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In this chapter we explore the need and opportunities to make the life cycle assessment (LCA) team more relevant for the business. Sustainability trends and alternatives for LCA are analyzed to identify what makes them relevant for and appealing to business managers, the diffi culties LCA practitioners face to get their message across have been identifi ed, and a fi ve-step approach to make the LCA team a business partner will be described. The goal is to empower LCA teams and practitioners to create sustainable value for the business they work in.

Technologies such as blockchain, big data, and the Internet of Things provide new opportunities for improving and scaling up the collection of life cycle inventory (LCI) data. Unfortunately, not all new technologies are adopted, which means that their potential is not fully exploited. The objective of this case study is to show how technological innovations can contribute to the collection of data and the calculation of carbon footprints at a mass scale, but also that technology alone is not sufficient. Social innovation is needed in order to seize the opportunities that these new technologies can provide. The result of the case study is real-life, large-scale data collected from the entire Dutch dairy sector and the calculation of each individual farm’s carbon footprint. To achieve this, it was important to (1) identify how members of a community can contribute, (2) link their activities to the value it brings them, and (3) consider how to balance effort and result. The case study brought forward two key success factors in order to achieve this: (1) make it easy to integrate data collection in farmers’ daily work, and (2) show the benefits so that farmers are motivated to participate. The pragmatic approach described in the case study can also be applied to other situations in order to accelerate the adoption of new technologies, with the goal to improve data collection at scale and the availability of high-quality data.

Indonesia introduced new policies, like PROPER, that require companies to develop LCA capacity. Currently, LCA expertise is still developing. Therefore, the question arises how the development of LCA expertise and a growth of LCA Practitioners can be achieved. In this article learnings and key success factors from global best practices are identified and illustrated based on case studies. The key success factors are 1) harmonization and guidance, 2) capacity building, 3) focus on business value and 4) ease of use. These Key Success Factors can give Indonesia and its LCA practitioners a head start in implementing and embedding LCA in policy implementation and compliance by private companies. Developing a program that provides the following six elements a) Introduction to LCA training, b) Training for managers and policy makers, c) Learning by doing with screening LCAs, d) Facilitate easy to use tools, e) Develop Product Category Rules (PCR) and f) Create a label or other verified report/certificate can accelerate the development of LCA expertise and the implementation of LCA practices.

Life Cycle Assessment experts are working on environmental assessments with both feet on the ground and faced every day with challenges around data quality, allocation and other challenging topics. But what's the perspective of the people that are the audience of the results: "How do they look at LCA?" The objective of this session was to show the value LCA has for people outside the LCA Community that are not as familiar with the topic as the Experts. Sanjeevan Bajaj (FICCI), Namy Espinoza-Orias (Nestlé), Pawin Boonyaporn (Advanced Biochemical), Jens-Christian Holst (Siemens) and Aubin Roy (AvniR) shared their experiences.