Sustainability Assessment

The Sustainability Assessment team brings together experts in Life Cycle Assessment, Social Impact Assessment and Life Cycle Costing to quantify sustainability. We assess products, projects and processes based on current and future scenarios. We also develop tools for co-optimisation of design and sustainability and work to advance the field. 

For more information about our Sustainability team please contact Stuart Walker (s.r.walker@sheffield.ac.uk)

LCA-RSIN

Our team also leads the LCA-RSIN network, which works with industry and government to enable the effective use of Life Cycle Assessment in Regulatory Science as the UK moves towards Net Zero. LCA-RSIN is an Innovate UK-funded network, established in 2024, which is led by a diverse group of partner institutions.

Find out more about the LCA-RSIN network here.

Social LCA in Food Systems

Eating more “sustainably” is about more than just the environment - it’s about people.

We often think about the environmental impact of what you eat, but what about the human impact? 

Here, Ben Purvis from our Sustainability Assessment team explains how Social Life Cycle Assessment (Social LCA) can help highlight the often-overlooked human impacts in our food systems, such as; fair wages and ethical labour, community resilience and cultural heritage protection.

Ben, Alex Newman and Rachael Rothman from the Grantham Centre, alongside Mauro Cruz Mercado, published an essay about assessing social and cultural sustainability in food systems in "Global Food Stories: Eating Cultures in Times of Transformation."

You can download the publication and read the full essay here (p. 62) to see how Social LCA can help us build a food system that is fair for both people and the planet.