Menu
The SAMT project (2015-2016) has now reached completion. The project focused on increasing integration of sustainability assessment methods in decision making by reviewing and making recommendations about the most potential methods, tools, and indicators for evaluating sustainability in the process industry.
Final results from the SAMT project include a roadmap and an implementation plan towards the SAMT vision 2030 built together with industry and research organisations:
“Sustainability assessment provides additional value for industrial decision-making. Related methods are widely integrated in industrial activities, promoting competitiveness, sustainability, co-operation and data exchange within and between sectors and value chains.”
A short video (2 minutes) was produced to introduce the vision for future sustainability assessment together with the research approach applied during the SAMT project:
Link to the SAMT video on YouTube
Results from the SAMT project are presented in a series of reports:
Summary report "Sustainability assessment in the process industries - Current practice and paths for future development" presents the SAMT vision, roadmap and implementation plan, and summarizes the main findings from the project. The report is available at: http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/technology/2017/T299.pdf.
Within the Horizon 2020 work programme, the specific and common goals listed for the SPIRE sectors are:
For the SPIRE sectors, sustainability assessment methods are crucial for evaluating the current state and the achievement of the goals related to resource and energy efficiency. For evaluating the overall resource and energy efficiency of the SPIRE sectors as a whole, tools and indicators that are applicable for cross-sectorial assessment are required.
The aim of the SAMT project is to review and make recommendations about the most potential methods for evaluating sustainability in the process industry, focusing especially on energy and resource efficiency.
SAMT will collect, evaluate and communicate the experiences of leading industrial actors from cement, oil, metal, water, waste and chemical industry, and review the latest scientific developments within the field of sustainability assessment. A central outcome of the project is a strategy for implementing best practices across different sectors of the process industry.
SAMT is a coordination and support action that promotes cross-sectorial learning and uptake of the most promising tools by conducting case studies, organizing workshops and identifying needs for future R & D and standardization.
Project workshops are open to all industrial actors and interested stakeholders. All findings and recommendations produced by the project are publicly available on the project web site.
The SAMT project will respond to the need for cross-sectorial sustainability assessment methods by:
By working together in common workshops and case studies during the project, industrial actors, stakeholders and researchers are able to create common understanding about the current bottle-necks in the applicability of existing sustainability assessment tools, the development needs required to apply the recognized best practices in each sector and for the possibilities in building cross-sectorial assessment tools.
The work in the project is organized in five work packages that work in close co-operation.
Main tasks of WP1 include a review of existing sustainability assessment methods and tools, review of standards related to sustainability assessment, resource and energy efficiency, and collecting experience and best practice in applying different methods in different industrial sectors. Additionally, criteria for assessing the suitability of the assessment methods for evaluating resource and energy efficiency and to support decision-making will be created. The criteria will be applied in work of WP2. Findings from WP1 will be discussed and finalised on a workshop that will be held on 2nd of June 2015. WP1 is led by Michael Ritthoff from Wuppertal Institute.
The work package will classify and select the best practices to carry out sustainability assessments through evaluation matrixes and based on case studies. The selected methods will be evaluated according to their ability to support management and decision-making in different contexts and at different levels of action. WP2 is led by Aritz Alonso Galdames from Tecnalia.
This work package will evaluate the applicability of the selected tools for evaluating resource and energy efficiency across different sectors of the process industry. It will make recommendations about the future research needs and provide input for future standardization landscape in the area of sustainability assessment and resource and energy efficiency. WP3 is led by Hanna Pihkola from VTT.
The work package will enhance knowledge transfer between the relevant stakeholders and the industry. It will maintain interactive information flow throughout the project and disseminate combined knowledge and best practices of the relevant energy and resource efficiency tools and indicators. WP4 is led by Maija Federley from VTT.
The work package will ensure achievement of the project objectives within the budget and on time. It is responsible for the operational, technical and financial management of the project. WP5 is led by Tiina Pajula from VTT.
The cross-sectorial team working in the SAMT project consists of three research organizations, six companies representing cement, waste, water, oil, metal and chemical industry and one standardisation organisation.
The project partners are VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd (coord.), Fundacion Tecnalia Research & Innovation, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment & Energy, CEMEX Research Group AG, SUEZ, Neste Corporation, Bayer AG, BASF SE, Norsk Hydro ASA, and Asociación Española de Normalización y Certficación (AENOR).
A stakeholder panel consisting of experts from various sectors complements the consortium.
SAMT project will start with a litterature review covering the tools available for sustainability assessment and evaluation of resource and energy efficiency. In addition, relevant standards in the field will be reviewed and listed.
SAMT will organize three workshops that are open to all interested parties. The aim of the workshops is to provide a forum for discussing project outcome, changing experiences in applying different sustainability assessment tools and identifiying future development needs.
Interviews will be conducted to gather information on best practices at different industrial sectors.
During SAMT, case studies will be conducted to test the selected tools and their potential to support decision-making in different contexts and as part of day-to-day business. Additionally, the applicability of selected tools for sectorial and cross-sectorial assessment will be considered.
SAMT will produce recommendations on:
The outcome of the SAMT project is presented in project workshops and project reports that will be published on the project web site, together with executive summaries and other communication material.
Responsible authors and organisations: Mathieu Saurat, Michael Ritthoff; Wuppertal Institute for climate, environment and energy Luz Smith; AENOR
This report is the first outcome in the SAMT project. It is not expected to deliver a definitive and exhaustive evaluation of all possible sustainable assessment methods and tools. The list of methods and tools will most probably be extended in the next project step, which consists in interviewing industrial practitioners to collect their experience with sustainability assessment methods and tools. Results from this report will in any case serve as input into the subsequent work packages of the project, where identified methods and tools will be systematically evaluated.
The full report is available here.
Responsible authors and organisations: Mathieu Saurat, Michael Ritthoff; Wuppertal Institute for climate, environment and energy Hanna Pihkola; VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Aritz Alonso, Arantza Lopez; Tecnalia
The report reviews practices related to applied sustainability assessment tools in the cement, metal, oil, water, waste and chemical industries. The aim is to identify research and development needs for applying these tools across different sectors of the process industry. By engaging with sustainability assessment practitioners and sustainability strategists in the industry we tried to grasp the following aspects:
This report is in a way a "reality check" after the first deliverable D1.1 that focused on methods and tools available from the literature and online. It shades light on the reasons why the industry uses some of the methods and tools reviewed in the first report, rejects or ignores some others, and has the need to develop in-house methods and tools (that could de facto not be included in the first report). Additionally, the principles for defining the method and the evaluation criteria that will be applied in the next phases of the SAMT project are presented in the final chapter of this report.
Responsible authors and organisations: Arantza López, Lara Mabe, Beatriz Sanchez, Carlos Tapia and Aritz Alonso Tecnalia Research and Innovation
The report provides an evaluation of some of the sustainability assessment methods mostly used among the process industry. Among the vast array of methods that have been developed for evaluating sustainability at the industry level, we selected a subset of approaches for in-depth evaluation. The pre-selection of methods was done according to their cross-sectoriality, multi-dimensionality, lifecycle orientation and availability of supporting tools, which are the most relevant criteria for the SAMT project. Fourteen methods out of the fifty one considered in SAMT D1.1 complied with these criteria.
These fourteen methods were subsequently evaluated in more detail. For this in-depth evaluation we used an adapted RACER framework, a methodology designed by the European Commission for the assessment of scientific tools under the following components: Relevant, Accepted, Credible,Easy and Robust. Our adapted SAMT-RACER framework was based on the evaluation of the following aspects under each of these umbrella components:
Results of the evaluation show that sustainability assessment methods do not perform equally well across all the dimensions. Generally, methods that rank on top of one of the evaluated aspects show poor performance in others. Overall, the methods that performed better are those mostly used and widely spread among the industry, namely LCA and Carbon Footprint. However these methods are seldom those performing better in any of the RACER components alone. For instance, in terms of relevance and robustness, more innovative methods such as the Exergetic-LCA show better performance, whereas the Life cycle index (LInX) method ranked on top of the credible component in our evaluation.
The main conclusion that can be drawn from this work is that there does not seem to be a one-fits-all solution in terms of sustainability assessment methods. Depending on the specific sector and the specific goal for which the method is used, the selection of methods could (should) differ.
Responsible authors and organisations: Carlos Tapia, Aritz Alonso, Ales Padró, Raul Hugarte, Marco Bianchi, Arantza López (Tecnalia R&I), Hanna Pihkola, Elina Saarivuori (VTT), Michael Ritthoff (Wuppertal Institute), Peter Saling (BASF), Kianga Schmuck (Bayer), Ywann Penru, Pascal Dauthuille (SUEZ), Alexander Martin Roeder, Martin Jenke (CEMEX), Jostein Søreide (Hydro), Annamari Enström, Sari Kuusisto (Neste)
The overall aim of the case studies conducted within the SAMT project was to identify best practices with respect to tools, methods and indicators for assessing sustainability and resource and energy efficiency. On a practical level, methods and tools currently applied by the industries were tested and compared with existing methods that were considered promising and powerful in order to assess either the overall sustainability, or energy and resource efficiency. Within the cases, the applicability and comparability of the methods is evaluated, and future research and development needs are identified.
The report presents findings related to the implementation of a number of sustainability assessment methods and tools in a realistic industrial context using a case study approach. Within the case studies the focus was on both the implementation process and the results delivered by each method. Thus the main emphasis was more on the applicability of the methods and tools rather than on the accuracy of data and the assessments themselves.
Basing on this research setting, the report discusses the value added of the different methods and presents a number of identified barriers that potentially undermine sustainability assessment within the process industry. Building on these findings, a series of recommendations for enhanced sustainability evaluation practice are provided.
The report comprises of four parts: The main report describes the methodology, presents an overview of the case studies and summarizes the lessons learnt and recommendations. Appendices 1, 2 and 3 present the full case study reports. See descriptions of the case studies and links to the appendices below.
The full report with all appendices is available here as one file (PDF, 4.5 MB).
Responsible authors and organisations: Hanna Pihkola and Tiina Pajula; VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Carlos Tapia; Tecnalia Research and Innovation Michael Ritthoff and Mathieu Saurat; Wuppertal Institute for climate, environment and energy
The aim of this report is to discuss identified development needs and bottlenecks for sectorial and cross-sectorial assessment. The focus of the report is on practical challenges especially related to implementing the methods in an industrial context and in communicating and comparing the results of the assessments. The conclusions are based on a review and evaluation of existing methods and tools, interviews and group discussions with industrial sustainability experts and sustainability experts, case studies and workshops.
A number of cross-cutting implementation challenges turned out to be common to almost all of the tested methods. These can be considered as bottlenecks that currently hinder sustainability assessments across different sectors and as part of daily decision-making. They can be summarised to three main categories: data availability and management issues; diversity of tools and data formats; and variety of methodological approaches and assumptions.
There is a demand for both developing existing methods to cover and integrate different aspects of sustainability (environmental, economic and social), and to develop simplified assessments with harmonised guidelines, in which the assessment process could be integrated to the daily decision-making by automating part of the work flow. Adding more dimensions to the assessment adds challenges also for communication. Communication is an area in which need of further harmonisation was recognized.
Cross-sectorial sustainability assessment, focusing on evaluating impacts at sectorial level using hybrid methods, is considered interesting at macro level, for the purposes of research projects, policy planning and evaluation. However, these methods could also be useful for evaluating the impacts of circular use of resources and recycling or, for example, in a case of industrial symbiosis platforms. These methods require further development and harmonisation to allow their implementation in practice.
Responsible authors and organisations: Hanna Pihkola and Tiina Pajula; VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Carlos Tapia; Tecnalia Research and Innovation Luz Smith; AENOR
The aim of this report is to summarise future research and standardisation needs identified during the project focusing on those highlighted by industrial experts. The conclusions are based on a review and evaluation of existing methods and tools, interviews and group discussions with industrial sustainability experts and sustainability researchers, case studies and workshops.
To improve the integration of sustainability assessment methods in decision making the following future research needs were identified:
Some of the topics are regarded relevant for standardisation. In most cases this can be done by improving and updating current standards related to the sustainability assessment and life cycle thinking. The topics to be standardised include harmonisation of approaches for economic and social assessments within the LCA framework, guidelines for streamlined/simplified LCA, data exchange formats and specific elements required by the circular economy concepts.
Responsible authors and organisations: Hanna Pihkola, Tiina Pajula, Maija Federley and Jouko Myllyoja; VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
This report is the third of the three final reports that together summarise the main findings and conclusions of the SAMT project. The report presents a vision, a roadmap and an implementation plan for developing consistent sustainability assessment methods in the process industry, and for promoting the uptake of related methods and tools as part of daily decision-making activities. Based on findings of the project, recommendations to the Process industry; European Commission and European policy makers; and LCA community are presented.
May 2017Summary report: Sustainability assessment in the process industries - Current practice and paths for future development
30 January 2017
Deliverable 3.3 Sustainability assessment in the process industry - Future actions and development needs
SAMT video on YouTube
9 January 2017
Deliverable 3.2 Future research needs and input for standardization
Deliverable 3.1 Sustainability assessment methods and tools for cross-sectorial assessment
Deliverable 4.2 Summary of the dissemination activities
28 June 2016
Deliverable 2.2 Case Study Report: Analysis of best practice solutions in comparison with currently used techniques
18 December 2015
Deliverable 2.1 Best practice solutions: Methods for sustainability assessment within the process industries
17 September 2015
Deliverable 1.2 Description of current industry practice and definition of the evaluation criteria
03 July 2015
SAMT Brochure
15 June 2015
SAMT press release 15.6.2015
12 June 2015
Deliverable 1.1 Overview of existing sustainability assessment methods and tools, and of relevant standards
SAMT project started with a litterature review covering the tools available for sustainability assessment and evaluation of resource and energy efficiency.
Below is a list of interactive visualisations that expand the review of methods and tools for sustainability assessment conducted for SAMT's first deliverable. These visualisations are also linked to from the deliverable's report itself.
You can click through the links below to explore a different, compelling view on the variety of methods and tools for sustainability assessment that we have reviewed.
The figure below is a node-link diagram called a dendrogram that places leaf nodes of the tree at the same depth. In this radial layout, the methods and tools (leaf nodes) are aligned on the outside of the circle, with the clusters (internal nodes) to the centre.
You can zoom in by holding down the "ctrl" key and pressing the "+" key on your keyboard. You can zoom out by holding down the "ctrl" key and pressing the "-" key on your keyboard.
Figure 1.1: Methods and tools for sustainability assessment reviewed in WP1, organised in clusters
The figure below is a node-link diagram called a dendrogram that places leaf nodes of the tree at the same depth. In this Cartesian layout, the methods and tools (leaf nodes) are aligned on the right edge, with the clusters (internal nodes) to the left.
Figure 1.2: Methods and tools for sustainability assessment reviewed in WP1, organised in clusters.
In the figure below methods and tools for sustainable assessment are placed at the edge of the circle. Tools are linked to the methods they implement, or at least that they claim to implement.
If you mouse over the name of an item (method or tool) at the edge of the circle, links to the tools or methods that implement this item will be highlighted in green, while to the methods that this item implements will be highlighted in red. By placing your mouse pointer over the ring you can drag it to rotate. You can adjust the tension of the bundles by actioning the slider.
Figure 1.3: Representation of which tools implement which methods for sustainability assessment
Click on the image or here to get to the interactive visualisation
As described in deliverable D.1.1, a comprehensive list of classification criteria structured the review of methods and tools for sustainability assessment. The figure below is a type of chord diagram showing how many tools, for each tool cluster (see Overview), matched each of the classification criteria. Only a selected number of categories can be shown here. We selected those categories (such as complexity or associated costs) that appear more immediately relevant for the industry to decide for or against tools.
Mouseover a tool cluster or criteria at the edge of the circle to focus on it. The links to/from the group you have selected will be highlighted.
The thickness of links between tool clusters and criteria encode the absolute number of tools from a given cluster that match a given criteria. Mouseover a given link to get quantitative information.
Figure 1.4: Results from the review of tools for sustainability assessment
Project Coordinator:
VTT Technical Reserch Centre of Finland Ltd P.O.Box 1000 FI-02044 VTT, Finland (Visiting address Biologinkuja 7, Espoo, Finland) Tiina Pajula Principal Investigator e-mail: firstname.lastname@vtt.fi
You can also follow the project through SAMT group on LinkedIn.
