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Editorial

LCA in Canada

Editorial
Life Cycle Assessment in Canada
Steven B. Young
SB Young / Environment and Business Program, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, 154 Glasgow Street, Guelph,
Ontario, N1H 4W8, Canada (sby@sbyoung.com; http://www.scientificjournals.com/sj/php/sjAutorenProfil.php?AutorenId=1515)

In Canada LCA is enjoying something of a renaissance.This is
being led on two fronts: by government agencies seeking more
integrated systems approaches to evaluating and managing environmental issues; and by academics who have found that LCA
occupies an intellectual territory rich in theory, methodology,
data and application. Both these trends are expected to encourage greater use of life-cycle approaches in industry. Before discussing presentday activities, it is worth considering some of
the historical highlights in evolution of the tool in Canada, albeit from a personal point of view. Thanks are given to those
who contributed; apologies are offered to any individuals, organizations or projects that may have been overlooked.
LCA studies were first initiated by major companies and industrial groups in Canada's resource economy. Thealuminum,
plastics, wood, steel, other metals and paper industries were
also players in the early 1990s, resulting in a number of studies and marketing publications, sometimes as part of broad
USA-Canadian efforts. In 1991, Alcan Aluminium Ltd. was
part of a jointly conducted LCI on the North American
aluminum beverage can. The study established a detailed baseline of environmentalperformance in aluminum production,
can manufacturing, can filling, recycling and disposal. Steven
POMPER was a significant force in these early days and subsequently contributing landmark SETAC work in the area. Canadian polymer manufacturers, through the industry's Environment and Plastics Industry Council, contributed significantly to the 1991 North American LCI of the seven commodity resins, ScottCHUBBS from Dofasco steel company contributed to efforts in that industry in Canada and across North
America, and is now General Manager, Sustainability at the
International Iron and Steel Institute. In 1995, the Canada
Wood Council published Environmental Effects of Building
Materials, and continues today to be active in life-cycle, greenhouse gas and sustainable buildings materialsconsiderations.
Also concerning the forest sector was a study of the production of a daily newspaper and a weekly magazine was completed in 1998 by an international group of companies Canfor
Corporation, a major forest, wood and pulp firm (www.canfor.
com/resources/4000/lca.pdf and www.temap.com//temap/
pubs.html). The company has continued to use life-cycle approaches in greenhouse gas and otherstudies.
At universities, Martin HOCKING at University of British
Columbia (Hocking 1991) sparked public interest in the field.
Some of the first concerted effort was initiated in the early
1990's at University of Toronto by Steven B. YOUNG on his
PhD studies (Young & Vanderburg 1994, Young 1996).
In light of studies in the private sector, and given a policy
interest in LCA, on packaging and solidwaste, standardization efforts were initiated by the Canadian Standards Asso-

ciation about. Following a couple years of expert meetings,
in 1994 the first environmental management standard on
LCA was published, Z760 Life Cycle Assessment, under the
oversight of Ahmad HUSSEINI. Subsequent documents included Z810 Life Cycle Impact Assessment: Pulp and Paper
Production Phase, and thestreamlined LCA method guide
PLUS 1115: Life Cycle Review. Canadian experts went on
to play strong roles in the ISO 14040 series development.
The Canadian federal government's earliest contributions
to LCA were associated with packaging and solid waste considerations of the early 1990's. The Canadian Council of
Ministers of the Environment released Environmental Profiles: Guidelines to Help...