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Product Life Cycle Key Performance Indicators
Authors: Vávra Jan
Year: 2025
Type of publication: ostatní - článek ve sborníku
Name of source: 5th International Workshop: Towards Zero Pollution : book of abstracts
Publisher name: Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão do Politécnico de Viseu
Place: Viseu
Page from-to: 42
Titles:
Language Name Abstract Keywords
eng Product Life Cycle Key Performance Indicators Product Life Cycle (PLC) key performance indicators play a pivotal role in evaluating the sustainability performance of products across their entire life span—from raw material extraction to disposal. As environmental concerns increasingly shape policy and corporate behavior, PLC indicators provide the scientific basis for informed decisions, enabling comparisons and improvement strategies grounded in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodologies. This presentation introduces key categories of PLC key performance indicators—environmental, economic, and social - and explains how they integrate into the broader LCA and Social-LCA frameworks. Environmental (traditional) indicators, such as carbon footprint, energy demand, and water use, are especially critical in assessing the ecological burden of products. Economic and social indicators, though sometimes less standardized, offer essential insights into lifecycle costs and societal impacts on various stakeholders. PLC key performance indicators guide sustainable product design, procurement strategies, and policy development. Indicator-based assessments can reveal trade-offs and hot spots in a product’s life cycle, such as the environmental cost of raw materials versus use-phase efficiency. They are also essential for assessing recycling options, creating closed material loops, and setting up a circular economy. Challenges including data availability, indicator harmonization, and methodological complexity will also be explored, along with emerging opportunities in digitalization and AI-enhanced life cycle tools. The session aims to provide both academic and practical perspectives, offering students and professionals a concise yet comprehensive look at one of sustainability science’s most valuable toolkits. Product life cycle; Key Performance Indicators; environmental impacts; social aspect; sustainability