Land use impacts on biodiversity in LCA: a global approach

Purpose

Land use is a main driver of global biodiversity loss and its environmental relevance is widely recognized in research on life cycle assessment (LCA). The inherent spatial heterogeneity of biodiversity and its non-uniform response to land use requires a regionalized assessment, whereas many LCA applications with globally distributed value chains require a global scale. This paper presents a first approach to quantify land use impacts on biodiversity across different world regions and highlights uncertainties and research needs.

Methods

The study is based on the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) land use assessment framework and focuses on occupation impacts, quantified as a biodiversity damage potential (BDP). Species richness of different land use types was compared to a (semi-)natural regional reference situation to calculate relative changes in species richness. Data on multiple species groups were derived from a global quantitative literature review and national biodiversity monitoring data from Switzerland. Differences across land use types, biogeographic regions (i.e., biomes), species groups and data source were statistically analyzed. For a data subset from the biome (sub-)tropical moist broadleaf forest, different species-based biodiversity indicators were calculated and the results compared.

Results and discussion

An overall negative land use impact was found for all analyzed land use types, but results varied considerably. Different land use impacts across biogeographic regions and taxonomic groups explained some of the variability. The choice of indicator also strongly influenced the results. Relative species richness was less sensitive to land use than indicators that considered similarity of species of the reference and the land use situation. Possible sources of uncertainty, such as choice of indicators and taxonomic groups, land use classification and regionalization are critically discussed and further improvements are suggested. Data on land use impacts were very unevenly distributed across the globe and considerable knowledge gaps on cause–effect chains remain.

Conclusions

The presented approach allows for a first rough quantification of land use impact on biodiversity in LCA on a global scale. As biodiversity is inherently heterogeneous and data availability is limited, uncertainty of the results is considerable. The presented characterization factors for BDP can approximate land use impacts on biodiversity in LCA studies that are not intended to directly support decision-making on land management practices. For such studies, more detailed and site-dependent assessments are required. To assess overall land use impacts, transformation impacts should additionally be quantified. Therefore, more accurate and regionalized data on regeneration times of ecosystems are needed.     

Land use impacts on biodiversity in LCA: proposal of characterization factors based on functional diversity

Purpose

The focus of land use modeling in life cycle impact assessment has been mainly on taxonomic measures of biodiversity, namely species richness (SR). However, increasing availability of trait data for species has led to the use of functional diversity (FD) as a promising metric to reflect the distinctiveness of species; this paper proposes the use of an FD index to calculate characterization factors (CFs) for land use impacts. Furthermore, we compare the results of the CFs to current practice and assess the increase in complexity introduced by the use of the new indicator.

Methods

The model proposed is based on data compiled by previous regional meta-analysis on SR and FD, in different land use types in the Americas. The taxonomic groups included were mammals, birds, and plants. Within each study, calculated values for FD for different land use types were compared with the natural or close-to-natural state, taken as the reference situation. FD values among different land uses were standardized, and CFs were calculated. The final results were then analyzed and compared by analysis of variance and post hoc tests. A sensitivity analysis was also applied to verify the influence on the choice of the reference state.

Results and discussion

The results show that significant differences exist between CFs for SR and FD metrics. Across all taxa, CFs differ significantly between land use types. The results support the use of CF for FD, as a complement to current practice. Distinct CFs should be applied for at least six groups of land use categories. The choice of reference land use type did not significantly alter the results but can be a source of variability. A sensitivity analysis evaluating the impact of alternate land use types as reference types found only few significant changes on the results.

Conclusions and recommendations

Given the results, we believe the use of CFs based on FD can help on the establishment of possible links between species loss and key ecosystem functions, i.e., on the association between the midpoint indicator (e.g., biodiversity loss) and the damage caused to ecosystem quality, in terms of functions lost. Basing CFs on FD is not without challenges. Such indices are data hungry (requiring species composition and traits) require more complex calculations than current common practice, including decisions on the choice of a method to calculate FD and the selection of traits.     

Global characterisation factors to assess land use impacts on biotic production

Purpose

The inclusion of land-use activities in life cycle assessment (LCA) has been subject to much debate in the LCA community. Despite the recent methodological developments in this area, the impacts of land occupation and transformation on its long-term ability to produce biomass (referred to here as biotic production potential [BPP]) — an important endpoint for the Area of Protection (AoP) Natural Resources — have been largely excluded from LCAs partly due to the lack of life cycle impact assessment methods.

Materials and methods

Several possible methods/indicators for BPP associated with biomass, carbon balance, soil erosion, salinisation, energy, soil biota and soil organic matter (SOM) were evaluated. The latter indicator was considered the most appropriate for LCA, and characterisation factors for eight land use types at the climate region level were developed.

Results and discussion

Most of the indicators assessed address land-use impacts satisfactorily for land uses that include biotic production of some kind (agriculture or silviculture). However, some fail to address potentially important land use impacts from other life cycle stages, such as those arising from transport. It is shown that the change in soil organic carbon (SOC) can be used as an indicator for impacts on BPP, because SOC relates to a range of soil properties responsible for soil resilience and fertility.

Conclusions

The characterisation factors developed suggest that the proposed approach to characterize land use impacts on BBP, despite its limitations, is both possible and robust. The availability of land-use-specific and biogeographically differentiated data on SOC makes BPP impact assessments operational. The characterisation factors provided allow for the assessment of land-use impacts on BPP, regardless of where they occur thus enabling more complete LCAs of products and services. Existing databases on every country’s terrestrial carbon stocks and land use enable the operability of this method. Furthermore, BPP impacts will be better assessed by this approach as increasingly spatially specific data are available for all geographical regions of the world at a large scale. The characterisation factors developed are applied to the case studies (Part D of this special issue), which show the practical issues related to their implementation.     

Reviewing the potential for including habitat fragmentation to improve life cycle impact assessments for land use impacts on biodiversity

Purpose

The biosphere is progressively subjected to a variety of pressures resulting from anthropogenic activities. Habitat conversion, resulting from anthropogenic land use, is considered the dominant factor driving terrestrial biodiversity loss. Hence, adequate modelling of land use impacts on biodiversity in decision-support tools, like life cycle assessment (LCA), is a priority. State-of-the-art life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) characterisation models for land use impacts on biodiversity translate natural habitat transformation and occupation into biodiversity impacts. However, the currently available models predominantly focus on total habitat loss and ignore the spatial configuration of the landscape. That is, habitat fragmentation effects are ignored in current LCIAs with the exception of one recently developed method.

Methods

Here, we review how habitat fragmentation may affect biodiversity. In addition, we investigate how land use impacts on biodiversity are currently modelled in LCIA and how missing fragmentation impacts can influence the LCIA model results. Finally, we discuss fragmentation literature to evaluate possible methods to include habitat fragmentation into advanced characterisation models.

Results and discussion

We found support in available ecological literature for the notion that habitat fragmentation is a relevant factor when assessing biodiversity loss. Moreover, there are models that capture fragmentation effects on biodiversity that have the potential to be incorporated into current LCIA characterisation models.

Conclusions and recommendations

To enhance the credibility of LCA biodiversity assessments, we suggest that available fragmentation models are adapted, expanded and subsequently incorporated into advanced LCIA characterisation models and promote further efforts to capture the remaining fragmentation effects in LCIA characterisation models.

     

Review of LCA datasets in three emerging economies: a summary of learnings

Purpose

In response to a need for interoperable LCA databases of adequate quality, a review of 40 datasets from emerging economies has been conducted with UNEP support by independent LCA experts, with the purpose to encourage improvements, either prior to publication or as part of a continuous improvement cycle. We discuss the lessons learned during this reviewing process.

Methods

The review effort had to be delivered in a set and limited timeline of 9 months and covered 20 datasets from Malaysia, ten from Brazil, and ten from Thailand. The developed review process consisted in, among others, (i) developing a set of review criteria for this specific effort, (ii) pairing a local sector reviewer with an international LCA expert to enhance capacity development, (iii) establishing a legal relationship via a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) between the data provider and the data reviewers, and (iv) providing a review report for each dataset that assesses the presence and magnitude of gaps or deficiencies relative to the criteria, as well as their implications for qualifying usage.

Results and discussion

The reviews provided solid recommendations for improvement to the majority of the datasets submitted by the three countries. This review exercise has been conducted in the given timeframe for the majority of the datasets. Many challenges have been faced along the way; among them agreeing on an NDA, the need for sufficient information, and the question of the confidentiality of the data. The developed set of criteria for this exercise have not been presented or discussed outside of the narrow review exercise and therefore can be seen as a starting point for further debates and improvements that should involve the broad LCA community.

Conclusions

This hands-on exercise provided some valuable insights into the road towards global consensus and guidance on data review. Beyond this time-constrained effort, a broader discussion and consensus at international level on the review of datasets and a continuous effort in reviewing datasets is desirable. Four key aspects were identified as necessary to consider: review criteria, review process, reviewers’ selection criteria, and development of a legal basis which protects the confidentiality of the data, as well as the position of the reviewers. This last aspect is sensitive as, in LCA datasets reviews, companies and/or countries might disclose some information with high stakes regarding competition and trade.

     

A comparison of three methods to assess land use impacts on biodiversity in a case study of forestry plantations in New Zealand

Purpose

The aim of this study is apply available methods to assess impacts on biodiversity from the land use caused by plantation grown radiata pine in New Zealand in a life cycle assessment framework. This is done both to quantify the impact as well as compare the results obtained by different methods.

Methods

Data on location and productivity for wood supply regions in New Zealand was assessed using three methods identified as relevant for the purpose. All data were related to a functional unit of 1 m³ of timber production.

Results and discussion

The results show both a significant difference in impact on biodiversity from land use in the different wood supply regions and a significant difference in the results from the three applied methods. Although some of the results obtained from the three methods were correlated, this was not consistent through all the results. The methodological variation emanates from the treatment of the characteristics of the wood supply regions and underlying assumptions, e.g. reference vegetation. Compared to a case study in Norway, the impact on biodiversity from plantation forestry in New Zealand is found to be relatively low following the applied methods and assumptions taken.

Conclusions

The study shows a significant variation in how impacts on biodiversity are assessed following different approaches. Research to harmonize methods to quantify impact on biodiversity is recommended, as well as exploring effects of different weighting of crucial aspects of biodiversity, such as rarity, abundance and species richness.     

Arguing for biodiversity in practice: a case study from the UK

With a web of different local actors, often with different perspectives and interests, turning ideas into practice for biodiversity often involves communicating, negotiating, bargaining and, therefore, argumentation. Within this process arguments are selected by actors, to achieve their goals, with varying levels of effectiveness. We examine the use of arguments in UK national biodiversity policies and at the local level from the perspective of those putting forward and receiving arguments. We assess the positive and negative framings within arguments and the effectiveness of arguments. Using interviews and formal documents as sources of data, we analyse nine argumentative interactions from a case study in the Greater Manchester area in the UK. Our findings highlight differences between arguments in national biodiversity policy and those used at the local level. We also show a link between positive framing and salient arguments that were particularly effective. In more polarised, high conflict situations the credibility of the argument, specifically how well it aligned with policy frameworks, strongly influenced its effectiveness. These findings suggest that selecting arguments that identify common ground at the local level contributes to effective outcomes by highlighting areas of mutual benefit. Where this is not possible, a strong policy framework for the conservation of biodiversity is important. A combination of bottom up and top down approaches is most likely to provide effective arguments for biodiversity.     

缙云山生境片断化对常绿阔叶林生物多样性的影响

采用Simpson、Shannon-Wiener和Hill多样性指数以及逐步多元回归分析方法,在缙云山进行了植物群落调查、小气候观测和土壤肥力的测定以及各变量之间关系的分析。结果表明:片断常绿阔叶林物种多样性指数比连续常绿阔叶林低,不同生活型的表现不同;各片断阔叶林斑块边缘均存在明显的小气候边缘效应。随着斑块面积的减小,各斑块的ΔTa、林缘及林内ΔTs、林缘和林内ΔRH、林缘和林内Vmax、林缘和林内ΔPAR(正午)均呈增大的趋势。各斑块的小气候边缘效应,以最大斑块波及林内的深度最浅(约至林内15m)、最小斑块波及林内的深度最深(约至林内25m);常绿阔叶林物种多样性受林内外有效光合辐射(正午)差、气温日较差、土壤含水量、土壤有机质含量和土壤有效钾等因素的影响。     

Application of territorial emission factors with open-access data—a territorial LCA case study of land use for livestock production in Wallonia

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - This work aims to facilitate the territorial LCA applications through a case study on land use for livestock production in Wallonia (South...     

UNEP-SETAC guideline on global land use impact assessment on biodiversity and ecosystem services in LCA

Purpose

As a consequence of the multi-functionality of land, the impact assessment of land use in Life Cycle Impact Assessment requires the modelling of several impact pathways covering biodiversity and ecosystem services. To provide consistency amongst these separate impact pathways, general principles for their modelling are provided in this paper. These are refinements to the principles that have already been proposed in publications by the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. In particular, this paper addresses the calculation of land use interventions and land use impacts, the issue of impact reversibility, the spatial and temporal distribution of such impacts and the assessment of absolute or relative ecosystem quality changes. Based on this, we propose a guideline to build methods for land use impact assessment in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

Results

Recommendations are given for the development of new characterization models and for which a series of key elements should explicitly be stated, such as the modelled land use impact pathways, the land use/cover typology covered, the level of biogeographical differentiation used for the characterization factors, the reference land use situation used and if relative or absolute quality changes are used to calculate land use impacts. Moreover, for an application of the characterisation factors (CFs) in an LCA study, data collection should be transparent with respect to the data input required from the land use inventory and the regeneration times. Indications on how generic CFs can be used for the background system as well as how spatial-based CFs can be calculated for the foreground system in a specific LCA study and how land use change is to be allocated should be detailed. Finally, it becomes necessary to justify the modelling period for which land use impacts of land transformation and occupation are calculated and how uncertainty is accounted for.

Discussion

The presented guideline is based on a number of assumptions: Discrete land use types are sufficient for an assessment of land use impacts; ecosystem quality remains constant over time of occupation; time and area of occupation are substitutable; transformation time is negligible; regeneration is linear and independent from land use history and landscape configuration; biodiversity and multiple ecosystem services are independent; the ecological impact is linearly increasing with the intervention; and there is no interaction between land use and other drivers such as climate change. These assumptions might influence the results of land use Life Cycle Impact Assessment and need to be critically reflected.

Conclusions and recommendations

In this and the other papers of the special issue, we presented the principles and recommendations for the calculation of land use impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services on a global scale. In the framework of LCA, they are mainly used for the assessment of land use impacts in the background system. The main areas for further development are the link to regional ecological models running in the foreground system, relative weighting of the ecosystem services midpoints and indirect land use.     

Taking into account water use impacts in the LCA of biofuels: an Argentinean case study

Purpose  

The assessment of biofuels has until now mainly focused on energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. Only little attention has been given to other impacts, although the general importance of water use for the life cycle assessment (LCA) of agricultural products has been recognized in recent publications. The aim of this work is to assess in detail the water consumption along a biofuel production chain taking into account irrigation efficiencies, levels of water scarcity, and type of feedstock, and to integrate those results in a full LCA. Furthermore, we compare the results for biofuels from various feedstocks and regions with conventional petrol.     

Habitat fragmentation impacts on biodiversity of evergreen broadleaved forests in Jinyun Mountains, China

The plant communities and their microclimates were surveyed and observed, and the soil fertilities were determined in six plots of evergreen broadleaved forests of different sizes and similar slope aspects on Jinyun Mountains of Chongqing in China from April to October, 2003. The relationships of biotic and abiotic factors were analyzed using the Simpson, Shannon—Wiener, and Hill diversity indices, and stepwise multilinear regression analyses techniques. The results showed that compared with continuous evergreen broadleaved forests, five fragmentations had a lower species diversity index, and different life forms showed differences in diversity index. With the decrease in patch areas, the daily differences in air temperature (ΔTa), ground surface temperature (ΔTs), daily differences in relative humidity (ΔRH), maximum wind velocity (Vmax), differences in photosynthetic available radiation (ΔPAR) (at noon) of both edges and interiors, all tended to increase. Maximum wind velocity (Vmax) and photo effective radiation in forest edges were higher than those in interior forest, which presented a stronger temperature-gained edge effect. In all the fragmentations of evergreen broadleaved forests, the depth of the edge effect was the nearest from interior forest in the biggest patch (about 15 meters away from interior forest), while the depth of the edge effect was the farthest from interior forest in the smallest patch (about 25 meters away from interior forest). With regard to the water conservation function, soil water content improved along with increasing species diversity. Some of the nutritional function substances of soil increased with increasing species diversity. The elements of microclimate, such as Ta, ΔTa, ΔTs, ΔRH, Vmax, and PAR, changed along with the extent of fragmented forest. Translated from Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2005, 25(7): 1642–1648 [译自: 生态学报]     

Habitat fragmentation impacts on biodiversity of evergreen broadleaved forests in Jinyun Mountains,China

The plant communities and their microclimates were surveyed and observed,and the soil fertilities were determined in six plots of evergreen broadleaved forests of different sizes and similar slope aspects on Jinyun Mountains of Chongqing in China from April to October,2003.The relationships of biotic and abiotic factors were analyzed using the Simpson,Shannon-Wiener,and Hill diversity indices,and stepwise multilinear regression analyses techniques.The results showed that compared with continuous evergreen broadleaved forests,five fragmentations had a lower species diversity index,and different life forms showed differences in diversity index.With the decrease in patch areas,the daily differences in air temperature (△Ta),ground surface temperature (△Ts),daily differences in relative humidity (△RH),maximum wind velocity (Vmax),differences in photosynthetic available radiation (△PAR)(at noon)of both edges and interiors,all tended to increase.Maximum wind velocity (Vmax)and photo effective radiation in forest edges were higher than those in interior forest,which presented a stronger temperature-gained edge effect.In all the fragmentations of evergreen broadleaved forests,the depth of the edge effect was the nearest from interior forest in the biggest patch (about 15 meters away from interior forest),while the depth of the edge effect was the farthest from interior forest in the smallest patch (about 25 meters away from interior forest).With regard to the water conservation function,soil water content improved along with increasing species diversity.Some of the nutritional function substances of soil increased with increasing species diversity.The elements of microclimate,such as Ta,△Ta,△Ts,ARH,Vmax,and PAR,changed along with the extent of fragmented forest.     

Global environmental impacts: data sources and methodological choices for calculating normalization factors for LCA

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - Characterizing environmental impacts at the global scale is crucial to define references against which compare the environmental profile of...     

Towards a general framework for including noise impacts in LCA

Purpose  

Several damages have been associated with the exposure of human beings to noise. These include auditory effects, i.e., hearing impairment, but also non-auditory physiological ones such as hypertension and ischemic heart disease, or psychological ones such as annoyance, depression, sleep disturbance, limited performance of cognitive tasks or inadequate cognitive development. Noise can also interfere with intended activities, both in daytime and nighttime. ISO 14'040 also indicated the necessity of introducing noise, together with other less developed impact categories, in a complete LCA study, possibly changing the results of many LCA studies already available. The attempts available in the literature focused on the integration of transportation noise in LCA. Although being considered the most frequent source of intrusive impact, transportation noise is not the only type of noise that can have a malign impact on public health. Several other sources of noise such as industrial or occupational need to be taken into account to have a complete consideration of noise into LCA. Major life cycle inventories (LCI) typically do not contain data on noise emissions yet and characterisation factors are not yet clearly defined. The aim of the present paper is to briefly review what is already available in the field and propose a new framework for the consideration of human health impacts of any type of noise that could be of interest in the LCA practice, providing indications for the introduction of noise in LCI and analysing what data is already available and, in the form of a research agenda, what other resources would be needed to reach a complete coverage of the problem.     

基于C-Plan规划软件的生物多样性就地保护优先区规划——以中国东北地区为例

以中国东北地区为研究区域,根据生物多样性属性特征,选择研究区域内具有代表性的濒危物种作为指示物种,利用系统保护规划方法(Systematic Conservation Planning,SCP)和保护规划软件(C-Plan),对该区域进行了优先保护规划研究。通过计算规划单元的不可替代性值(Irreplaceability,IR),找出区域生物多样性热点地区和保护空缺地区,然后利用C-Plan规划软件对该地区进行保护优先等级划分,确定必须保护(Mandatory Reserved,MR)、协商保护(Negotiated Reserved,NR)和部分保护(PartiallyReserved,PR)3个等级保护区域的具体位置和面积,并针对保护现状提出保护规划建议。结果显示,必须保护区域的总面积占区域总面积的8.17%,主要分布于长白山核心地区和大兴安岭北部原始林区;协商保护区域占总面积的7.51%,主要分布于大兴安岭东南部和松嫩平原湿地;部分保护区域占总面积的9%。保护空缺分析结果显示,现有国家级自然保护区对生物多样性的保护存在3个明显的保护空缺,即长白山林区的龙岗山地区、老爷岭北部和张广才岭南部;大兴安岭北部原始林区、呼玛河—黑龙江流域的平原湿地和伊勒呼里山东南部山区;大兴安岭南部森林草原过渡区的东南部森林地区。结合区域内已建立的国家级自然保护区情况,利用C-Plan规划软件对不同时期建立的保护区实现保护目标的贡献率做了分析。截止2000年,已建保护区可实现预期保护目标的17.5%,通过对贡献率大小的比较确定了不同时期保护的有效程度。研究打破了传统的对称几何形状的单元划分方法,根据植被类型和自然地形地貌,采用自然多边形进行单元划分,提高了物种分布范围准确度。研究通过C-Plan规划软件的实际应用,丰富了系统保护规划研究的方法,从理论上为区域保护规划提供了科学依据,并可指导我国自然保护区管理政策的制定和中长期规划的编制。     

河口细菌群落多样性及其控制因素:以切萨皮克湾为例

咸淡水的混合和重要营养盐与有机物的再循环,使得河口成为地球上生产力较高而动态变化明显的水生生态系统.一个典型的河口区断面中,细菌群落包含了一些从淡水到海洋的过渡类型:例如α-变形菌(Alphaproteobacteria)、p-变形菌(Betaproteobacteria)、γ-变形菌(Gammaproteobacteria)、蓝细菌(Cyanobactenia)[聚球藻(Synechococcus)]、拟杆菌(Bacteroidetes)、放线细菌(Actinobacteria)和疣微菌(Verrucomicrobia)等.此外,河口也包含其独特的细菌群落:SAR11组、玫瑰杆菌属(Roseobacter)、SAR86和放线细菌(Actinobacteria)的一些进化亚枝(subclades),表明海湾或者大型温带河口区细菌类群具有区域生态适应性.以研究较多的美国切萨皮克湾(Chesapeake Bay)为例,其细菌群落呈现出显著的季节性变化和周期性的年际变化特征;这些变化除了受水的滞留时间和细菌生长速度影响外,还可能受其他许多环境因子的影响.其中叶绿素a和水温变化的影响最大,其他环境因子如溶解氧、铵态氮、亚硝酸盐和硝酸盐以及病毒的丰度也有影响.近年来,基于群落水平的基因组学(genomics)和后基因组学(postgenomics)(转录组学和蛋白质组学)技术应用于研究自然条件下微生物群落错综复杂的基因多样性和表达,提供了揭示水环境中微生物群落组成和新功能基因的途径.     

Developing a systematic framework for consistent allocation in LCA

Purpose

Multifunctionality in life-cycle assessment (LCA) is solved with allocation, for which many different procedures are available. Lack of sufficient guidance and difficulties to identify the correct allocation approach cause a large number of combinations of methods to exist in scientific literature. This paper reviews allocation procedures for recycling situations, with the aim to identify a systematic approach to apply allocation.

Methods

Assumptions and definitions for the most important terms related to multifunctionality and recycling in LCA are given. The most relevant allocation procedures are identified from literature. These procedures are expressed in mathematical formulas and schemes and arranged in a systematic framework based on the underlying objectives and assumptions of the procedures.

Results and discussion

If the LCA goal asks for an attributional approach, multifunctionality can be solved by applying system expansion—i.e. including the co-functions in the functional unit—or partitioning. The cut-off approach is a form of partitioning, attributing all the impacts to the functional unit. If the LCA goal asks for a consequential approach, substitution is applied, for which three methods are identified: the end-of-life recycling method and the waste mining method, which are combined in the 50/50 method. We propose to merge these methods in a new formula: the market price-based substitution method. The inclusion of economic values and maintaining a strict separation between attributional and consequential LCA are considered to increase realism and consistency of the LCA method.

Conclusions and perspectives

We identified the most pertinent allocation procedures—for recycling as well as co-production and energy recovery—and expressed them in mathematical formulas and schemes. Based on the underlying objectives of the allocation procedures, we positioned them in a systematic and consistent framework, relating the procedures to the LCA goal definition and an attributional or consequential approach. We identified a new substitution method that replaces the three existing methods in consequential LCA. Further research should test the validity of the systematic framework and the market price-based substitution method by means of case studies.