Product life cycle assessment
Product life cycle assessments (LCAs) assess the overall environmental impacts caused by a system of production, use and disposal processes (known as the value chain or the “product life-cycle”) necessary to provide a specific product.
Why perform a life cycle assessment?
The purpose of life cycle studies is to assess the environmental impacts of potential product substitutions (the choice of one product system instead of another).
Examples of life cycle assessments (LCAs)
- LCA for food products
- Strategic LCAs for waste management
- LCAs for environmental labels
How is an LCA performed?
You need not be bothered with all the technical details. But if you are interested in the more technical aspects, there are lots of references to textbook stuff and other publications at our tools and publications pages.