Leading PI: Matthias Finkbeiner (TU Berlin)
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a standardized method for analyzing environmental impacts throughout a product’s life cycle, from raw material extraction to disposal or recycling. It includes goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory (LCI), impact assessment (LCIA), and interpretation, following ISO 14040/44 standards.
Living therapeutic materials (LTMs) are being evaluated for their environmental benefits and potential hotspots. No comprehensive LCAs have been performed for LTMs yet. The assessments will be iterative, providing preliminary results to support decision-making. Results will be expressed through environmental impact indicators like GHG emissions and resource consumption, as well as critical indicators like physical and socio-economic availability. The research aims to identify the main environmental burdens and benefits of LTMs compared to conventional solutions. The expertise and preliminary work of the groups of the LeibnizScience Campus in biofabrication technologies, biomaterial characterization, biofactory engineering, and sustainable engineering will be utilized to answer these questions.