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Case Study: ADAPTATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO THE LIFE CYCLE PERSPECTIVE by IMPERALUM

IMPERALUM is a Portuguese company dedicated to the production of bituminous

waterproofing membranes and bituminous emulsions, and commercialization of

waterproof accessories and thermic and acoustic insulations.

With its own research center and control laboratory, IMPERALUM is an important

European company which uses modern bituminous modification technologies to

produce waterproofing products.

www.imperalum.com

Description of

the company

The project consisted on the performance of LCA studies:

average bituminous membrane (cradle-to-grave) and 3 top

selling membranes (cradle-to-gate) using SimaPro and

Ecoinvent, the comparison of the results with (i) the European

EPD of bituminous membranes and (ii) the application of the

BWA On Line CA Tool, in the review of the environmental policy

and integration of LC considerations in new product

development and finally the identification of improvement

opportunities.

.

Short

description of

the project

Key

Objectives of

the Project

The fundaments of the IMPERALUM

strategy are connected with the improvement

of the global efficiency together with the

business growth (organically and

geographically). Therefore, the LCiP Project

came to meet these objectives as it allowed

a better knowledge of the production

processes and other stages of the life cycle,

in terms of energy efficiency, emissions and

use of raw materials.

Furthermore, IMPERALUM supports LC

approaches as a competitive advantage in a

market which increasingly demands a clear

position in favor of safeguarding the

environment.

Timeline

• Life Cycle perspective in EMS

• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

LC Approach

used in the

Project

Sector

October 2015

–

March 2016

• To improve the knowledge about Life Cycle

(LC) approaches;

• To integrate the LC perspective in the

environmental management system (EMS),

in particular for new products development;

• To open new business possibilities and

markets;

• To prepare for the ISO 14001:2015 update;

• To strengthen internal resources and

competences in order to improve and better

manage environmental issues in the

company.

Motivation

Factors

LOGO of the company

• LCiP partner: Cristina Rocha, Jorge

Alexandre and Isabel González – LNEG

(Portugal);

• Life Cycle Champion: Inês Santos –

ITeCons;

• Coach: Inês Santos – ITeCons;

• Company: Ana Pacheco and Isabel

Mendes – IMPERALUM.

Project team

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The company increased the integration of LC approaches in its protocols, following its Quality and Environmental

policy, taking Life Cycle Assessement as a fundamental tool for the development of new products:

• Quality and Environmental Policy revision, taking LCA as basic tool for the development of new products;

• Integration the performance od an LCA of the bituminous emulsions in the annual Management Plan;

• Communication of the project contents and results internally and externally, using the usual channels and tools

(webpage and social media – externally – and Quality, Environment, Health and Safety Management System).

Case Study: ADAPTATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO THE LIFE CYCLE PERSPECTIVE by IMPERALUM

The most important obstacles IMPERALUM has found

before and during the project, were related with the

lack of available information, and success cases or

examples. The lack of information makes companies

unclear about what LC approaches are; plus, in most

cases there are prejudices about costs and how the

implementation process works. The performance of

this project, helped in clarifying the feasibility and

benefits of LC approaches.

On the other hand, experts from LNEG and ITeCons

helped through training, accompanying and proving

access to resources such as LCA software.

Implementation

challenges /

lessons learnt

Expected

Impact

Results of the

project

• Analysis of the new requirements when adopting the LC perspective in an EMS according to ISO 14001:2015;

• Performance of LCA studies: average bituminous membrane (cradle-to-grave) and 3 top selling membranes

(cradle-to-gate) using SimaPro and Ecoinvent;

• Comparison of the results with (i) the European EPD of bituminous membranes and (ii) the application of the

BWA On Line CA Tool, both provided by the sector association (currently EWA);

• Review of the environmental policy and integration of LC considerations in new product development

• Identification of improvement opportunities.

Description of

the Project

Environmental impact

Decrease of the environmental impact (water and energy consumption

and GHG emissions), through:

• Increasing of the recycled content of the product;

• Decreasing the transportation distances of raw materials;

• Improving the waterproofing products and practices in terms of better

performance and durability.

LOGO of the company

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Case Study: ADAPTATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO THE LIFE CYCLE PERSPECTIVE by IMPERALUM

Description of

maturity in LC

approaches

before the

project

IMPERALUM has been involved in

projects related with LC approaches for

over 10 years in the scope of EWA. Some

flagship initiatives have been the average

sectorial Environmental Product

Declaration (registered under

ENVIRONDEC) and the implementation

of the EWA tool for LCA.

Description of

maturity in LC

approaches

after the

project

Maturity and Strategy

IMPERALUM got a full LC approach

integration in the Quality and

Environmental Company Policy, for the

currently developed products and for the

future ones, including a complete new

strategy to disseminate the goals and

achievements in this area.

It is important to point out that the level of

knowledge about LC and environmental

impacts related with one of the most

important products (bituminous

membranes) increased significantly after

the project.

LOGO of the company

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Case Study: ADAPTATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO THE LIFE CYCLE PERSPECTIVE by IMPERALUM

For IMPERALUM, LCiP project revealed an excellent opportunity for an exhaustive reflection and analysis of all the

existing data related with the life cycle of its products.

LNEG and ITeCons had the knowledge and the right tools to help IMPERALUM with data treatment and strategy

consolidation, allowing the company to establish guidelines for improving its performance and efficiency and also for

new market approaches and requirements.

Evaluation of

the project

Economic

feasibility:

expected ROI

and payback

periods

The LCiP research project was developed with the objective of helping SMEs in the reduction of environmental

impacts of their products and services. Therefore, the enterprises involved in this project don’t have to make any

economic investment. In this particular case study, IMPERALUM used its own already existing resources, which was

an additional motivation factor for joining the LCiP project.

Finding cost-effective solutions for the private sector will help to establish cooperation and eventually go further with

potential partnerships in the future.

On behalf of the LCiP consortium:

Cristina Rocha (cristina.rocha@lneg.pt)

On behalf of the Life Cycle Champion:

Inês Santos

(mariaines.santos@itecons.uc.pt)

On behalf of the company:

Ana Pacheco (apacheco@imperalum.pt)

Webpage of the project

http://www.lifelcip.eu/

www.lifelcip.eu

Planned follow

up activities With the experience acquired during the

project, IMPERALUM is going to implement all

actions planned in the annual Environmental

Plan concerning the bituminous emulsions.

Using the project’s results, the plan is also to

involve top management and marketing and

sales in order to exploit the potential of

improving products and waterproofing

solutions.

Finally, to externally disseminate LC-related

information on existing and new markets

customers, according to specific requirements.

following activities.

Links and

contacts for

further

information

This project has been funded with support from the LIFE+ Programme of the EU. The views expressed here

are purely the authors’ own and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made

of the information contained herein.

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LOGO of the company