Application of Life Cycle Thinking tools for the promotion of the Circular Economy

In the last two centuries we have overexploited our natural resources, making them increasingly scarce and difficult to obtain. Therefore, the fourth industrial revolution is representing a disruptive change in technological development; development that must go hand in hand with a decoupling between economic growth and the consumption of natural resources. This last aspect is providing opportunities to create new business models, break into new markets and generate quality jobs in the field of the Circular Economy. In the circular model, the value of products and materials is maintained for as long as possible in the value chain, the extraction of raw materials is reduced to a minimum and resources are repeatedly reintroduced into the production cycle. In short, it represents a change from “extract, produce, use and throw away” to “rethink, redesign, reduce, reuse, repair, remanufacture, recycle and recover” and, ultimately, “do more with less.”

The transformation towards a more sustainable circular business requires information on the inputs and outputs of the systems, the measurement of their impacts, data management and data exchange across the value chain.

How can we quantify this? How can we evaluate and communicate the impacts? Through the concept, importance and implementation of Life Cycle Thinking (LCT), the evaluation of the environmental, economic and social aspects of the product-service is covered and the quantification is carried out following the ISO14040 standard, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). ). This training aims to provide the people who participate with knowledge and use of tools such as LCT and LCA, as well as design tools with impact calculations, since they are crucial when establishing a circular economy, because they take into account the positive impacts and negative aspects of the entire life cycle.

This micro-credential is aligned with European policies derived from the European Green Deal, interconnected with Industry 4.0, the strategy of our region and as such a priority is increasingly integrated into the strategic sectors of the Basque Country.

Learning outcomes and type of achievement

At the end of this training, the student will be able to:

• Understand and explain the modifications implied by the transition from a linear to a circular economy.
• Recognize the opportunity that circular solutions represent to business in different sectors, as well as to propose them.
• Understand the current environmental problems associated with products and services.
• Define the concept of Life Cycle and identifies the phases of the life cycle of a product or service.
• Describe the fundamentals and regulations of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
• Know and apply evaluation methodologies and software tools for the life cycle analysis of products and services and environmental footprint of organizations.
• Interpret LCA results and proposes alternatives to reduce negative impacts.

Access prerequisites and admission criteria

Preference will be given to professionals in the field of Business-Economy and Engineering with experience providing services in strategic sectors for the circular economy (automotive, transport equipment, electrical and electronic equipment, machine tools, metal, chemical, construction). , agroforestry, finance and environmental services subsector, among others).

For admission to training, 1) professional experience and training (CV) and 2) motivation to take the microcredential (letter) will be taken into account.

It is advisable that people who take it complement this micro-credential with the one titled “APPLICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT TOOLS TO PROMOTE THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY”

Required age: between 25 and 65 years old.