Standing out in hyper-competitive markets is getting harder. Whether it’s food and beverage businesses, textile companies, or electronics manufacturers, finding and selling a point of difference to consumers that wins their trust (and wallet) while meeting the expectations of regulators is a complex dance.
It is no surprise then that LCAs - the assessment of a product’s environmental and social impacts - once seen as the sole domain of chief sustainability officers fulfilling their ESG obligations under specific reporting frameworks - have taken on a new life.
From fair-trade chocolate and organic cotton to nature-positive beers and product packaging, marketers are tapping into LCA insights to craft more compelling and credible product narratives tailored for different markets and consumers.
“This is a product labelling and marketing question, not just an ESG one,” says sustainability expert and PwC partner Scott Thompson. “It enables clients to understand what they can and can’t claim about sustainability and green credentials, and communicate it in a plain English way that resonates with customers and stands up to regulatory scrutiny.”
From backroom report to front-of-pack strategy
This recently hit PwC’s radar when the local subsidiary of a global company commissioned a life cycle assessment for a product it was launching in Australia.
The organisation knew the product had efficiency credentials, but it was looking for insights that would support customers’ purchasing decisions.
“The product was a smart solution designed to reduce energy usage, transport costs, and waste compared to its analogue alternative. Mindful of sustainability risks, the client sought clarity on the product’s impacts to underpin credible marketing communications” says Thompson.
LCAs assess impacts of a product, process, or service across the entire life cycle. This can start with the extraction of raw materials, or later in the process at the manufacturing stage, and model impacts through to end-of-life disposal or recycling.
Beyond environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions, water use, energy consumption, and deforestation the life-cycle perspective can also assess social and economic dimensions, including human rights and labour impacts, as well as cost evaluations.
“Our client wanted local data to test their marketing statements. We knew the analysis that would give them that was an LCA.”
Historically, there has been a limited market for using LCAs like this. They have primarily been used for internal decision-making or to satisfy ESG reporting obligations, with analysis framed around compliance and corporate sustainability goals.
“But now, in a world where everyone is highly attuned to legal implications, and increasingly aware of product labelling and greenwashing, there's real value in knowing what not to say”
Scott Thompson,Partner, ESG Assurance, PwC AustraliaBeyond risk: creating value, not just avoiding fines
In the 15 months to June 2024, ASIC made 47 regulatory interventions and commenced two civil proceedings for greenwashing.
For clients, an LCA can assist directors and management to review and substantiate public sustainability statements, reducing the risk of greenwashing allegations in Australia. It can also give fresh perspectives to inform product labelling, product design, and acquisition considerations, says PwC Managing Director Louise Halliwell. “Influencing buyers’ decisions is the value creation opportunity,” she says. “An LCA can provide data, transparency and comparative information to help businesses make decisions that they believe will influence their target market's purchasing practices.
“Beyond that, it’s about how to make your business more sustainably resilient so you start thinking about LCAs for products you haven’t yet released to market.”
Louise Halliwell,Managing Director, ESG Assurance, PwC AustraliaThat could be anything from integrating fair-trade cotton into textiles, to food and beverage companies moving away from aluminium and plastic packaging to biodegradable cartons, which can give a point of difference to influence customers’ purchasing practices.
A commercial oppurtunity for forward-thinking brands
In a world where cost of living pressure is real, but sustainability still matters, LCAs can help companies get the tone right. No ESG chest-beating — just smart, honest storytelling backed by real data.
“LCAs can be part of a broader value proposition, and an increasingly important driver behind Scope 3 emissions mapping.”
It’s why tailoring the approach and keeping the LCAs scope targeted rather than overly broad, means the result is more accessible for business beyond sustainability. It’s a tool that legal, marketing, product, sustainability, risk, and strategy teams can all use together — a rare thing in modern business.
Whether you are designing a product or navigating customer expectations, an LCA might be the smartest next step.
“This is exciting work,” says Halliwell. “It’s not only academic. It’s commercially relevant - and it’s where strategy, storytelling and sustainability intersect.”
While LCAs aren’t the answer to everything, they can certainly have a meaningful sustainability-focused role to play within the context of good governance frameworks and the evolving regulatory landscape.
