Quality assessment of life cycle inventory data for fibre-reinforced polymer composite materials

Abstract

Composite industry growth, driven by the demand for lightweight and high-performance structures, has intensified challenges and inquiries regarding its lifecycle environmental impact, catalysing an increase in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies. These studies have revealed significant concerns about the quality and reliability of Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data, highlighting the risk of inaccuracies that could undermine LCA outcomes and produce misleading conclusions. This situation underscores the critical need for stringent data quality assurance. This study aims to critically assess LCI data quality for composite materials to enhance reliability and utility of LCA in promoting sustainable industry development. Objectives include reviewing existing LCA and LCI datasets, scrutiny of LCA data quality assessment methodologies, identifying data quality issues, and suggesting recommendations for improvement. The comprehensive methodology involved developing data quality assessment methodology, analysing, and critically reviewing existing LCA data, and LCI background reports from seven principal databases, focusing on eight key composite materials. This evaluation revealed fair data quality and identified major concerns such as dataset completeness, precision, timeliness, and reliability, exacerbated by an over-reliance on literature and a widespread disregard for ISO 14040/44 standards in studies intended for public comparison. The absence of technical critical reviews emerged as a significant concern. Some quality issues may still persist due to the inherent uncertainty in LCA data, which is typical of all scientific inquiries. The role of LCA as a lens in environmental sustainability assessment within the composites industry requires a trade-off between acceptability and uncertainty of data quality and the communication of LCA data by the industry stakeholders with openness and transparency.