The beginning of February 2025 saw the presentation of bw_timex, an open-source tool developed as part of the ForestPaths project, at an event by the Swiss Discussion Forum on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in Zurich. This edition was titled “The use of prospective LCA to support sustainability transitions”. It brought together experts for a deliberation on LCA as an important method for evaluating the factors shaping the transition from sourcing to manufacturing to end use for products in the agri-forestry sector.

In the context of lively discussions on the application of LCA approaches and instruments in the sector, ForestPaths was represented by Giuseppe Cardellini of the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO). His session revolved around bw_timex as a testament to the importance of accounting for temporal changes in supply chains when conducting LCAs. In that sense, attendees were treated to a practical demonstration of the tool performing a time-explicit LCA. This function harmonises the time dimension in the assessment, accounting for the actual state of technology and emissions at the time when a process in the supply chain is occurring. Overall, this leads to increased accuracy of the results of environmental impact assessments.

The full recording of the presentation can be found via this link. You can also read more about ForestPaths’ development of open-source LCA tools here and about bw_timex’ s previous presentation to the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) here.