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There is an increasing focus on the environmental emissions generated by different industrial processes and possible measures to reduce them. This may result in new production processes being put into use leading to more demanding conditions for its equipment, i.e., process vessels and piping systems.  Higher or lower temperatures, presence of more corrosive solutions, calls for more resistant materials. Initially, the sustainable transformation mainly concerns emissions in the production process (Scope 1), and secondly emissions from electricity (Scope 2). But ultimately, every component with significant influence on the emissions, such as raw materials and purchased goods (Scope 3) must be considered to reduce the overall carbon footprint of a produced product. Hence, a greener process calls for greener material solutions for its process equipment.

The challenge hereby is how the material specifier can compare different material solutions and draw unbiased conclusions of their respective environmental performance throughout the whole life cycle of the equipment including potential recycling. The existing tools (LCA) and data inventory to accomplish this task will be presented and limitations in its use will be discussed.