Explores Life Cycle Assessment for Sustainable Rare Earth Elements Recycling
Udine, Italy | 15 July 2026
The FREECOVER consortium successfully delivered Master Class #3 during the project’s Mid-Term Meeting (M18), hosted by the University of Udine.
The training session, entitled «FREECOVER and S-LCA: Driving Sustainable Innovation in Rare Earth Elements Recycling», was presented by Dr. Leonardo Piccinetti from Sustainable Innovation Technology Services (SITES Ltd.), introducing participants to Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) as key methodologies supporting sustainable innovation within the FREECOVER project.
The Master Class guided researchers through the fundamentals of Environmental LCA, Life Cycle Costing (LCC), and Social LCA, explaining how these complementary approaches provide evidence-based assessments of environmental, economic and social impacts across an entire product life cycle. Participants explored ISO 14040/14044 principles, ISO 14075:2024, UNEP Life Cycle Initiative guidance, and practical applications using openLCA.
Special attention was given to the role of S-LCA in evaluating impacts on workers, local communities, value-chain actors and society, ensuring that innovative recycling technologies are not only environmentally effective but also socially responsible.
The session also demonstrated how life cycle thinking directly supports Horizon Europe objectives, the European Green Deal, the Critical Raw Materials Act, Circular Economy strategies and responsible innovation. Researchers discussed how these methodologies can strengthen scientific decision-making while improving sustainability performance throughout the development of Rare Earth Element recovery technologies.
Through this capacity-building activity, FREECOVER continues to strengthen researchers’ expertise while promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange across the consortium.
