Coupling business models with life cycle assessment for second life applications: advantages and limitations

Abstract : The evolution towards sustainability of industries leads to reconsider business organization taking into account economics, social and environmental aspects. This paper focuses on the link between economics and environmental aspects. It aims to conceptualize the interactions of Business Model and Life Cycle Assessment approaches to propose a ”Sustainable” Business Model, based on second-life applications. This represents a double challenge. Firstly, both approaches should evolve and go beyond their limits. Regarding second life applications, a literature review shows that LCA and BM approaches are limited by their focus on the product (process or services) function and the creation of value for a unique application on a single enterprise. Secondly, it is necessary to think over a methodology to integrate both approaches. To this end, the paper proposes a conceptual analysis of the respective limits and cross-fertilization of these approaches to better think of product second life models.