Internal tool for environmental analysis, European subcontractors, 2023

This document presents the structure, methodology and intended use of an internal Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based tool developed by CNR-STIIMA for Vibram Spa to evaluate the environmental impacts of soles produced by five European subcontractors (three in Italy and two in the Czech Republic). The tool models impacts according to a cradle-to-gate approach using primary data collected from subcontractors and secondary data from the Ecoinvent 3.8 Cut-off database. The report describes the organisational goals, the scope of the assessment, system boundaries, functional units, and the modelling assumptions adopted. Environmental impacts are calculated following EPD 2018 / GPI 4.0 methodologies across multiple categories, including Global Warming Potential, Acidification, Eutrophication, Photochemical Ozone Formation, Ozone Depletion, Abiotic Depletion (minerals & fossil), and Water Scarcity. The document details the architecture of the tool: seven visible sheets to analyse plant-level and product-level impacts, and fifteen hidden sheets containing mix compositions, material datasets, utilities, and internal calculation structures. The tool enables Vibram to: monitor the environmental impact of each product and batch produced by subcontractors; assess the overall environmental performance of each plant; compare impacts for identical rubber mixes manufactured in different plants and identify hotspots driven by raw materials and utilities.