Assessing Dominant Environmental Considerations in Manufacturing

The requirement to meet net-zero targets at both corporate and national levels has highlighted the need to understand the dominant CO2 drivers when designing a product. There are generally three phases included within a life-cycle assessment of a product: production, use, and end-of-life. End-of-life is a focus for circular economy advocates, looking at product recycling, refabrication, or reuse. The use phase drives efficiency of the product during its proposed life, related to consumables and power input. Production, which is the focus of this article, considers environmental impacts related to manufacturing processes.