Reducing Carbon Footprint of Products (CFP) in the Value Chain

“System” is derived from the Greek word “systema” meaning an organised whole. A system constitutes a complex combination of subsystems and interacting system elements. A product, therefore, can be described as a system. A system must have a purpose: It must be functional and able to respond to some identified needs and requirements over its entire life cycle. The system boundaries describe the interface between the system under study and the environment, the system under study and other interrelated systems. Material and energy crossing the system boundaries are defined as inputs to, or outputs from, the system. Man-made systems consume energy and operate within the natural system, referred to as the environment. The effect of man-made systems on natural systems are a subject for study as these effects are often undesirable. To understand these effects, and their impacts, the system’s interactions and interchanges with the environment must be analysed at each system level for all the life cycle phases of the system. This approach has not been taken into consideration sufficiently in earlier analyses of systems (Kellogg, 1981).