JLCA NEWS ENGLISH EDITION March.2009

No.7

JLCA
NEWS LETTER
Life-Cycle Assessment Society of Japan

Contents

Activity Report of Working Group on the Supply Chain Oriented ……………………… 1
LCA Data Exchange System
Examination of Environmental Burden in Relation to the Plastic ……………………… 6
Container and Package Recycling Method
Application of the System Product LCA "SI-LCA" to Product …………………………… 9
Development by the Hitachi Group
Issues in LCA in the Concrete Industry ………………………………………………………… 13

Special Article

Activity Report of Working Group on the Supply Chain Oriented
LCA Data Exchange System
Masahiko Hirao
Professor, School of Engineering
The University of Tokyo
zukuri (art of manufacturing)" with as little environmental
impact as possible throughout the product life cycle, andconsequently, our discussions were based on the conceptthat companies in various positions must cooperate to collect and manage data, and that data must flow not only fromupstream to downstream but also from downstream to
upstream. Also, we made sure that small and medium-sizedcompanies which accounted for a majority of midstream
companies could participate in that data exchange system
by reducing the prerequisite man-hours.

1. Introduction
LCA has spread widely to various industrial fields. Companies now carry out LCA when they externally announce
the environmental impact of their products or services using
Type-III Label such as the Eco-Leaf. Also, they internallyutilize it Design for Environment (DfE). In Japan, during the
LCA national project from FY1998 to FY2005, the LCA
method was developed, inventory databases were constructed, and the Japanese version of the environmental
impact assessment method was developed. In particular, alarge number of industrial associations cooperated in theconstruction of the JLCA-LCA database and it is now used
as an inventory database based on actual data.
However, it has been frequently pointed out that database
does not have enough comprehensiveness for conducting
LCA. Also, there have been issues where product design
companies at the downstream of a supply chain("downstream companies") meet challenges to obtain
detailed data from material and parts manufacturers at the
upstream of the supply chain ("upstream" or "midstream"
companies) although such detailed data are needed foradvanced DfE. Furthermore, there has been another issue
where upstream and midstream companies become entities
that simply provide data requested by downstream companies, and cannot obtain information on how the materials orparts that they manufactured are used in final products.
Therefore, their data have not been used in any effective
ways to contribute to enhancement of competitiveness suchas advertising their approaches to environmental issues.
In order to solve the issues described above, the LCA Promotion Committee established a working group to examine
the supply chain oriented LCA data exchange system working group ("WG") to discuss current issues and identify
future issues for advanced LCA within a supply chain. The
WG focused on identifying issues to be addressed insteadof establishing specific rules or formats.
This report describes the results of the WG discussion.

3. Overview of the Supply Chain Oriented LCA
Data Exchange System
Figure 1 shows the flow of data when a downstream company implements DfE and the system that is required forthat data flow. Ⅰ) The data exchange system supports dataexchange between companies in the same supply chain. Ⅱ)
The producer-specific data system supports the persons incharge in creation of individual product inventory data. Ⅲ)
The generic data system supports creation of data to bereleased as the representative values in an industry. The
data to be created and released by the generic data systemdescribed in Ⅲ) will be a developed version of the current
JLCA-LCA database.

2. Examination by WG
A total of 20 WG members, consisting of JLCA corporate
members and LCA researchers, continued the discussions
that were originally carried out by the preliminary working
group since 2007. The members were divided into theoperation examination team, producer-specific data examination team, and generic data examination team, and discussions among these teams were carried out concurrently.
The objective of WG was to establish a data exchangesystem that would realize advanced environmentally-friendly
design for downstream companies and that would allow
midstream and upstream companies to make improvementsin the environmental aspect and use these improvements toenhance competitiveness. For this purpose, upstream, midstream, and downstream companies must promote "mono1

Figure 1: Data flow in the supply chain oriented LCA data exchange system and the systems used in the program

The issues related to construction of each system identified as a result of discussion by each examination team are
as follows:of the comparison without following the proper procedure.
(3) Confidentiality
Establishment of a mechanism must be considered inorder to prevent data disclosure to any parties that are notdesignated as data recipients. Criteria and methods fordesignating data recipient parties must also be established.
For this, we must pay attention to how information technology is now developing and request information technology
professionals to construct an appropriate system. Furthermore, contingency plans for data leakage or misuse must be
established.

Ⅰ) Data exchange system
For the data exchange system, we discussed the creationof a guideline so that all participating companies would
follow the standardized guidelines when using this program.
The guideline must establish the following principals:(1) Data verification
As with the case of the LCA critical review establishedunder ISO14040, for the data to be distributed in this program, too, the necessity of third-party verification and its
procedure must be discussed. Verification is an effectivemeans to improve data reliability but data supply itself incurs
a cost. This may discourage medium-sized and small companies to participate in the program.

Ⅱ) Producer-speciﬁc data system
Inventory data that companies implementing LCA wish touse is created by companies in the supply chain. The
producer-specific data system needs to have functions thatallow these companies to easily create inventory data in astandardized format only by inputting internal information
following the data collection guideline. Issues to beaddressed when constructing this system are as follows:(2) Data supply guideline
Guideline for protecting data from being used for purposes
other than those specified must be established. For
example, the participating companies may experience profit
loss if downstream companies request price reduction for
products with low energy consumption or if companies use
obtained data to compare a particular product with a competitor's product and make a claim of some kind as a result(1) Process data collection method• System boundary
When creating inventory data, it is in general unclear theextent of data to be included as a unit process within thesystem boundary. In this program, since data of individual2

(3) Data consistency• Consistency with overseas data
In the current manufacturing industry, it is quite rare for a
supply chain to be closed domestically. Collaboration withoverseas companies must be brought into view. Multiple
data formats for inventory data have already been proposed
around the globe, and in order to consider the possibility ofcollaborating with overseas companies, it is necessary toinvestigate the data format and database development tendencies, secure consistency, and exchange opinions.

companies is used, a standardized guideline for the systemboundary is necessary. Otherwise, the data cannot be usedin business operations. The guideline therefore should propose what should be included in the system boundary andwhat should be excluded.
• Target environmental impact
The current JLCA-LCA database contains data on global
warming, acidification, and eutrophication, each having dataon the relevant 14 emission matters. However, sometimes,
data has not been collected for all 14 of these emission matters; therefore, it is difficult to carry out characterization. For
this reason, it is necessary to create a guideline to show forwhich elementary flow data collection is required and to
standardize the name of these flows while prioritizing theflows that can be handled by the system in each subject
environmental impact category. Note, however, in order tofacilitate program participation by medium-sized and small
companies, there has been an opinion that activities to disseminate the database should be implemented instead oftrying to include many pieces of data at the beginning of the
program operation. For example, data should be limited to
CO 2 or green house gases that are directly discharged
during the course of manufacturing processes.

• Establishment of a link with internal management data
Many companies are carrying out independent data collection activities in order to obtain LCA data. Therefore, repetitive data collection is difficult from both the cost and time
perspectives. For this reason, having the inventory data
linked with a budget control system, cost control system, ordesign parts list that is already used internally is believed tobe effective for continuous management and updating of theinventory data. Proposing multiple possible patterns forsuch functional linkage should facilitate the creation of
inventory data.
③Generic data system
As shown in Figure 1, obtaining all supply chain processdata from the producer-specific data system is not realistic,
and we believe there should be a database that can beshared as background data such as electricity, generalpurpose material, and general-purpose parts. The conventional JLCA-LCA database would be qualified as the database for this background data. Note, however, instead of
applying the conventional way in which each industrial association collects and calculates data from individual companies, it is desirable that the generic data system have afunction of converting individual company data into representative values easily such that the inventory data would
be kept updated. Also, this system will provide a newmechanism in which generic data can be provided throughinter-company voluntary activities beyond the framework ofindustrial associations. Issues regarding this system are as
follows:• Allocation
Many factories manage energy consumption for the entire
office or building, and they do not usually manage it for eachmanufacturing process of each type of product. To organize
such data for each product, the procedure for an allocationis required. Allocation is often based on the relationshipbetween the amount of product receipt and the amount of
product shipment for the entire factory. However, there arecases where it is difficult to establish an allocation procedure for each type of product especially when products withdifferent specifications are manufactured using the same
manufacturing process or when manufacturing of a particular type of product requires repetition of the same process.
It is necessary to support facilitation of data organization byclassifying the typical process data creation procedure.
• Collection of new product data
Since there is no actual inventory record for new products,
it is necessary to make an estimate. It is therefore necessary to examine the estimation method and display method.
For example, data may need a tag to indicate that it is an
estimated value or the data may need to be corrected basedon the actual record after a certain period of time.

(1) Generic data creation method• Data naming method
In the 1st LCA Project, data name standardization within
the industry was recommended. This worked as an advantage for data creators because they could use the terms thatwere commonly used in that industry; however, when LCA
implementing parties from other industrial fields were usingthat data, they may have had different terms for the data
having the same meaning. For this reason, it is necessary
to establish a standardized nomenclature guideline so thatdata will have names that can be used both domesticallyand internationally.

(2) Data distribution method• Format
ISO/TS 14048 is an international standard for data format,
but it seems too complicated to be practical. A detailed data
format allows a wide variety of analysis, but at the sametime, data supply becomes difficult. It is therefore necessary to understand the role of this program and to examineand propose a format that provides a good balance of being
detailed and ease of data supply.

• Data update system for upstream companies
Conventionally, an industrial association data takes into
account the environmental impact of use of public power or
includes the volume of emission caused by fuel combustion.
3

4. Dissemination of the Supply Chain Oriented
LCA Data Exchange System

Their values however vary with the fiscal year or depending
on data sources. It is therefore necessary to establish asystem that would make the generic data consistent andthat would correct the generic data as upstream company
data is updated.

This program requires a large number of users in the
supply chain due to its purpose. Therefore, measures todisseminate this program must be established as follows:(2) Quality and adequacy for use• Calculation and presentation of "reliability"
Although the current LCA data has reliability-related items,
it is not effectively used because the there are no clear indices or standards for objectively assessing data quality. It is
however necessary to show that the data is reliable suchthat it is interpreted appropriately. For this reason, it is necessary to examine the quantitative index or standard.

1) Incentive for using the systems
The inventory data must be validly recognized in B2B aswell as B2C transactions for the program to be disseminated. Therefore, a social system where low environmental
burden products will receive a premium in the market will act
as the strongest incentive for using the systems.
2) Benefit to upstream and midstream companies
By participating in the data exchange system, both
upstream and midstream companies can easily provide
data, and man-hours required for data supply are expected
to be dramatically reduced. This however will not motivatethem to actively provide data to downstream companies.
Meanwhile, if downstream companies provide data on
assembly, processing, use, and disposal of the target product to the upstream companies, upstream and midstream
companies can quantitatively assess the material, parts
function, and environmental improvement, and call attention
to the assessment result• Method of adequacy assessment when using the genericdata
When carrying out LCA regarding the use of copy paper(made 70% with recycled paper), there is an issue of whichdata to be selected from, for example, the choices of"paper", "communication or printing paper", "communication
paper", and "recycled high-quality paper (made 70% withrecycled paper)". Data that is considered to have highadequacy by the LCA implementer is used, but thisadequacy cannot be objectively assessed. For this reason,
it is necessary to establish a standard for assessing andpresenting data adequacy.

3) Dissemination of the program to medium-sized andsmall companies
Measures to disseminate the program to medium-sized
and small companies having relatively small management
resources include: designing and provision of as simple anproducer-specific data system as possible; and patient dissemination of the data creation method.

(3) Implementation of LCA• Estimation of data for upstream companies' unclear process
When there is no clear data for components of a particular
product to be assessed, the material structure of that part isfirst examined, and then, the inventory data for the identified
materials and data on the utilities required to process thesematerials are multiplied and accumulated. It is however difficult to estimate data for parts with an unclear material structure or manufacturing process, or for products that do nothave "parts" such as cutting oil and cleaning solutions. The
volume of individual data available is expected to be
extremely small when the system begins operation; therefore, the generic data is expected to prevent data exchange
from being discontinued. Establishment of a guideline
showing how to estimate the environmental impact of materials and processing as well as extensive upgrading of thegeneric database are desired.

4) Dissemination of the program overseas
International specialization is spreading in the manufacturing industry. For this data exchange system, too, systemdesigns taking into account overseas use and overseas dissemination activities will be important.

• Assessment when recycled materials are used or provided
The LCA method for products using recycled materials or
products providing their materials to other product systems
through recycling after being used was organized in the 2nd
LCA National Project. It is however necessary to further
examine how to handle these products with the new system.

45. Desired Effect of the Data exchange system

6. Conclusion

Figure 2 shows the desired effect of introduction of thisprogram. With active cooperation from industrial associations, the JLCA-LCA database now contains and discloses
typical inventory data such as material data. With this data,
product designers can assess particular products throughout their life cycle, and as a result, DfE has further developed. Note, however, this database contains informationthat should be treated as background data; therefore, eventhough procurement is environmentally-friendly (green procurement), changes in upstream companies will not be
incorporated in assessment of final products. This alsomeans that upstream and midstream companies are not
likely to be recognized even though their manufacturing isenvironmentally-friendly (green manufacturing). In this program, DfE activities of all the participating companies in the
supply chain are assessed, and these companies can therefore easily and quantitatively present their achievements.
They can also develop not only their internal process but
also green procurement with high reliability. Furthermore,by using this program as a tool to communicate with consumers, it is expected that environmental efficiency of subject products can be visualized in the market.

Study on the supply chain oriented LCA data exchangesystem has just started, and we are sure to encounter alarge number of issues before its implementation. Still, inthe situation where consideration for environmental issues
has high importance, we believe this program can be asocial infrastructure to provide industrial competitiveness.
We understand that many participants still feel very reluctant
to provide information externally, but we hope to establish
through discussions a framework that is beneficial to all participants and to lead the way to implementation through presentation of this framework.
For embodiment of this program, in the future, we need to
conduct demonstration experiments using simple caseexamples, check the desired effect, approach to and collaboration with overseas entities, and to examine how to distribute information on the concept of this program. We hopethat JLCA member companies will actively participate in thisprogram.
We would like to conclude this article by expressing ourappreciation to all WG members, especially the team leaders who chaired discussions and the office members who
work hard to coordinate all the activities.

Present

Future[Data exchange system][Material and parts manufacturers]
They are reluctant to disclose
data on their product processing. They disclose only typicalvalues in the industry.

Average company

Average company
Database

Non-environmentally- Environmentallyfriendly company
friendly company

Non-environmentally- Environmentallyfriendly company
friendly company

Inventory data(typical values
in the industry)

Inventory data(typical values
in the industry)

Material

Material

Data
exchange
system

Database
Average company

Non-environmentally- Environmentallyfriendly company
friendly company

Parts

Inventory data(typical values
in the industry)

Average company

Data submission isrequested. Parts
manufacturers are
confused because
different customers
have different
submission rules.

EnvironmentallyNon-environmentally- friendly company
friendly company[Designers]
They assess the material and parts using
the typical values. Because the typicalvalues are used, green procurement will not
influence the result.

Parts

Final product

Final product[Consumers]
They tend to pay attention to an easy-to-understand index such as power
consumption during product use. Not all products have high environmental
burdens during use.

[Material and parts
manufacturers]
Data can be easily
submitted. Also,
environmental
aspects of improvement of productfunctionality arehighly valued bycustomers.

[Designers]
Data with high reliability allows
effective DfE.

[Consumers]
Product environmental efficiency is "visualized" with high reliability.
Environmentally-friendly products become clear through their life cycle.

Environmental efficiency is unlikely to contribute to market competitiveness.

Environmental efficiency of the products is valued in the market

Figure 2: Desired effect of the data exchange system

5Case Example

Examination of Environmental Burden in Relation to the Plastic
Container and Package Recycling Method
Junichi Nakahashi
Manager, Engineering Development Department
Plastic Waste Management Institutehigher accuracy. The Committee then conducted environmental burden assessment based on LCA data of various
plastic container recycling methods. The Plastic Waste
Management Institute made a contribution as a secretariat
member.

1. Background
In Japan, 72% of waste plastic is now effectively used
including for the purpose of energy recovery. As for recycling of plastic containers and packages ("plastic containers", collectively), however, the commission price is highbecause material recyclers can preferentially win the contract when the Japan Containers and Packaging Recycling
Association invites recycling companies to bid for recycling
operations. Combined with the fact that the amount of plastic containers for recycling collected by local governments
is increasing, the commission price continues to increase.
For this reason, stakeholders have been discussing
whether or not material recycling should continue to beprioritized.

3. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Method
The assessment target was the plastic container recycling
methods currently in use. The system boundary included
the operations from inputting of baled plastic containers into
the recycling process to final processing of recycled products (landfill, incineration with residual dross landfill) via therecycling process.
The environmental burden reduction effect was shown as
the difference between the environmental burden of thesystem (recycling system) when recycling took place andthe environmental burden of the system (original system)
when recycling did not take place. Here, the recycling
system and the original system were designed such thatthey would have the same function (output). This assessment method is called the basket method. While recycling
generates an output (recycled product) in the recycling
system, the original system does not produce any output(recycled product). In order to fill this output gap, we added
a process to the original system to manufacture new products created from natural products in the recycling system(fossil resource and wood) that were considered equivalent
to recycled products. Also, since plastic containers waste
were consumed by recycling in the recycling system, we
assumed plastic containers were incinerated and converted
into CO2 and water in the original system.

2. Objective
Under these circumstances, the Plastic Waste Management Institute conducted life cycle assessment (LCA) to
examine the environmental burden of various plastic container recycling methods and eco efficiency thereof while
taking economic efficiency into account. As a result wereported that material recycling was not necessarily the bestsolution. Since many committee members commented at
the FY2006 Central Environmental Council meeting that theenvironmental burden of plastic container recycling methods
would have to be assessed, the Japan Containers andPackaging Recycling Association served as the secretariat
to organize the "Committee for Examining the Environmental Burden in Relation to the Plastic Container and Package
Recycling Method" with university professors and intellectuals from national research institutes as committee members
in order to conduct environmental burden assessment with

Recycling system
Recycling system
Bale input

Sorting

Fracturing and sortingby specific gravity

Recycled
product

Manufacturing(molding, and so on)Pallet(B pieces)a kg/piece

Incineration andland fill

Incineration and disposal* The number of pallets has been standardized as a practical unit.

Figure 1: Material recycling (one-way pallet)
Original system
Bale input

Resourcecollection

Incineration and land fill

Material manufacturing

Pallet(B pieces)b kg/piece

Manufacturing(molding, and so on)

Figure 2: Material recycling (one-way pallet)
6

Incineration and land fill

resource consumption reduction effect was the largest (30MJ per kg of recycled plastic container) when the life of aconcrete panel is set as 5 times longer than that of plywood.
This is due to the fact that the energy required to manufacture plywood which is a substitute for a concrete panel islarge and that the life of a concrete panel is set to be 5 times
longer than that of plywood resulting in assessment that theenergy required to manufacture a concrete panel is 1/5 ofwhat is required to manufacture plywood. In chemical recycling, the energy resource consumption reduction effect was
the smallest (approximately 15 MJ per kg of recycled plastic
container) when CO2, generated during gasification to produce ammonia raw materials, is discharged as it is without
being made into dry ice. There are in fact some cases
where CO2 is sold as dry ice as a result of the gasification,and in this case, the energy resource consumption reduction
effect is large (approximately 39 MJ per kg of recycled plastic container). Use of plastic as a chemical raw material forincineration by coke ovens produces about the same levelof energy resource consumption reduction effect. Although
the data on use of RPF and cement incineration which were
calculated based on assumed data instead of the actual
data still shows a relatively large energy resource consumption reduction effect (approximately 28 MJ per kg to 35 MJ
per kg of recycled plastic container).
In the same manner as the energy resource consumption
reduction effect, the CO2 reduction effect surrounded by thegreen lines is attributed to material recycling. The one surrounded by the red lines is attributed to chemical recycling,
and the one surrounded by the blue lines is attributed tothermal recycling (energy recovery). The tendency of theCO2 reduction effect is similar to that of the energy resource
consumption reduction effect. Although the use of plastic asa chemical raw material for incineration by coke ovens produced the largest energy resource consumption reduction
effect for chemical recycling, in the case of the CO 2 reduction effect, the largest effect (approximately 3.3 kg per kg ofrecycled plastic container) was observed when using cokeas a substitute for a recycled product obtained throughreduction in the blast furnace.

Particularly, in material recycling, the environmental burden
reduction effect largely relies on: use of recycled resins(shredded films/sheets or pallets) which are the recycled
products (one-way pallets, returnable pallets, plastic
plates Note 1) ; simulated substitutes (new resin pallets andwooden pallets); and the ratio of the life between a concrete
panel made with recycled resins and a concrete panel madeof plywood. Conventionally, in the eco efficiency analysis
conducted by the Plastic Waste Management Institute, aone-way pallet was used as the typical application of the
product recycled in material recycling and its environmental
burden was assessed using a new resin pallet as the substitute. In the present study, however, we used multiple applications and substitutes. Among all the recycled plastic container products that went through the material recycling
process, 35% of the material was used as pallets and 15%
was used as concrete panels. These two applications
accounted for 50% and it meant that a sufficient amount ofrecycled plastic container products were used as large-size
products.
Note 1: A plastic plate to substitute for plywood for a concrete formwork

Material for civilengineering andconstruction
Material forelectricity andfor communications

Gardensupplies

Industrial parts

Daily goods and other items

PalletBar, pile, andartificial tree

Recycled resin

Plastic plate

Figure 3: Breakdown of applications of products recycled in thematerial recycling process(based on the results from April toAugust, 2006)

4. Result of LCA of the Environmental Burden Reduction EffectFigure 4 shows the energy resource consumption reduction effect, and Figure 5 shows the CO2 reduction effect.
The energy resource consumption reduction effect surrounded by the green lines is attributed to material recycling.
In the same manner, the one surrounded by the red lines is
attributed to chemical recycling, and the one surrounded by
the blue lines is attributed to thermal recycling (energy
recovery). In material recycling, for both one-way andreturnable pallets, the energy resource consumption reduction effect is very small or almost zero in fact when wood isused as a substitute material. The figures show not only theaverage values but also the minimum and maximum values
due to the compositional variability of recycled plastic containers and the variability of treatment methods of residualdross discharged from material recycling. The energy
7Pallet (one-way, resin substitute)
Pallet (one-way, wood)
Pallet (returnable, resin substitute)
Pallet (returnable, wood substitute)
Concrete panel(life of the recycled plastic container board = 2.5 times longer than the plywood)

Concrete panel(life of the recycled plastic container board = 5 times longer than the plywood)

Oil production from plastic
Gasification (ammonia production)
Gasification (incineration)
Reduction in a blast furnace (coke substitute)
Reduction in a blast furnace (pulverized coal replacement)
Use of plastic as a chemical raw material in a blast furnace
RPF incineration
Cement incineration

Figure 4: Energy resource consumption reduction effect (in MJ per kg for recycled plastic containers)

Pallet (one-way, resin substitute)
Pallet (one-way, wood)
Pallet (returnable, resin substitute)
Pallet (returnable, wood substitute)
Concrete panel(life of the recycled plastic container board = 2.5 times longer than the plywood)

Concrete panel(life of the recycled plastic container board = 5 times longer than the plywood)

Oil production from plastic
Gasification (ammonia production)
Gasification (incineration)
Reduction in a blast furnace (coke substitute)
Reduction in a blast furnace (pulverized coal replacement)
Use of plastic as a chemical raw material in a blast furnace
RPF incineration
Cement incineration

Figure 5: CO2 reduction effect (in kg per kg for recycled plastic containers)

5. Conclusion and the Future Themethe necessity to prioritize material recycling in the bidding
described above.

As described above, among various plastic container recycling methods, material recycling was not any better thanother methods in terms of the energy resource consumption
reduction effect as well as the CO2 reduction effect. Therefore, at least from the environmental burden point of view,
there is no convincing reason why material recycling should
be given priority over other types of recycling in the bidding
for plastic container recycling operations. In the future, we
hope to publish as many "Examination of Environmental
Burden in Relation to the Plastic Container and Package
Recycling Method" results as possible so that we can promote them to be used as the basic data for discussions of8

Chairman's Award

Application of the System Product LCA "SI-LCA" to ProductDevelopment by the Hitachi Group
Takayuki Nishi
Information and Telecommunication Systems Group
Hitachi, Ltd.

1. Business Description of the Hitachi Groupsystem products such as traffic or city systems are some ofthe examples.

The Hitachi group manufactures and sells a wide variety of
products such as: electricity and industrial systems such as
power generators, digital media and consumer devices suchas plasma TVs; high-tech materials to be used in these consumer devices; information system solutions; financial services; and logistics services. The Information and Communication Group provides IT devices, such as servers,
storage, software, and services.

3. Approach to Environment-Friendliness throughthe Use of Information and Communication Devices
The Information and Telecommunication Systems Grouphas established the IT energy-saving plan5) as an approachto environment-friendliness through the use of hardware
products and will use its comprehensive capability to help
prevent global warming. More specifically, the group plans
to implement the CoolCenter506) to reduce CO2 emission by
50% in the next 5 years.

Software
Electronic devices

Financial services
Sales
10.2479 trillion yen

Electricity andindustrial systems

Water
deficiency

EnergyGlobal warming(CO2 reduction)

Food safety
Waste
processing

Logistics and related services
High-tech materials Digital media
and consumer devices

Environmental
issuesHuman rights
andlabor practiceComprehensive
capability
Social contribution by using strengths in various areas of Hitachi business operations[Business year ending March, 2007]

Information and communication area: reductionof CO2 emission through energy saving
Establishment of the IT energy-saving plan

Figure 1 Business description of the Hitachi group

2. Environmental Practice "Environmental Vision
2015"

Figure 3 Contribution to prevention of global warming
by implementing the IT energy-saving plan

The Hitachi group is promoting its environmental practicebased on Environmental Vision 2015 1) . The practice iscalled Green Compass (Figure 2) which is divided into fourareas that are "Eco-Mind and Global", "Next-Generation
Products & Services", "Super Eco-Factories & offices","Worldwide Environmental Partnerships".

Optimization of data center
operation environment
Low-power equipment
and system operation

High efficiency
air conditioners
Use of new energy
and natural energy

IT-linked
air-conditioning control

Applicationof virtual techniques

Cooling simulation
Provision of next-generation
products and services

Active information disclosure
Plasma TV
Active collaboration with stakeholders
Joint projects with stakeholders

Expansion of sustainable business models
Expansion of businesses that reduce
environmental burden

ServerRouter/ switch

Controlling of equipment/ inside the equipment, and rack

Hard disk Amorphous transformer
PDA operating on portable fuel cell Bifacial solar cell
Eco-consciousness and global
environmental management

Storage
System management
Operation
softwareand management

High efficiency
transformer / UPS
Air conditioning/ air current analysis

Building/ power supply equipment

Figure 4 CoolCenter50 project

4. Major examples of approach to reduction of
product environmental burden

Eco-Products Exhibition Environmental town meeting

Trilateral conference
Educational materialon the environment (China) for employees' family members
Sustainable factories and offices
Enhancement of management to promotesustainable corporate activities
Fostering of high eco-consciousness in
employees and their family members
Improvement of resource productivity,
and recycling of energy and resources

Our approach to the reduction of environmental burden ofindividual products such as servers is to use "Assessment
for Design for Environment", 7) which has been conductedsince 1999, and the "eco-efficiency index" 8) in order todevelop products with low environmental burden.
Meanwhile, we assess system, software, and service products ("System Products") based on "Assessment for Designfor Environment". At the same time, by using SI-LCA that
we developed in 2003, the effect of introduction of System
Products has been quantitatively assessed.
The following section provides a description of SI-LCA.

Figure 2 Hitachi group's environmental practice (Green Compass)

System Integration-LCA (SI-LCA) 2)-4) introduced in thisarticle relates to "Next-Generation Products & Services",
The objective of "Next-Generation Products & Services", isto create environment-friendly products and to become
environment-friendly through provision of social infrastructure products in order to contribute to establishment of asustainable society. Green procurement, provision of green
products that allow energy saving, saving energy of data
centers by implementing the IT energy-saving plan, andbecoming environment-friendly through the use of social

5. What is SI-LCA?
SI-LCA is a method to quantitatively assess the environmental burden in a System Product life cycle. While98. Relationship between the Eco-Efficiency Assessment Guideline and SI-LCA

introduction of System Products causes resource consumption for manufacturing of necessary PCs and servers andalso causes an increase in environmental burden due toenergy consumption during operation, there is an advantagethat resource consumption and traveling by people orobjects can be reduced. SI-LCA assesses these positive
and negative aspects in terms of the entire life cycle.
Negative effectPositive effectResource consumption due to
PC and server manufacturing
Energy consumption during operation

Reduction of travelingof people and objects
Reduction of resource consumption

SI-LCA: assessment of environmental burdenof life cycles of system, software, and service produc

DesignProcurement

Product use

Production

In March, 2006, the Japan Forum on Eco-Efficiency published the "Eco-Efficiency Assessment Guideline for Information and Communication Technology"9) providing a generalframework, rules, and requirements for assessment and comparative assessment of information and communication technology (ICT) environmental burden and environmental effect.
This guideline was created by the working group of 8 IT companies with Associate Professor Matsuno of the Graduate
School of the University of Tokyo, as the technical editor. The
stages to be assessed by SI-LCA and the assessment
method conform to this guideline. Furthermore, in February,
2007, the instruction manual for the guideline titled "Measuring IT Society in terms of the Environment" was written by
Associate Professor Matsuno and Professor Kondo ofWaseda University, and published by the Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry (JEMAI).

Recycling

Maintenance

Reduction of travelingfor the purpose of business trips

Electricity consumption

Figure 5 Basic concept of SI-LCA

6. Stages and Environmental burden to be Assessed
A total of 10 stages such as the "design and development","hardware product procurement", "product use", and "disposal and recycling" stages are assessed. Environmental
burden for these stages is assessed in terms of CO2.

Design and development
Software productFigure 8 Publication "Measuring IT Society in Terms of the Environment"

Supply chain (outgoing flow)

SpecificationMedia

Ver.UpShipment

9. Development of Eco-Products by the Hitachi
Group

MaintenanceSupportProcurement(Material manufacturing andproduct manufacturing)Transportation(distribution)

Installation

The Hitachi group provides certificates for eco-products
and super eco-products. System products are also eligible
for these certificates. As shown in Figure 9, the "Assessment for Design for Environment" created by the Hitachigroup is used as the criteria for the eco-products certificate.
The products that meet the specified criteria will be certified.
Super eco-products are the products that are eco-products
and that meet at least one of the following conditions:①The global warming prevention factor8) of the product is 10 or higher.
②The resource factor8) of the product is 10 or higher.
③The product is the leading product in the industry.
④The product has been highly recognized by third parties.

On-site work

Hardware product
Recycling
Product use

Environmental burden (CO2)Transportation(collection)
Recycling chain (incoming flow)

Disposal and recycling
Processing(landfill or incineration)

Figure 6 Stages to be Assessed by SI-LCA

7. SI-LCA Program
Figure 7 shows an input interface and an example ofassessment result.

Super ecoproductSelect a stage
Environmental burden generated
by service providers

Expansion

Environmental burden generated
by service recipients

Input interface (for the product use stage)

Eco-product

Reference productProduct to be assessed

CO2 emission
in the productuse stage

Reference productProduct to be assessed

CO2 emission
for all life
cycle stages

Expansion

Super eco-productA product that meets the business strategy and also meetsat least one of the following conditions:①The global warming prevention factorof the product is 10 or higher.
②The resource factor of the product is 10 or higher.
③The product is the leading product in the industry.
④The product has been highly recognized by third parties.
Goal for FY2010: 30%

Eco-product
The product that meets the specified conditions
as a result of design for environment assessment
Goal for FY2010: 100%
*Information and communication systems,
digital media products, and consumer products

Figure 9 Criteria and goals for green and super eco-products

The Hitachi group plans to make its products 100% green products, and of which, 30% will be super eco-products by FY2010.

Assessment result

Figure 7 Input interface and an example of assessment result of SI-LCA
10

Product use stage only

10. Assessment for Design for Environment for
System Products
Figure 10 shows a part of the assessment for Design forEnvironment for System Products. Products are assessedin 9 categories containing a total of 64 items, and areassessed when they are first proposed and when the product is complete. Each item is assessed using a scale of 1 to
5, with the reference point of 2. When the average point is 2
or higher in each category and the overall average point is 3
or higher as a result of assessment at the time of completion, the product is certified as a eco-product.
Note, however, since this assessment method cannot
quantitatively assess the level of environmental burden
reduction attributed to introduction of System Products,
SI-LCA is used to quantitatively measure CO2 emission.

Entire life cycle

Overall average pointat the time of completion (B)SI-LCA is used for quantitative measurement of the environmental burden reduction effect.

Figure 10 Assessment for Design for Environment for System Products (partial image)

11. SI-LCA Case Examples
This section introduces 2 SI-LCA case examples.
(1) Assessment of an electronic form system "ReportMission"
Figure 11 shows business models at a supermarket inTokyo, before and after introduction of the electronic form
system.
Traditionally, this supermarket printed out 48 million sheetsof information materials each year and distributed them to
its hubs, but this form system made 90% of them available
for viewing by storing them in a server while the remaining
10%, which is 4.8 million sheets, is still printed out and distributed.
The amount of paper used and transportation using vehicles
were greatly reduced by the use of the electronic form
system, and as a result, as shown in Figure 12, CO2 emission was reduced by 82% (82.5% in the product use stage).

Transportation

Number of applications made: 63,000 per year

Reduction of form printout (1/10)
Stored in server and available for viewing
Reference

Automatic forwarding
Automatic sortingnecessary to make an application:
Resident Time
2 hours per application

Use of PC: 15 minutes
per application
Time necessary:

Electronic
reception

Use of PC Power consumption by PC(1.5 sheets/application)

Processing 5perminutes
application

Reception

Use of a car (50%)

Internet

Before system introduction
After system introduction

Storage and expiry date management,
Sorting at the hub and viewing

Automatic storage and management

Consumption 94,500 sheets per year

Application of paper
form

Energy consumption due
to reception and processing(lighting and air-conditioning)

Power consumption by devices

Application system devices

Application 15 minutes

Servers (24/7 operation)

per application

Figure 13 Business models before and after introductionof the electronic application system

Entire life cycle

After introduction

Use of trains or buses: 50%(not assessed)
Use of a car

Burden on the Internet infrastructure

48 million sheets per year

Printout on paper and use
All carried out manuallyService provider

Service recipients

Product use stage only

Sorting at the center

Reduction by 82%
Before and after the introduction(2) Electronic application system
Figure 13 shows business models at an administrative
agency, before and after introduction of the electronic application system.
People traditionally visited the administrative agency tomake applications, but the introduction of the electronic
application system enabled them to use their PC to makevarious types of applications from their home or office.
Although this caused an increase of electricity consumption
by PCs and servers, traveling by cars, trains, or buses, andalso, use of paper application sheets were no longer necessary. Figure 14 shows the result of the effect of system
introduction for the 5 years after introduction assuming that
63,000 applications were made each year. The result indicates that CO 2 emission can be reduced by 82% (85% in
the product use stage).

Assessment in 9 categories, 64 items
Green product criteria

Printout(mascot of the green PR activities ofthe Hitachi Software Engineering company)

Before the introduction of ReportMissi

Figure 12 Comparison of assessment results between before
and after introduction of the electronic form system

Average assessment pointin each category (A)Before introduction

Reduction by 82.5%
Before and after the introduction

Econogurin

Design for environment assessment for system, software, and service products (partial image)At the time of completion:㈰ The average point is 2 or higher in each category (A)㈪ The overall average point is 3 or higher (B)Before the introduction of ReportMissi

Electronic form server

Electronic form client
Printout: 4.8 million sheets per year
Server registration: 43.2 million sheets per year
Reduction of "printout," "sorting," and "transportation" operations, and energy consumption by the server*ReportMission is a trademark of Hitachi Software Engineering, Co., Ltd.

Work involved in application procedure
Use of a car

Reduction by 85%
Electricity

train

Factors that increase theenvironmental burden
Increase in power
consumption by the servers
Consumption of power suchas lighting andair-conditioning during theapplication procedure
Factors that decrease theenvironmental burden
Decrease in the use of cars
and trains
Decrease in the amount of
paper used

Use

Reduction by 82%

Figure 14 Comparison of assessment results before and after
introduction of the electronic application system

Figure 11 Business models before and after introduction of the electronic form system
11

Reference
1) Hitachi Group CSR Report 2007
http://www.hitachi.co.jp/csr/download/index.html
2) Y. Hamatsuka, T. Nishi, M. Tani, and M. Usumi. Development and Examination of Case Examples of Service Products Environmental Impact Assessment Method SI-LCA.
Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Japan, Vol2, No.3, July,
2006, pp. 281-287.
3) M. Usumi, M. Takano, T. Nishi, and H. Sugai. Environmental Impact Assessment of Integrated Information Management System. 2006 Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on EcoBalance, pp. 95-98.
4) Case Example "Application of LCA to System Products
within the Hitachi Group" Japan LCA Forum News, Vol. 42(February, 2007).
http://202.214.40.151/lcaforum/forumnews.cfm5) Hitachi News Release "Approach to Environmental
Issues through Reduction of Power Consumption by Major
IT Products"
http://www.hitachi.co.jp/New/cnews/month/2007/11/1105.html
6) Hitachi News Release: "Establishment of the Data Center
Energy-Saving Promotion Organization on October 1st"
http://www.hitachi.co.jp/New/cnews/month/2007/09/0927d.html
7) O. Namikawa, M. Hirano, and Tamura. Design for Environment and Development of a Comprehensive EcoEfficiency Assessment Tool in the Hitachi Group. Collectionof Papers for Eco Design 2004 Japan Symposium, pp.
86-87 (2004).
8) Hitachi Products and the Global Environment Studied inTerms of the Factor X.
http://greenweb.hitachi.co.jp/pdf/facterx07_403p.pdf
9) Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry. FY2005 Eco-Efficiency Assessment Guideline for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) (2006).
http://www.jemai.or.jp/japaese/ecoefficiency/ict.cfm

12. Internal Introduction of SI-LCA
Environment-friendliness of System Products must beplanned in an early stage of the system design and creation
phase. Therefore, we have been working on the following toallow the designers, developers, and SEs within the Hitachigroup to conduct assessment for Design for Environment
and SI-LCA.
① Promotion of assessment, horizontal expansion of theassessment method, and creation of an assessment plan
through introduction of assessment case examples at thecommittee consisting of members who are in charge ofenvironment-related operations from Hitachi offices andrelated companies② Assessment training using the actual product as asample③ Support for assessment activities and improvement of theassessment tool by the research institute

Training on SI-LCA(Hitachi Software Engineering)

Environment-related educational program(operating divisions)Figure 15 Training on SI-LCA and design for environment

13. Conclusion
We believe that expectation for the reduction of the environmental burden as a result of introduction of System Products will increase in the future. Therefore, we plan toexpand the provision of System Products that can contributeto the reduction of the environmental burden.
For this, while working on expansion of the use of SI-LCA
across the group, we plan to conduct assessment jointlywith our clients to understand the environmental burden
reduction effect, and incorporate the result of the assessment into product development and the system use method
so that the environmental burden reduction effect can befurther enhanced. Meanwhile, as we are required to reduce
the environmental burden in all product areas as global
warming is increasing, we plan to expand the application of
SI-LCA to social systems.

12

Report

Issues in LCA in the Concrete Industry
Yoshitaka Ishikawa
Senior researcher
Chigasaki R&D Center Electric Power Development Co., Ltd.
1. Introduction
In JLCA NEWS LETTERS NO.5(English Edition, July2008), I focused on concrete, which is an important building
material for structures, and has been used effectively aswell as in a large volume, and examined the overall material
flow of a concrete structure including manufacturing, building, servicing and demolition in order to understand thecharacteristics of the concrete material in terms of LCA.
The most serious issue there was that, in concrete structure demolition and recycling, although the current recycling
rate of concrete from demolished structures was statisticallyhigh at 98%, the majority of it is reused as roadbed material
and is rarely used as a material for new concrete production. In other words, compared to materials such as iron, it
was difficult to recycle concrete material.
Therefore, continuing on from my article in JLCA NEWSLETTERS NO.5, I review some of the research reports anddiscuss recyclability of concrete such that concrete produced when concrete structures are demolished may bereused as a material for new concrete.

High quality

Aggregate standard

Concrete standard

JIS A 5021
(Recycled Aggregate H)

JIS A 5308 (ready-mixed concrete)

Appendix A
Medium quality (Recycled Aggregate M)

JIS A 5022 (concrete using Recycled Aggregate M)

Appendix A(Recycled Aggregate L)

JIS A 5023 (concrete using Recycled Aggregate L)

Low quality

Table 1: Recycled aggregate described under JIS

To improve recycled aggregate quality, it is required toreduce the amount of mortar remaining on the aggregate
and as a result of this, obtain recycled aggregate with highdensity and a low water absorption rate by increasingphases of removing mortar or by improving the grinding processing. The amount of energy necessary for this, however,increases as shown in Figure 1. Therefore, the basic CO2
emission unit largely differs with the quality level of therecycled aggregate thus obtained.
Also, manufacturing recycled aggregate means productionof fine by-product powder from mortar on the aggregate,
and the amount of this fine powder produced increases dramatically as the grinding process becomes more sophisticated. In this article, I refer to recycled aggregate produced
from concrete blocks obtained after concrete structure
demolition as well as concrete made with recycled fine
powder as "recycled concrete" regardless of the quality ofrecycled aggregate.

2. Demolition of Concrete Structures and Recycled
Aggregate
Recycled aggregate can be produced by first demolishingconcrete structures, sorting and collecting concrete blocks,
and by crushing and grinding them. The mortar of the original concrete on the aggregate is then removed. Recently,
multiple recycled aggregate manufacturing methods havebeen proposed.
As manufacturing of recycled aggregate has become acommon practice, JIS concerning recycled aggregate has
been established. Table 1 shows how recycled aggregate isrecognized under JIS. High quality recycled aggregate
having the same quality level as natural aggregate isdefined as Recycled Aggregate H to be used in concrete.
Recycled Aggregate H has its own aggregate standard
since, according to JIS A 5308 (ready-mixed concrete)
Appendix 1, it is intended to be used as concrete aggregate
in the same manner as crushed stone, crushed sand,gravel, and sand.
Meanwhile, Recycled Aggregate M of the average quality
level and Recycled Aggregate L of the low quality level are
not included in JIS A 5308. As shown in Table 1, each ofthem is used to make concrete of its own kind; therefore,
they have independent standards1).

Coarseaggregate

Fine
aggregate

CementConcrete production
Differences in recycled
aggregate production
method result in different
outputted material andquality.

Recycled concrete
Recycled aggregate(coarse)The more highty-treated
we try to manufacture
recycled aggregate,
the more we incraeseenviroumental burden.

Demolition of structures

Grinding/advanced
processing

Roadbed andbackfilling material

recycled concrete

Recycled fine
powderRecycled aggregate(fine)

Figure 1: Flow of recycled concrete production

13

3. Method of Recycled Concrete Production andEnvironmental Impact/Burden

Cement production(without using fine powder)

Cement raw
material

This section uses currently studied and reported recycledconcrete production methods as examples to compare andreview their environmental impact/burden assessment methods.

Cement production
CementCase A: use fine by-product powder as a cement raw material
Case B: use fine by-product powder as a cement admixture

Cement raw
material

3.1 LCA for recycled concrete production by the
eccentric rotor mill method

Environmental burden reduction:
E-E’The eccentric rotor mill method refers to a recycled aggregate production method that uses equipment having amechanism to remove mortar from the aggregate by applying a repeated compaction force.
The literature2) compares Case A (30% of concrete blocks
becomes recycled coarse aggregate and 70% is used as
roadbed material / backfilling material / recycled sand) andCase B (30% of concrete blocks becomes recycled coarse
aggregate and 70% is used as cement clinker raw material).
It has been reported that CO 2 emission at the time ofrecycled aggregate production is [3.7 kg-CO2 per ton of concrete block].
In this study report, they considered the possibility of
replacing up to 10% of one of the cement raw materials
which is limestone with recycled material, but 100% replacement is difficult. The material quantity reduction effect due
to the replacement is subject to LCA, but the CO2 reduction
effect in cement production has not been assessed.

Demolition site

CementTransportation fine powder 0.35 tons

Ready-mixed
Transportation Collection ofTransportation
concretehigh quality
Concrete blocks aggregate Recycled coarse aggregate 0.35 tons
factory
Recycled fine aggregate 0.35 tons

Environmental burden reduction:
non-use of virgin aggregate

Transportation
Stone-crushing factory(coarse aggregate) Virgin coarse aggregate 0.35 tons
Stone-crushing factory(fine aggregate)

Transportation

Ready-mixed
concretefactory

Virgin fine aggregate 0.35 tons

Figure 2: Heat-rubbing method and its LCA3)

3.3 LCA when directly using concrete blocks without producing recycled aggregate
Sections 3.1 and 3.2 described the methods of establishinga recycling flow for concrete by producing recycled aggregate from concrete blocks obtained from demolished concrete structures. As shown in Figure 3, however, there havebeen studies and reports on a method of using concrete
blocks as they are without spending any energy on them. It
is difficult to apply this method to concrete in high-strength
structures, but it is effective with relatively low-strength concrete such as artificial ground. This method aims to achievea dramatic environmental burden reduction effect by using alarge amount of additives such as blast-furnace fine powder
and fly ash. According to a case example of construction
work using this method, concrete blocks could be used at asite where a Coal-fired power station was reconstructed.
This led to minimization of the amount of energy necessary
for transportation. As a result, the CO 2 emission wasreported to be reduced by approximately 60% as comparedto the originally predicted emission in the construction workwhere purchase of ready-mixed concrete in town wasplanned4).

3.2 LCA for recycled concrete production by theheating and rubbing method
The heating and rubbing method refers to a recycled
aggregate production method in which concrete blocks areheated to about 300℃ and ground down by friction when
their attached cement paste becomes weakened such that
Recycled Aggregate H having the same quality level as
natural aggregate can be obtained.
In the literature3), as shown in Figure 2, LCA is conducted
for production of Recycled Aggregate H and use of its fineby-product powder as cement raw material or cement
admixture. Only production of recycled aggregate, the environmental burden of production of recycled aggregate by
the heating and rubbing method is [41.5 kg-CO2 per ton of
concrete block], much higher than the environmental burden
generated by the eccentric rotor method. Note, however, it
is possible to dramatically reduce CO2 emission at the timeof cement production by using the fine by-product powder,which is generated when recycled aggregate is produced,
as cement admixture. In fact, it has been found that theoverall environmental burden can be reduced as low as[-217.3 kg-CO2 per ton of concrete block]. When a cement
mortar experiment was carried out using an actual cement
mill to produce cement containing approximately 5% �recycled fine powder, cement having the same physicalproperty as regular cement was obtained. Therefore, theheating and rubbing effect can be an effective method interms of recycled aggregate LCA in the future.

14

Iron mill

Cool-fired power station

Blast-furnace slag

Fly ash (raw powder)

Portland Cement

Classifier

Blast-furnace slag fine powder

Fry ash (JIS ash)
Ready-mixed concrete
factory

Portland Cement

Fryl ash (course powder)

Blast-furnace cement
Old structure

Mixing plant

Demolition andcrushing

New structure

Fly ash concrete

Industrial waste
Concrete foundation(concrete for building
structures)

Concrete blocks from demolished structure
Mixing and casting

Pile

Artificial ground
Roadbed material
Bearing ground

Bearing groundFigure 3: Schematic diagram of directly using concrete blocks

4. Conclusion
As described in the previous article, the ideal concrete
industry has a closed input (material and manufacturing)and output (demolition, disposal, and recycling) system, but
in reality, it is quite difficult to return the outputted material tothe input position.
In this article, I examined the existing study reports on currently used recycled aggregate manufacturing methods inorder to examine the possibility of solving the abovementioned LCA-related issues. We then discussed environmental impact assessment of these manufacturing methods.
Environmental burdens associated with demolition of concrete structures and producing recycled aggregate fromconcrete blocks increases as the processing of recycled
aggregate becomes more sophisticated. When the difference of CO2 emission caused by recycled aggregate production is focused on, the heating and rubbing method generates 10 times as much CO 2 as the eccentric rotor millmethod. But when the scope of LCA is expanded to cover
the effective use of recycled fine powder in cement production and if the environmental impact reduction effect attributed to this effective powder use is taken into account, theoverall environmental burdens can be dramatically reduced.
Also, using concrete blocks from demolished structures
without spending any energy on them can be one of themeasures of contributing to the reduction of environmental
burdens.
In the future, I believe we can find solutions to the issues
described above by improving concrete recycling technologies and by expanding the system boundary setting of LCA
for the concrete and cement industry so that assessment
will be linked with production activities of other industrial
fields.

References
1) Takafumi Noguchi, Akio Koyama, and Yasunori Suzuki:
JIS Standard for Recycled Aggregate and Recycled Aggregate Concrete. Concrete Journal, Vol. 45, No. 7 (2007), pp.
5-12.
2) Kunio Yanagihashi: Environmental Burdens and Economic Efficiency of Manufacturing of Recycled Aggregate for
Use in Concrete. Construction Material, Vol. 13, No.1
(2004), pp. 38-45.
3) Hirokazu Shima, Hisashi Tateyashiki, Kouichi Hashimoto,and Yusuke Nishimura: (Life Cycle Assesment of High Quality Aggregate Recovery from Demolished Concrete withHeating and Rubbing Method). (Proceedings Japan Concrete Institute), Vol. 23, No.2 (2001), pp. 67-72.
4) Yoshitaka Ishikawa, Takai Sakurai, Hiroshi Kimura, andYoshiyuki Sakazume: (Manufacturing of very Low-grade
Concrete Using Demolished Concrete Debris and Industrial
By-products for the Purpose of Minimizing the Enviroumental Load). Concrete Journal, Vol. 45, No. 8 (2007), pp.
16-24.

15

Information
Eco-products International Fair 2009
March 19- 22, 2009
Manila, PHILIPPINES

APO
http://www.apo-tokyo.org/index.htm

Third International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in Latin America, CILCA 2009
April 27- 29, 2009
Santiago, CHILE

Chilean Research Center for Mining and Metallurgy
http://www.cilca2009.cl/web/index.php

16th CIRP International Conference on Life Cycle Engineering (LCE 2009)
May 4- 6, 2009
Cairo, Egypt

The Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS)
http://www.uwindsor.ca/lce2009

SETAC Europe 19th Annual Meeting World under stress: scientific and applied issues.
May 31- June 4, 2009
Göteborg, SWEDEN

SETAC
http://goteborg.setac.eu/?contentid=45

2009 ISIE Conference
June 21- 24, 2009
Lisbon, PORTUGAL

ISIE
http://www.isie2009.com/index.php

The 23rd National Congress for Environmental Studies
July 9- 11, 2009
Okinawa, JAPANThe Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
http://www.env-jsme.com/eng/index.html

LCM 2009
September 6- 9, 2009
Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA

Univ. of Cape Town / Pre Consultants
http://www.lcm2009.org/

Life Cycle Assessment IX
September 29- October 2, 2009
Boston, USA

American Center for Life Cycle Assessment
http://www.lcacenter.org/

Sustainable Innovation 09
October 26- 27, 2009
Farnham, UK

The Centre for Sustainable Design
http://www.cfsd.org.uk/events/tspd14/index.html

3rd International Conference on Eco-Efficiency Modelling and Evaluation for Sustainability: Guiding Eco-Innovation
November 18- 20, 2009
Egmond aan Zee, the NETHERLANDS

CML, Leiden University
http://www.eco-efficiency-conf.org/

SETAC North America 30th Annual Meeting
November 19- 23, 2009
New Orleans, USA

SETAC
http://neworleans.setac.org/

EcoDesign2009
December 7- 9, 2009
Sapporo, JAPANthe Union of EcoDesigners and AIST, Japan,
http://www.mstc.or.jp/imf/ed/

Planning & Information Sub-Committee:
Dr. Norihiro Itsubo
Musashi Institute of Technology
United Nations University
Mr. Kiyoshi Ueno
Mr. Yasuhiko Morita
The Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association
Chiba Institute of Technology
Dr. Kiyoshi Shibata
Mr. Junichi Nakahashi Asahi Kasei Corporation
Plastic Waste Management Institute
Mr. Hajime Nishihara
Editor's AddressLife Cycle Assessment Society of Japan (JLCA)LCA Development Office, JEMAI(Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry)
2-1, Kajicho 2-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-0044
tel: +81-3-5209-7708 fax: +81-3-5209-7716
E-mail: lca-project@jemai.or.jp
http://www.jemai.or.jp/english/
16