Life cycle profitability analysis and LCA by simulating material and money flows

The authors propose a simulation-based approach to the evaluation of a product´s life cycle including recycling and reuse from the viewpoints of not only environmental impact but also the profitability of every company´s business related to the life cycle. The flow of the material and money among the companies concerned with the life cycle are modeled and simulated. The simulation reveals whether each of the companies obtains a profit and how strong the environmental impact is. The simulation also shows the change in the environmental impact and profit with the passage of time. The modeling and simulation for a copier drum is presented as a validation example