Fruela Pérez Sánchez is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) specialist at ITENE research center, a technological center in R&D in packaging, logistics, transport and mobility in Valencia, Spain. Within SSbD4CheM, he is leading the work package dealing with the sustainability assessment across the LCA.
Tell us a bit about yourself. What is your area of expertise?
Fruela Pérez Sánchez: My professional expertise is in sustainability, with a strong focus on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Carbon Footprint calculations. I specialise in conducting LCA studies, identifying key areas of environmental impact and developing strategies to reduce emissions and resource consumption. I have an academic background in Industrial Chemical Engineering, complemented by a Masters in Environmental Engineering.
How does your specific work package “Sustainability assessment across the life cycle assessment” contribute to the project?
FPS: This work package plays a key role in ensuring that the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework is based on robust ex-ante LCA methodologies, enabling early environmental assessment of next generation chemicals and materials before they reach commercialisation. By improving LCA scenario modelling, uncertainty analysis and socio-economic sustainability assessment, WP6 will support decision making in product and process development for the three case studies (automotive, textiles and cosmetics).
What is the most exciting thing about the activities in your work package?
FPS: From my point of view, applying these sustainability assessment methodologies to real case studies—such as PFAS-free coatings for textiles, cellulose nanofibers in cosmetics, and renewable composites for the automotive industry—makes our work highly impactful. By bridging science, industry, and policy, our WP ensures that new materials and processes are not only technically feasible but also environmentally responsible, economically viable, and socially acceptable from the very beginning.
- Fruela Pérez Sánchez
Life Cycle Assessment Specialist at ITENE“By applying sustainability assessment methodologies to real case studies—from PFAS-free coatings in textiles to renewable composites in the automotive sector—we’re ensuring that new materials are not only innovative, but also environmentally responsible, economically viable, and socially acceptable from the very beginning.”
From your point of view, who can benefit the most from the project?
FPS: From my perspective, the primary beneficiaries of the SSbD4CheM project are chemical manufacturers and downstream industries that depend on access to safer and more sustainable materials. These stakeholders will be able to use the project’s tools to design products with lower environmental and health risks, allowing them to innovate while staying aligned with evolving EU regulations. In parallel, regulators and policymakers will benefit from the project by gaining access to scientifically robust methodologies and transparent data that support more informed, evidence-based decision-making. Ultimately, society as a whole stand to gain through the reduced environmental footprint and improved human health outcomes associated with the development and adoption of safer chemical innovation.
