IE Day 2024 - LCAs: Useful policymaking tool or laborious academic method?

IE Day 2024 - LCAs: Useful policymaking tool or laborious academic method?
The session was a part of the International Industrial Ecology Day 2024 (November 21) - the 4th IE Day organized by the International Society for Industrial Ecology (ISIE).
𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫: ISIE Policy Section [proposed] (Corresponding organizer: Ella Jennings)
𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: ISIE Policy Section [proposed]
𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧/𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞: New Haven, USA (11am - 12pm)
𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭:
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology used for the environmental assessment of products. LCA studies can reveal the best environmental options by embracing and comparing the full extent and complexity of product life cycles. LCAs are commonly employed in the industrial ecology academic space. However, for policymaking, concerns such as applicability, ease of use, cost, and stakeholder interests are key. So, when it comes to enacting real change through policymaking, are LCAs the best tool for the job?
Join the newly proposed ISIE Policy section as we host Nicole Portley and Scott DeFife to debate this question in the context of using LCAs in extended producer responsibility (EPR) policies. Nicole Portley, from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, is responsible for integrating LCAs in Oregon’s new EPR system for packaging. Conversely, Scott DeFife is the President of the U.S. Glass Recycling Institute and a vigorous opponent of using LCA in EPR. With two completely opposing views, we anticipate a lively and interesting debate. Which side will win you over?
The proposed Policy Section plans to join the other established ISIE subject sections to provide a smaller community within which ideas are exchanged, and collaborations are formed. The aims of the section are to:
1. Enhance the policy impact of industrial ecology
2. Promote policy research in industrial ecology.
𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬:
Speakers:
Stijn Van Ewijk, Chair of ISIE Policy Section - University College London, London, UK
Reid Lifset, Board member ISIE Policy Section - Yale University, New Haven, USA
Nicole Portley, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality - Oregon, USA
Scott DeFife, President of the U.S. Glass Recycling Institute, Washington D.C, USA