How to overcome barriers limiting LCA adoption? The role of a collaborative and multi-stakeholder approach

Purpose Companies meet hindrances and difficulties in adopting life cycle assessment (LCA) as a way to identify and assess the environmental aspects of their products and services. Collaborative approaches that are able to involve companies, researchers, trade associations, and other stakeholders can support the organizations in overcoming the LCA barriers by developing common resources. So, the research goal is to demonstrate how the developed collaborative approach enhances the adoption of LCA and product environmental footprint (PEF) in small and medium organizations. The paper presents the results achieved by 15 organizations, operating within five different supply chains, where the collaborative approach was tested. Method The research method we followed in our research is the "action research," focused on the so called "engaged scholarship." Action research is based on a strong cooperation between researchers and practitioners belonging to the organizations involved. It relies on extensive interaction in order to solve a specific problem and generate new knowledge. Results and discussion A cooperative approach was designed and proposed to five supply chains (foundry, furniture, two food chains, and catering services) and in particular to 15 Italian companies that adopted LCA and PEF to improve their environmental performance. Each supply chain tested and internalized the proposed collaborative approach: In partnership with trade associations and researchers, companies participated in training initiatives, contributed to the development of PEF Category Rules, measured the environmental footprint of their products, and adopted improvement actions. Thanks to the action-research experience, all the involved companies achieved environmental improvements such as energy saving and emissions reduction, which demonstrates how the collaborative approach to LCA is effective in terms of footprint reduction. Conclusion The research shows how the proposed collaborative approach can be effective for overcoming the lack of resources and knowledge in LCA adoption. The five supply chains, and 15 organizations involved, had the chance of experimenting "in field" how the LCA can improve both their competitiveness and their environmental performance. The research findings also contribute to the stakeholder engagement theory.