Extending the lifetime of products through reuse or repair is essential for reducing products’ environmental impacts. To guide companies and policy makers to implement product lifetime extension, potential benefits and drawbacks can be assessed with methods such as life cycle assessment (LCA). In her doctoral thesis, Adeline Jerome develops knowledge about selecting methods as well as choosing methodology that is relevant to the assessment goal.
What challenges do you focus on in your research?
"My research focuses on how to assess the environmental benefits and drawbacks of extending the lifetime of products through, for instance, reuse, repair or remanufacturing. Several methods are used today, such as circularity indicators and life cycle assessment. But since the circular economy is still relatively new, there is limited knowledge to support practitioners who wish to use these methods, regarding which method to choose and what methodological choices to make for the results to align with the assessment goal. Developing such knowledge is crucial for ensuring that the intended benefits of circular strategies are materialised."
How do you address the problem?
"With my research, I developed knowledge about two environmental assessment methods, namely circularity indicators and life cycle assessment (LCA), and about LCA methodology for assessing lifetime extension. I compared indicators and LCA in studies of circular cases and identified their differences, as well as the product lifetime as a crucial variable for the results. This led me to investigate and define different ways of modelling product lifetime in LCA. Finally, I used these different modelling approaches in several cases and compared the results."
What are the main findings?
"First of all, it stresses the importance of avoiding short product lifetimes. After having repaired a product, a certain additional lifetime is needed to ensure that the repair is environmentally beneficial. For assessment practitioners, the findings rather concern methodology. It is important that the goal of the assessment guides the choice of method. Circularity indicators and LCA provide different types of information: the former on variations in material and energy flows, the latter on environmental impacts. And since there are several ways of modelling product lifetime in LCA, one should choose the one that is suitable for answering the question at hand."
What do you hope your research will lead to?
"I hope that these results will support practitioners in selecting an method and methodology that fits their specific goal and thus foster informed decisions to implement lifetime extension to reduce the environmental impact of products."
Read the thesis: Environmental assessment of lifetime extension strategies
Public defence: 28 February 2025 at 13.15, see link above.
- Associate Professor, Environmental Systems Analysis, Environmental and Energy Sciences