Jim Fava is the former Executive Director of the Anthesis Group, an organization that supports businesses and governments in understanding and navigating risks and opportunities. Known for his holistic desire to make the world a better place, Jim has been deemed the “Father of Modern-Day Life Cycle Assessment” and regarded as one of the leading figures in the industry. A pioneer in sustainability, Jim has made significant contributions to the sustainability and environmentalism movement for more than 40 years. Today, alongside Neil D’Souza, Jim co-hosts Five Lifes to Fifty, a podcast that explores the intersection between society, business, environment, and technology and negotiating the path to sustainable products.
Jim joins me today to discuss product life cycle assessment and how it can help provide an understanding of impact over an entire product life cycle. He outlines three golden rules for life cycle assessment. He describes the applications and limitations of product life cycle assessment. He shares the story of how The Coca-Cola Company realized the impact of all materials and challenged its suppliers to be greener. Jim also highlights why, when designing a product, you have to think about not just sales, but also how it’ll be used, disposed, reused, recovered, and recycled.
“Life cycle assessment is a process that identifies environmental and social issues associated with a product and how those issues can occur at various stages of a product’s life cycle.” - Jim Fava
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