CI RP seminar on life cycle engineering Copenhagen, Denmark May 2003 Engineering for sustainable development - an obligatory skill of the future engineer CIRP Copenhagen 2003 Secretariat – IPL, DTU, building 424, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark Tel.: (+45) 45 25 46 60 - e-mail: cm@ipl.dtu.dk - www.cirpcopenhagen2003.dk Merging LCC into LCA – the example of Polish mining industry Joanna Kulczycka (Ph.D.), Małgorzata Gralczyk (M.Sc.), Karol Koneczny Polish Academy of Sciences, Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute ul. Wybickiego 7, 31-261 Krakow, Poland kulczycka@min-pan.krakow.pl, goralczyk@min-pan.krakow.pl, koneczny@min-pan.krakow.pl ABSTRACT : M ERGI NG LCC I NTO LCA – THE EXAMPLE OF P OLI SH MI NI NG I NDUSTRY The main purpose of LCA is to identify and quantify environmental impact of goods and services during their entire life cycle. However, since LCA doesnt consider financial matters, the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) technique should be implemented to encompass all aspects of the project. LCC is defined as the total costs estimated to be incurred during the design, development, production, operation, maintenance, support and final disposal of a system over its anticipated useful life span. LCC consists of an inventory and analysis of the economic implications of the environmental impact of a given product or service. Decision-makers can reasonably expect that implementation of LCA and LCC will lead not only to minimisation of environmental impact of their activities, but also to more effective environmental, cost and waste management. This means savings through reducing the amount of waste emissions and decrease of fees and fines in consequence. Combination of LCA and LCC described in the paper will allow the decision making process to become more efficient, demonstrating the connection between the activity and devastation of the environment. Keywords: LCA, LCC, mining. Polish mining industry Polish mining industry is facing challenges regarding environmental protection and competitiveness improvement. Ecological guidelines concern elimination of harmful solution and effective resource management, which form the basis for sustainable development. For underground mining production in Poland the main environmental problem include solid wastes disposal, mining water release as well as dust and gas emissions. The introduction of a minerals industry policy in 1989, which focused on sustainable development, resulted in the introduction of high fees and fines for environmental pollution. Since these charges became a significant cost factor in the industry, many companies started to invest in more environment friendly solutions. Consequently, the emissions to air and water have declined extensively. Moreover, following the Polish economic reform, energy prices increased, causing the pressure on the reduction of energy consumption in the mining industry. The technological changes, which were necessary from an economic point of view, influenced environmental impact. As a result some mining and processing companies started to apply for ISO 14001 certificate (e.g. Cedynia Copper Wire Mill), and to evaluate the influence on the environment according to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) principles. Life Cycle Assessment - LCA The main purpose of LCA is to identify and quantify environmental impact of goods and services during their entire life cycle. Therefore LCA can be applied to assess the impact on environment of mining production and will allow mining companies to make better decisions regarding the environmental protection. LCA provides the means for the mining industry to assess and locate the points in the whole production, use and disposal process that carry the main environmental load. The basic analysis of Life Cycle Inventory for the Polish mining industry indicates that the highest