MBDC, LLC. Used with permission.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division for Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Anders Bjørn & Michael Z. Hauschild

  2. CIRAIG, Polytechnique Montréal, 3333 Chemin Queen-Mary, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Anders Bjørn

Authors
  1. Anders Bjørn
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  2. Michael Z. Hauschild
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Correspondence to Anders Bjørn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Michael Z. Hauschild

  2. IRSTEA, UMR ITAP, ELSA Research group and ELSA-PACT, Environmental and Social Sustainability Assessment, Montpellier, France

    Ralph K. Rosenbaum

  3. Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Stig Irving Olsen

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Bjørn, A., Hauschild, M.Z. (2018). Cradle to Cradle and LCA. In: Hauschild, M., Rosenbaum, R., Olsen, S. (eds) Life Cycle Assessment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56475-3_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56475-3_25

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56474-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56475-3

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