Creating Social Value in Bristol
Policy & Partnership Toolkit for Commissioners& Providers
Whole Life Hierarchy
The Whole Life Hierarchy goes beyond single-topic behavioural hierarchies to address
economic, environmental, and social impacts at all stages of the lifecycle. This will help
Bristol City Council apply circular economic principles strategically.
How to use the Whole Life Hierarchy: Use the first relevant option, unless it would
interfere with another policy commitment, or another option offers a more positive mix of
economic, environmental and social impacts1.
Efficiency (protect and use resources as efficiently as possible):
Protect what you already have. That includes local communities, businesses, cultural and
individual identities, diversity, economies, employment, environments, health, investments,
learning, natural services, individuals, opportunities, properties, material resources,
reputation, resilience and rights:
 Prevent damage, discrimination, distress, injury, pollution, and poverty, and react
swiftly if they occur.
 Consult, collaborate and influence to design outcomes that manage impacts and
meet all stakeholder needs.
 Enable and support active community engagement as part of green and healthy
lifestyles.
 Enable and support access to education, training and skills that learners and
employers need to achieve their potential, and to innovate, work, grow and prosper
sustainably.
 Encourage and support fair and flexible contracts, pay, working conditions,
childcare, and travel arrangements.
 Continually and transparently improve, monitor and report our performance on our
impacts associated with air quality, emissions, energy, land, legal compliance,
travel and water consumption.
Replace the use of materials and goods with physical activities and digital services that
avoid the need to use materials.
Plan the use of goods, materials and services on whole lifecycle basis, to avoid
inefficiency, poor design, short term decisions and compromised performance. Plan cost
effective, affordable solutions that use the available expertise and skills to deliver high
quality results that contribute to corporate priorities
Optimise resource use through the appropriate selection of materials, products and
business models (and the quantities in which they are bought), then using them properly
and sharing, repairing, refurbishing and upgrading them as needed.
Simplify processes and systems to minimise opportunities for delay, duplication and
human error by avoiding unnecessary choices, using multifunctional products, and by
automating data collection, demand management, and fault detection.
Manage, licence and regulate individuals, organisations, assets, tenders, processes,
services and the local environment at the right level of detail to ensure fairness,
transparency, efficiency and legality.
Creating Social Value in Bristol
Policy & Partnership Toolkit for Commissioners& Providers
Adapt processes to use improved goods, materials, methods and technologies, as well as
wastes from other processes.
Reuse and reclaim goods and materials wherever relevant and possible. Source products
and packaging that can be reused.
Use free natural inputs (such as rainwater, sunlight and wind) and source goods and
materials made through using them wherever relevant and possible, without degrading
natural services, or using an unfair share of natural resources.
Remanufacture redundant products and source remanufactured goods, wherever
relevant and possible. Remanufacture means reassembling used components into new
products with minimal changes, such as trimming and rewelding.
Recycle redundant materials and source recycled goods and materials, wherever relevant
and possible. Upcycling into more recyclable, useful, or durable products will be preferred
to closed loop recycling and downcycling. Recycling means separating materials and fully
reprocessing them into new products, such as melting or repulping.
Substitute potentially harmful or high impact goods and materials with lower impact
alternatives, including biodegradable, renewable and sustainably certified materials.
Promote low impact behaviours and products in organisations and supply chains through
investment, networking, partnership, trade and sharing knowledge and value.
Recover energy from wastes that are not readily usable in other ways by recovering
wasted energy, and by sourcing or producing fuels that meet relevant sustainability
requirements (such as the UK Timber Standard for Heat and Electricity).
Dispose of redundant goods and materials without energy recovery only if it is not
technically feasible.
1
The hierarchy is suitable for most situations, but there are exceptions where a different order works better.