Polish-Czech project supporting life cycle assessment method

The Silesian University of Technology is a partner of the Polish-Czech project, which focuses on environmental education and increasing students' knowledge of an innovative Life Cycle Assessment method.

The Silesian University of Technology is represented by Dorota Burchart, PhD, Professor at the Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering.

The project addresses the LCA-Life Cycle Assessment method, which looks at how a product, service or technological process affects the environment. As Professor Burchart emphasised, this is one of the most popular and authoritative methods of comparative analysis for different technologies and products, considering their life cycle.

- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a unique method that assesses the environmental impact of products, services or technological processes based on a compilation of material and energy balances and an environmental assessment in many impact categories over the entire life cycle. The LCA consider the environmental impact as early as sourcing raw materials for a product and either includes its recycling. The European Commission has recognised this method as the most appropriate way to assess the potential environmental impact of products and has created a European platform to support the implementation of LCA assessment in business and national legislation, she explained.

It is the development of innovative teaching in the field of life cycle assessment method that is the main objective of the Polish-Czech project entitled “LifeCycle: Vzdělávání v oblasti metodiky životního cyklu/Education on life cycle assessment methodology”. It is implemented by: Vysoká škola báňská - Technická univerzita Ostrava in cooperation with the Silesian University of Technology. The project is financed from the INTERREG V-A Czech Republic - Poland programme, Micro Project Fund 2014-2020 in the Euroregion Silesia.

The international team worked on developing teaching materials that will incorporate into the subjects taught at the partner universities. It will provide students with knowledge of the latest trends in environmental assessment, which relies on the industrial decarbonisation process developing in the country.

The handbook developed by the researchers will include practical examples plus a set of tests and a glossary of the main concepts related to life cycle assessment. "The teaching material created will be incorporated into the teaching at the universities of the project partners" Professor Burchart concluded.