Life Cycle Assessment: how it works and its potential areas of application

Protecting the environment form the potential impacts associated with manufactured and consumed products has become a matter of extreme importance today.

Various techniques have been developed to address this need and consequently reduce environmental impact.

One of the most efficient decision-making tools adopted as a solution is the LCA, or Life Cycle Assessment.

But how does LCA work? What are the characteristics and phases that give it scientific validity? In this article, we will throughly examine all the most important steps and concepts that define this methodology.

Regarding Life Cycle Assessment, there are two normative documents to reference:

• the European standard EN ISO 14040
• the European standard EN ISO 14044

LCA is an extremely valuable method for designing a sustainable strategy for one’s organization. There are several reasons why this technique is employed; in particular, it is highly effective:

• to improve the environmental performance of products across the different stages of their life cycle
• to provide important information to industries and organizations involved in strategic planning, or the redesign of products or processes
• to assist in selecting pertinent environmental performance indicators along with their respective measurement techniques
• to implement a marketing strategy focused on sustainability

Thus, we can observe how the LCA addresses environmental aspects and potential impacts throughout the entire product life cycle, form the acquisition of raw materials, through manufacturing and use, up to end-of-life treatment, recycling and final disposal.

There are several aspects that characterize this analysis methodology: first and foremost, it should be noted that there is no single method for conducting the LCA. In fact, every organization has the necessary flexibility to implement the LCA in conformity with the relevant international standard.

Furthermore, it differs from other techniques because it is a relative approach based on a functional unit – that is, the quantified performance of a product system to be used as a reference unit.

Additionally, it can be stated that Life Cycle Assessment does not provide for absolute environmental impacts.

Let’s proceed by briefly introducing the four phases that characterize this technique, before delving into them in detail later.

In this case, the scope includes the system boundaries, which define which processes and phases of a product’s life cycle are included in the study.

Meanwhile, the level of detail of the LCA depends on the subjects and the intended use for the study. Furthermore, the depth and breadth can differ considerably depending on the objective.

This involves inventorying the input and output data related to the system under study, which is defined by the acronym LCI (Life Cycle Inventory). It will, therefore, represent the collection of necessary data required to achieve the study’s defined goals.

This assessment, defined by the term LCIA (Life Cycle Impact Assessment), aims to provide additional information to help evaluate the results of the product system’s LCI, thereby leading to a better understanding of their environmental significance.

In this final phase, the LCI and LCIA results are summarized and discussed, based on the definition of the goal and scope. These discussions will then become the basis for conclusions, recommendations and decisions.

The principles on which the LCA is based are of fundamental relevance and must be used as a guiding framework:

The LCA considers a product’s entire life cycle, including the extraction and acquisition of raw materials, moving through the manufacturing and production of materials and energy, up to end-of-life treatment and final disposal.

The environmental aspects and impacts of a product system are the main issues addressed. Optionally, additional tools may be integrated to evaluate economic and social aspects.

We are referring to a relative approach, structured around a functional unit, which defines the subject of the study. Therefore, subsequent analyses will also be relative to the functional unit and, consequently, the LCIA profile will also be correlated with the functional unit.

There is an interdependence between the results of the different phases of the LCA, which ensures the study’s completeness and coherence.

In order to ensure a correct interpretation of the results, transparency is necessary to understand the intrinsic complexity of the LCA.

All attributes or aspects related to the natural environment, human health and resources are considered.

All decisions made are preferably based on natural sciences.

Let’s assume we want to conduct an LCA, taking into consideration two types of shopping bags: a) single-use plastic bags, b)reusable cloth bags

1) Goal and Scope definition

In this case, the goal is to compare the environmental impact of plastic bags versus cloth bags throughout their life cycle. Regarding the scope, we consider all life cycle phases, from production to use, up to end-of-life. Finally, we establish the functional unit, for instance, the reuse of the bag for a certain number of time (e.g., 100 uses).

2) Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) analysis

This phase focuses on the collection and analysis of data related to resource use and emissions at every life cycle stage:

• raw material extraction
• production
• distribution
• use
• end-of-life

3) Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)

With data in hand, it is time to move on to impact assessment, analyzing the environmental effects of the collected data. We proceed by categorizing the impacts:

• greenhouse gas emissions
• resource consumption
• pollution

4) Analysis of results and final considerations

Finally, in the fourth and final phase, an overall analysis of the collected data is performed through the drafting of a detailed Report including the recommendations that emerged from the analysis.

In our LCA example (single-use plastic bags vs reusable cloth bags), it could be concluded that, although cloth bags have a greater impact during the production phase, their repeated use significantly reduces their overall environmental impact.

As final recommendations, one could promote the use of reusable cloth bags to reduce the pollution caused by single-use items, while the limitations in this case would concern the possible uncertainty in the data and the assumptions made during the study.

In light of all this, a critical review remains good practice to check that the LCA study satisfies the requirements regarding methodology, data, interpretation and communication

There are multiple applications of LCA within the field of environmental management systems and tools. These may include:

• environmental management systems and environmental performance evaluation (ISO 14001, ISO 14404, ISO 14031, ISO/TR 14032)
• environmental labels and declarations (ISO 14020, ISO 14021, ISO14025)
• design for environment (ISO/TR 14062)
• inclusion of environmental aspects in product standards (ISO Guide 64)
• environmental communication (ISO 14063)
• quantification, monitoring and reporting of project entities and emissions and removals, as well as the validation, verification and certification of greenhouse emissions (ISO 14064)

Determining the cost of an LCA is not simple, as there are multiple variables to take into consideration:

• the complexity of the product to be analyzed
• the quality and availability of data
• the time required for completion
• the specific needs of each client

If you require a quote, please do not hesitate to contact us for further information!

Thus, we have seen how LCA is a powerful decision-making tool based on scientific data. In particular, the LCA analysis is advantageous when employed in an Eco-design project, as it allows unnecessary energy emissions to be calculated and avoided upstream.

Furthermore, using effective communication to disseminate the results is an aspect of extreme relevance: the results should, in fact, be presented in a way that is easily understandable, complete and coherent. Consequently, communication will be adapted to the intended audience, with a view to maximum transparency.

In conclusion, it is worth remembering that LCA is a methodology that can be applied to different studies and various environmental labels.