Developing sustainability reporting - Case Cargotec - Aaltodoc

According to the authors, identification of the system boundaries reveals what is covered and left
out by the report and how representative this is of the activities of the company as a whole. Then
the reliability of the reported information can be estimated through different quality tests, even
simple rules of thumb.
The second step of the procedure suggested by Kaenzig et al. (2011) builds on the previous step
and uses environmental burden and environmental influence matrices as a means to prioritise
potential environmental gains. Environmental impact studies such as life cycle assessment
provide information on the main impacts of the company’s products. They also reveal where
these impacts occur over the production–consumption–disposal chain. In combination with
studies about environmental risks of company activities, they can help to quickly focus on major
environmental impacts and potential environmental improvements. The quantitative assessment
should be complemented with a qualitative analysis of aspects that are not easily quantified. This
can be done with the environmental burden matrix, which presents the distribution of the
environmental impacts for each life cycle stage of a product. The authors propose a further step
to extend the environmental matrix approach to identify also key factors, key decisions, and key
actors. The environmental influence matrix shows the influence that different actors and their
decisions have on environmental performance at each life cycle stage. The level of influence is
indicated in comparison to the total environmental burden of a product over its whole life cycle.
Both of the matrices should base on expert interviews and on quantitative data when possible.
Based on the previous steps, the third step suggested by Kaenzig et al. (2011) consists of
determining which key performance indicators provide a relevant basis for environmental
evaluation. KPIs can be determined based on a comprehensive selection process (e.g. steps 1 and
2) and should reflect the key environmental issues of products, acknowledging the fact that
reducing the overall environmental impacts is easier at some life cycle stages than others. The
authors note that a limited number of indicators makes communication easier and allows for
following the improvement of key issues.
According to Kaenzig et al. (2011), each of the steps and tools proposed can be applied
independently from the other steps if the necessary data is available. Companies that have
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