Technology Aperitif "Life Cycle Assessment of Materials"
23.03.10- 23 March 2010, EPFL, Lausanne - Organised in partnership with Quantis
The presentation brochure (PDF) is available here.
Date & Time
Tuesday 23 March 2010
16:30-20:00
Location
EPFL - Room CO017
Invitation to participate
The aims of the CCMX Technology Aperitifs are:
- Provide information on hot materials science related topics in industry’s fields of interests
- Stimulate creativity for future applications
- Create contacts for potential partnerships
- Provide a pleasant networking environment
This event is organised in partnership with Quantis, a company that provides conscientious businesses and governments worldwide with tools, guidance and knowledge for achieving sustainability by mastering their life cycle and reducing their environmental impacts.
Registration
On-line registration is available here.
Participation in the event is free of charge but registration is mandatory to participate.
The deadline for registration is Friday, 19 March 2010.
Programme
From 16:30 | Registration |
17:00 | Introduction & welcome by |
17:05 | Analysis of the Life Cycle: how to quantify impact on the environment by Yves Loerincik (CEO Quantis) |
17:25 | Eco-Design - Integrating environmental constraints into product design by Dimitri Caudrelier (Analyst Quantis) |
17:45 | Life Cycle Assessment - a strategic tool to meet the Nestlé Environmental Sustainability Commitment by Lars Lundquist (Packaging Environmental Sustainability Expert, Nestlé) |
18:05 | Life Cycle Assessment of Advanced Materials by Rainer Zah (Leader of Group Life Cycle Assessment & Modelling, Empa) |
18:25 | Health and Environmental Impact of Nanomaterials – challenges and benefits of scientific cross-talk and collaboration by Michael Riediker (Leader Groupe Particules et Santé, Institut universitaire romand de Santé au Travail) |
18:45 | REACH: The main principals of the regulations and their implications for Switzerland by Erwan Saouter (CEO Science & Environnement sarl) |
19:05 | Apero & networking |
Abstracts of talks
Analysis of the Life Cycle: how to quantify impact on the environment by Yves Loerincik (CEO Quantis)
Quantis is an EPFL spin-off specialized in the quantification of environmental impacts of products, activities or companies using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The participants of the event will discover how this methodology helps build a strategy towards environment, how it introduces environmental considerations into product conception and how to manage strategic risks and communicate them.
Eco-Design - Integrating environmental constraints into product design by Dimitri Caudrelier (Analyst Quantis)
Eco-design consists of integrating environmental constraints into product design. It is based on considering the product function instead of the product itself, and seeing beyond the product by designing its life cycle. Through the example of a boat designed for racing around the world, some tools for eco-design will be presented, and you will understand how eco-design can improve your product and the choice of materials you make.
Life Cycle Assessment - a strategic tool to meet the Nestlé Environmental Sustainability Commitment by Lars Lundquist (Packaging Environmental Sustainability Expert at Nestlé)
Sustainability means adopting practices that help Nestlé meet the needs of the present without compromising the world’s ability to meet the needs of the future. Life Cycle Assessment is a strategic tool to meet the Nestlé Environmental Sustainability Commitment. The requirements for integrating life cycle assessment as a systematic decision support tool in the innovation and renovation process in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Sector will be presented as well as food packaging Eco-Design using PIQET (Packaging Impact Quick Evaluation Tool). The scientific progress within Life Cycle Assessment will be balanced with the need for common industry sector rules to facilitate communication throughout the supply chain and reduce complexity, cost and confusion.
Life Cycle Assessment of Advanced Materials by Rainer Zah (leader of Group Life Cycle Assessment & Modelling, Empa)
The presentation will start with an overview of Life Cycle Assessment at Empa and will include an introduction of the ecoinvent center. The main findings of three recent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) projects will be presented: LCA of Li-ion-Batteries, LCA of Thin Film-Photovoltaics and LCA of natural fibre composites.
Health and Environmental Impact of Nanomaterials – challenges and benefits of scientific cross-talk and collaboration by Michael Riediker (Leader Groupe Particules et Santé, Institut universitaire romand de Santé au Travail)
Nanotechnologies allow the engineering of nanomaterials with novel properties. These properties can be beneficial for novel technical and medical applications but they can also generate novel health and environmental challenges. For example, the ability of nanoparticles to roam freely in the human body is great for medical applications, but less desirable if particles accidentally get into the human body or are released in the environment. Thus, such basic characteristic seem to be a common denominator for fields such as pharmacology, toxicology and ecology, fate modelling and more. A lot of collaborations between these fields were consequently expected to take place but, while there is a lot of talk about working together, there is still surprisingly little cross-talk between disciplines. This presentation will show the approaches used within NanoImpactNet, the obstacles encountered and the strategies applied to tackle them.
REACH: The main principals of the regulations and their implications for Switzerland by Erwan Saouter (CEO Science & Environnement sarl)
The REACH European Regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) covers the control of production, of importation, of marketing and of using chemical substances. The most dangerous chemicals will either be subject to authorization or simply not marketed anymore. Swiss firms that will not have anticipated this regulation risk to be denied access to the European market. Though the number of dismissed substances is difficult to forecast at this stage, risk does exist. It is also well possible that Switzerland decides to apply the REACH regulation. A decision should be made this spring.