Environmental impact of a led fitting : A conducted life cycle analysis on a led fitting

Abstract: Purpose –The purpose of this research is to increase knowledge about how a led fitting impacts the environment. To be able to fulfil the purpose, it has been broken down into four research questions: • RQ1: What is the environmental impact during transportation? • RQ2: What is the environmental impact during the use phase? • RQ3: What is the environmental impact during the end of life phase? • RQ4: How can the environmental impact be decreased? Method: The authors worked abductive in the relation between theories and empirical data. The authors conducted a case study at a Swedish company in Jönköping. The case study covers a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). The LCA includes four different stages; goal, scope & boundary definition, life-cycle inventory analysis, life cycle impact assessment and interpretation. During the stages the authors carried out a pre study, interview, document study and calculations. To find out more information about the problem area a literature study was conducted. Theoretical material was received from books, peer review articles and reports. The literature study and the case study increased the authors knowledge to answer the research questions. Findings: The research findings indicate that transportation, Use- and end of life phase impact the environment in different amounts of greenhouse gases (CO2e). The transportation from production to customer stands for 0,16 kg CO2e, the use phase for 15,6 kg CO2e and end of life for 0,5 kg CO2e. The environmental impact can be decreased if companies both deal with the issue to make products more sustainable during the entire life cycle. The transportation’s environmental impact can be decreased through reduction of CO2 emission, which is the dominated greenhouse gases during road freight transportation. The use phase environmental impact can be decreased if adapting a more efficient consumption system. Another way to minimize the environmental impact is to offer and implement maintenance and repairing. The end of life environmental impact can be decreased by recycling or reuse the materials. Another way to lower the impact is to have a holistic perspective when choosing material. Lastly the impact can be decreased if companies, already in the design stage to think about the products last phase. Implications: The practical implications in this study is the case study. The case study contributed with knowledge about the environmental impact of a led fitting. The study has not contributed with any new theories. The study is based on a problem statement with already amount of existing theories and developed tools to calculate the environmental impact. Even if the study did not contribute theoretically, it strengthens already existing theories or statement from other researchers. Limitations: The research ability to generalize can be questioned since the research was limited to a single case study. This can affect the generalizability of the result. Keywords – Sustainability, Environmental impact, LCA, led fitting, Life cycle, use phase, end of life phase, transportation, Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)