IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute

The climate impacts of data traffic have historically been the least studied part of the information and communication technology sector, and there is currently no consensus on how to correctly assess it. Results show that eight key challenges exist.

The material flows for end-of-life (EOL) lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in Europe are analysed for the years 2022, 2026, and 2030 and the facility location is optimized for select hydrometallurgical material recovery technologies. It details the growing significance of EOL LIBs as a source for new battery materials, projecting an increase in volumes through 2030. The report is divided into two parts:

Mapping (Part 1): This section involves converting battery scrap, new cells, and black mass into cell-weight equivalents for comparison in material flow analysis. It utilizes Sankey charts and geographical maps to display the significant increase in both the number of actors and the aggregated volumes in 2022, 2026, and 2030.

Optimization (Part 2): This part focuses on optimizing the network setup for material recovery facilities, aiming to minimize costs and CO2 emissions. The study evaluates processing capacities and the impact of different network setups on monetary costs and CO2 emissions. The potential savings from optimization are highlighted, with the study indicating significant monetary and environmental benefits if data is properly leveraged.

The report underscores the potential for substantial monetary and environmental savings through effective optimization and utilization of available data in the management of EOL lithium-ion batteries in the EU region.

Activities that require a permit in Sweden account for a significant part of the environmental impact that jeopardizes the fulfilment of the 16 Swedish National Environmental Quality Objectives (EQOs) set up by the Swedish Parliament. In this study we investigate how the EQOs are perceived as a management tool in the Swedish Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, mainly based on interviews.

We have identified several limitations associated with the use of EQOs in EIAs as an effective management tool towards sustainability. These limitations include that the EQOs have a subordinate significance compared with other aspects in the EIA process and that EQOs represent different concepts of sustainability. Furthermore, EQOs have low validity and are set as national objectives, hence separated from the operational level of EIAs.

A significant proportion of environmental pressures leading to failure to achieve the EQOs are related to permit requiring activities, hence EIA and the permitting process can be important policy instruments to achieve the Swedish EQOs.

Integrating EQOs better into EIAs may facilitate handling of synergies, inconsistencies, and trade-offs between environmental and sectoral objectives. Furthermore, driving forces of environmental problems may be targeted more directly.

However, in order for the Swedish EQOs to have a larger impact in the permitting process, the EQO system may need to be adapted, and may also need to be complemented with binding standards or legal norms. Furthermore, clearer guidelines regarding issues to focus on, and necessary templates and documentation may be useful tools to facilitate the process even further.

Klimatförändringarna innebär stora utmaningar för samhället. Hur stora effekterna blir berorbåde på omfattningen av det förändrade klimatet men också på förmågan att anpassa samhällettill dessa förändringar. I det arbetet har kommunerna en central roll eftersom de ansvarar föratt genomföra konkreta åtgärder som minskar samhällets sårbarhet. De flesta kommunerna som har svarat på årets enkät (160 av 180) uppger att de arbetar med klimatanpassning. Men det är stor skillnad på hur långt kommunerna har kommit visar undersökningen.

Den uppvärmning som har orsakats av mänskliga utsläpp fram till idag kommer att hålla i sig i tusentals år och fortsätta orsaka förändringar i klimatsystemet. SMHI har i ett flertal studier visat att Sverige redan har blivit varmare och mer nederbördsrikt och att temperaturen kommer att stiga mer i Sverige och Skandinavien än det globala genomsnittet. Mer nederbörd ökar risken för översvämning och kan även leda till ras, skred och erosion genom försämrad markstabilitet. Andra effekter av ett förändrat klimat är förändrad mark- och luftfuktighet, förändrad snömängd, värmeböljor, torka och ökad brandrisk. Hur stora effekterna blir beror på klimatförändringarnas omfattning men också på samhällets förmåga att anpassa sig till dessa förändringar.

Food production and consumption significantly contribute to climate change. The public sector, which procures large quantities of food, has a crucial role in steering toward more sustainable food systems. More empirical studies involving practitioners are called for to understand the complexity of sustainable public food procurement. This study examines how actors interpret and implement sustainability in food procurement, as well as their influence on this process. A comprehensive analysis of multi-actor collaboration and stakeholder engagement involving interviews with key actors such as procurement officers, wholesalers, chefs, and food producers is presented. Findings highlight a consensus on the need for sustainability measures, such as purchasing local and organic products. The results showcase the potential transformation of power dynamics within the supply chain in response to modifications in procurement standards toward local produce and the overuse of product-specific criteria. However, assuming that local is invariably sustainable carries the risk of falling into the “local trap” when the consequence of procuring local varies and requires further investigation. The influence of system-level factors, including market dynamics and regulatory frameworks, plays a significant role in implementing sustainable procurement, as well as alignment and coordination in the supply chain.

In Sweden, we consume 15kg of textiles per capita and year. Of this roughly 8kg are incinerated and 3kg are reused by charity organisations. The remaining 4kg either accumulates (e.g. in a closet or wardrobe) or are handled through other means of waste management (e.g. recycling centres). This way of waste management is not optimal from an environmental point of view. The textile waste flows are small by weight but large by environmental impact. The production of virgin textiles give rise to about 15 kg of carbon dioxide per kg textile and uses large amount of water; energy and chemicals and poses a risk both for the environment and human health.Policies and measures to reduce the consumption of virgin textile are needed. Hindrances for a more sustainable textile waste management are primarily economical: The environmental cost is not incorporated in the production of virgin textiles which is one of the reasons that they are cheap compared to reused and recycled textiles. They are also produced in low cost countries while collection for reuse by nature occurs in Sweden where labour is more expensive. Recycling of textiles is not due to economic reasons performed on a large scale in Sweden today. There is a need to optimise the formal reuse of textiles from an environmental point of view, either with policy or voluntary agreements. Policies in this area must however be designed not to reduce informal reuse to achieve a higher environmental benefit. New cost efficient methods for textile recycling needs to be developed to enable high grade recycling of textiles not suitable for reuse. New textiles should be designed for reuse and/or recycling depending on their expected life time (aesthetic; technical) while conventional materials to a large extent needs to be replaced by more sustainable materials.

This report presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) case study of a mobile phone. The work is part of the POLICIA project where the overarching goal is to combine LCA and an economic-based model (POLICA CE model) into an integrated assessment. The aim of this model is to identify market failures and quantify policy effects of efficient combinations along the entire life cycle.

The objective of the phone case study work is to enable the impact assessment of the LCA, to be incorporated into the POLICIA CE-model, so that environmental impacts of policies can be directly modelled and optimised. To achieve this, linear and circular variants of products were assessed to identify the components and life cycle stages that influence the environmental impact.  

The materials and part production stages of the life cycle contribute most to the environmental impact, for all studied impact categories. Specifically, it is the integrated circuit and other electronic components that contribute most. This is turn implies that circular business models aimed at prolonging life or decreasing use of these components can provide the largest impact reductions. 

Vägledningens syfte är underlätta för företag som äger, utvecklar och förvaltar fastigheter att ta sig an andras klimatpåverkan där de själva har en roll och kan påverka. Dessa benämns i GHG-protokollet som scope 3. Vägledningen stöttar bostadsföretag att göra kloka prioriteringar i klimatarbetet, både gällande åtgärder och rapportering, men även skapa förståelse för hela värdekedjans klimatpåverkan och lägga grunden för vetenskapliga klimatmål. Det finns redan en motsvarande vägledning för scope 1 och 2, denna fokuserar på scope 3.

Det brukar sägas att ungefär en femtedel av Sveriges klimatpåverkan är kopplad till bygg och fastighetssektorn. Klimatpåverkan uppstår både när vi bygger, utvecklar, förvaltar och brukar våra fastigheter. GHG-protokollet delar in ett företags klimatpåverkan i scope 1 (direkta utsläpp), scope 2 (indirekta utsläpp från inköpt energi) samt scope 3 (övriga indirekta utsläpp i värdekedjan). Scope 3 delas upp i femton olika kategorier och omfattar bland annat inköpta varor och tjänster, tjänsteresor, användning av sålda produkter och nedströms uthyrda tillgångar. 

Det är inte alla scope 3 kategorier som är relevanta för ett bostadsföretag. Att på egen hand avgöra vilka utsläpp som är relevanta att rapportera kan vara en svår och tidskrävande uppgift. Därför har IVL i samverkan med branschen och med GHG-protokollets kriterier som grund gjort en generell bedömning av olika kategoriers relevans för bostadsföretag i Sverige i fyra nivåer (ingen relevans, låg, medium och hög). Kategorierna 3.1 Inköpta varor och tjänster (underhåll och stora inköp), 3.2 Kapitalvaror (ROT och nybyggnation) samt 3.13 Nedströms uthyrda tillgångar (boendes klimatpåverkan) har bedömts ha högst relevans. Det har även tagits fram detaljerade beskrivningar för omfattning, beräkningsmetoder och datakällor för identifierade klimatposter för att underlätta rapportering och uppföljning.

Den primära målgruppen är bostadsföretag och redovisningskonsulter som stöttar dessa med beräkningar och rapportering. Det som gäller specifikt för bostäder i denna vägledning är att brukarna är boende och inte verksamheter. I övrigt är alla rekommendationer och riktlinjer användbara för hela fastighetssektorn. 

Möbelfakta is a sustainability label for furniture with regard to quality, environment and responsible supply chains. It is the leading labeling system for public procurement of furniture in Sweden and thus has a major impact on the sustainability requirements set within the public sector.In this report, we look at the importance of increased sustainability requirements from the outside world and future opportunities in digitization to create circular flows for furniture and exemplify how the furniture industry can meet this through the development of Möbelfakta's criteria.

In the short term, Möbelfakta needs to deal with upcoming EU legislation regarding due diligence for human rights, the environment and society. It needs to be linked to market players' digital product catalogs and developed to put greater focus on circular processes. In order to establish more circular processes in the furniture industry, product information needs to accompany a product throughout its entire life cycle. The key to achieving this is digital information management to be able to create traceability when products change hands, are refurbished or become waste.In the medium term, Möbelfakta needs to embrace the various initiatives for the EU's green initiative. There, the digital product passport today appears to be the most important initiative in the broadening of the EU Ecodesign directive.

It is important that Möbelfakta is one of the labels that can be used for furniture according to the EU's new taxonomy. The Substantiating Green Claims initiative is also directly relevant, while the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) still lacks a direct connection to furniture. Here it looks like the development going forward continues to be the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for reporting climate performance.In the longer term, a global harmonization of the requirements for quality and the environment should be sought by e.g. taking into account the lifetime of products and hazards instead of prohibition lists. This can be done through dialogue with procuring authorities where the benefits should lie in more companies being able to meet requirements that are relevant to procurement and thereby increasing competition in the market. Since there are many stakeholders, this happens continuously in several steps in the short to long term.We also see a need for industry collaboration to establish a common standard for digital traceability. The major challenge for the industry is the many configurations that can be made on each product. This leads to the need for standardization of digital product information and the first step is to gather the furniture producers to make a joint decision about which way the industry should go.

It will be important for the furniture industry to find the party in the industry who can lead and control the initial work of gathering the furniture producers.Of equal importance to the industry is that Möbelfakta's criteria can be used as a verification in public procurement. This means that an environmental label must be able to show that products or services in the label meet requirements set by an independent third party, that the requirements are constantly tightened and that they develop from a life cycle perspective. To meet this, a criteria council has been established for Möbelfakta.

This report presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) case study of a motorboat. The work is part of the POLICIA project where the overarching goal is to combine LCA and an economic-based model (POLICA CE model) into an integrated assessment. The aim of this model is to identify market failures and quantify policy effects of efficient combinations along the entire life cycle.

The objective of the motorboat case study work is to enable the impact assessment of the LCA, to be incorporated into the POLICIA CE-model, so that environmental impacts of policies can be directly modelled and optimised. To achieve this, linear and circular variants of products were assessed to identify the key factors and life cycle stages that influence the environmental impact.  

It was found that the use phase dominated the linear version of the life cycle for all studied impact categories, due to the use of fossil fuels and anti-fouling paint. It is shown that circular business models aimed at boat electrification can provide the largest impact reductions. Whilst fossil fuels remain the primary source of boat propulsion, prolonging the boat’s life, or focussing on recycling of boat materials, will not provide a significant reduction in environmental impact. This is because the use phase and its associated pollution of water and air dominates the boat’s life cycle.