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Business model life cycle assessment: A method for analysing the environmental performance of business
Divison of Environmental Systems Analysis, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Ecodynamics Group, Department of Earth, Environmental and Physical Sciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy.
Divison of Environmental Systems Analysis, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Divison of Environmental Systems Analysis, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
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2022 (English)In: Sustainable Production and Consumption, ISSN 2352-5509, Vol. 32, p. 112-124Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This paper introduces business model life cycle assessment (BM-LCA), a new method for quantifying the environmental impacts of business models. Such a method is needed to guide business decisions towards decoupling economic activity from environmental impact. BM-LCA takes the business model itself as the unit of analysis and its economic performance as the basis of comparison. It can be applied to any type of business model involving material or resource use. In BM-LCA, monetary flows are coupled to material and energy flows. The methodology expands on conventional life cycle assessment (LCA) by elaborating the goal and scope definition and dividing it into two phases. The first descriptive phase details the business models to be compared. It includes a mapping of product chain actors and identifying business operations and transactions related to the product. The second coupling phase defines a profit-based functional unit and sets up the coupling equations expressing the economic relations to the product. Thereafter, conventional LCA procedures are followed to assess environmental impacts. The key innovation on LCA methodology is the development of a functional unit that captures the economic performance of a business model and links it to a product system. BM-LCA provides thus an important link between LCA and business competitive advantage.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2022. Vol. 32, p. 112-124
Keywords [en]
Life cycle assessment, Business model, Decoupling, Sustainable production and consumption, Functional unit, Method
National Category
Environmental Management
Research subject
Quality technology and logistics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-90332DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2022.04.014ISI: 000794273200012Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85129274147OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-90332DiVA, id: diva2:1653189
Note

Validerad;2022;Nivå 2;2022-06-01 (johcin)

Available from: 2022-04-21 Created: 2022-04-21 Last updated: 2025-02-10Bibliographically approved

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Zobel, Thomas

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