Alfonso Meets Maria: Life Cycle Assessment for Circularity

The case presents a critical moment in sustainability decision-making, where rigorous environmental analysis conflicts with public corporate commitments. Alfonso Martínez, a young academic conducting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) research for GreenTech Industries (GTI), discovers that the company’s flagship remanufacturing programme—publicly positioned as environmental leadership—may actually be increasing carbon emissions in most markets. Working with Maria Kovács, the company’s Director of Sustainability, Alfonso must develop recommendations that reconcile the evidence with organisational reality.
Alfonso’s analysis reveals several uncomfortable truths and interesting nuances that every practising manager involved in environmental sustainability–related decision-making needs to understand.

This case is particularly well suited for degree programmes or executive education in sustainability leadership because it challenges the assumption that circular economy strategies are inherently beneficial, demonstrates the critical importance of rigorous analysis in environmental decision-making, and requires participants to navigate the organisational politics involved in revising course on high-profile initiatives.
The central lesson of the case is methodological, not prescriptive. Circular economy strategies require the same rigorous analysis as any business decision: understanding whether products are production-dominated or use-dominated; calculating break-even displacement rates; modelling actual displacement versus market expansion; considering geographic context and grid carbon intensity; and examining multiple environmental categories rather than relying on carbon footprint alone. This discipline helps well-intentioned programmes identify where they deliver genuine benefits that might otherwise go unrecognised.