The link between operational efficiency and environmental impacts A joint application of Life Cycle Assessment and Data Envelopment Analysis

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) allows the estimation of the environmental impacts of a process or product. Those environmental impacts depend on the efficiency with which operations are carried out. In the case that LCA data are available for multiple similar installations, their respective operational performances can be benchmarked and links between operational efficiency and environmental impacts can be established. In this paper, this possibility is illustrated with a case study on LCA of mussel cultivation in rafts. For each site (raft) both its inputs consumption and mussel production are known. A separate LCA of each site has been performed and its corresponding environmental impacts have been estimated. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) on the input/output data allows computing the relative efficiency of each mussel raft and setting appropriate efficiency targets. The DEA targets represent virtual cultivation sites, which consume less input and/or produce more output. The performance of an LCA study for each of these virtual cultivation sites and the comparison between their environmental impacts are used to estimate the environmental impacts consequences of operational inefficiencies. This direct link can help to convince the managers and operators of the cultivation sites of the double dividend of reducing inputs consumption and achieve operational efficiency: lower costs and lower environmental impacts. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.