About

Six years ago, Ecoras, an environmental consultancy based in Groningen, recognized a growing need in the market: businesses were looking for credible ways to understand and improve the environmental impact of their products. While the company had conducted a few life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, it wasn’t yet a core focus. That changed when they decided to build an in-house team dedicated to LCA.

Today, their team includes 13 environmental consultants, five of whom specialize in LCA. Together, they support clients ranging from startups to international players in sectors like plastics, chemicals, agri-food, and electronics. The team’s interdisciplinary background, spanning environmental science, chemical engineering, and biomedical research, enables them to tackle diverse sustainability challenges with depth and precision.

As demand for sustainability services has grown, particularly in response to evolving EU regulations, LCA has become a key part of their service portfolio, alongside carbon footprinting, circular economy projects, and strategic sustainability consulting.

The challenge

When Ecoras began offering LCA as a service, they needed more than just a calculation tool. They were looking for software that combined analytical depth with flexibility and extensive data coverage. Some consultants from the Ecoras team had used SimaPro during their university studies and were already familiar with its structure and potential. That early experience helped shape the team’s decision to adopt SimaPro Craft as their primary LCA tool.

Solution and benefits

Over the past 5 years, SimaPro Craft has become Ecoras’ go-to tool for delivering robust and actionable LCA insights. The software’s transparency and analytical features have proven essential for their team:

• In-depth insight: With the ability to dive deep into unit processes, Ecoras consultants can trace environmental contributions back to their sources, which empowers sharper analysis and better client advice.
• Analytical power: The possibility to customize processes, view the network diagram, and easily switch impact indicators allows the team to quickly identify environmental hotspots and explore scenarios.
• Data flexibility: The wide range of life cycle inventory databases, such as ecoinvent, Agribalyse, and Agri-footprint, provides the data coverage needed for sector-specific insights.

We really appreciate the option to dive into unit processes in SimaPro Craft. By tracing environmental contributions back to their sources, we can sharpen our analysis and offer clearer guidance to our clients.

Micha Klaarenbeek, Managing Partner, Lead Impact Analysis at Ecoras

To build confidence within their growing team, the consultancy enrolled in multiple training courses from PRé Sustainability, the developer of SimaPro. These included both live sessions and more recently, the new self-paced online course on Effective LCA with SimaPro Craft.

The training courses offered by PRé have been very helpful in ensuring all team members are confident in using SimaPro. Our newest team member completed the self-paced course and found it a modern and interactive way to gain skills quickly.

Micha Klaarenbeek, Managing Partner, Lead Impact Analysis at Ecoras

This capability directly translates into value for the clients of Ecoras. In a recent project, the consultancy conducted an ISO-certified LCA for a pet food company. By modeling plant-based dog snacks in SimaPro Craft, they uncovered significant variations in environmental impact based on the sourcing of one ingredient – rice.

We were able to show how different sourcing options for the rice influenced the product’s total footprint. That gave our client the insight to adjust their sourcing strategy and optimize the product design to lower its environmental impact.

Micha Klaarenbeek, Managing Partner, Lead Impact Analysis at Ecoras

The project illustrated how LCA can support sustainability from the earliest stages of product development, not just as a reporting tool, but as a guide to better decisions.

Looking ahead

With SimaPro Craft, Ecoras has built a reliable foundation for delivering high-quality LCA insights to their clients. As regulatory pressure and client expectations continue to evolve, Ecoras is equipped with the right tools, training, and mindset to help businesses navigate the complexity of life cycle assessment and act on LCA insights with confidence.