Product LCA

Life Cycle Assessment

The Life Cycle Assessment (Life Cycle Assessment) is one of the key tools for implementing a Integrated Products Policy, and the main tool of "Life Cycle Thinking". Life Cycle Assessment is an objective process to evaluate the environmental burdens associated with a product, process, or activity by identifying energy and materials used and wastes released to the environment (SETAC, 1990).

LCA studies analyze the environmental aspects and potential impacts throughout a product's life cycle from raw material acquisition through production, use and disposal (“from cradle-to-grave” approach)

Among tools designed for the industrial systems analysis, LCA is rapidly growing both at national and international level.

The procedures of life cycle assessment are part of the ISO 14040:2006 and 14044:2006 (ISO 14044 replaced earlier versions of ISO 14041 to ISO 14043):

UNI EN ISO 14040:2006: Principles and framework

UNI EN ISO 14044:2006: Requirements and guideline including:

In the EU the strategic importance of adopting LCA as a scientific tool to evaluate environmental aspects, is clearly described in the Green Paper 2001/68/CE COM and COM 2003/302 / EC on Integrated Products Policy, and it is suggested, at least indirectly, also within the European Regulations: EMAS (761/2001/CE) and Ecolabel 1980/2000/CE.

The LCA methodology may be used for a broad spectrum of application:

In particular, in the field of environmental management systems and tools, applications include: environmental management systems and environmental performance evaluation (ISO 14001,14004,14031, ISO/TR 14032); development of environmental criteria of a given product group (eco-labels type I, Ecolabel); Environmental Product Declaration (EPD: ISO 14020,14021,14025EPD); environmental communication (ISO 14063); validation, verification and certification of greenhouse gas emissions (ISO 14064).

Then there are a variety of potential further applications in private and public organizations. The list of techniques does not indicate that they are based on the LCA methodology as such, but that the life cycle approach can be beneficially applied. These are, amongst others: environmental impact assessment (EIA); substance and materials flow analysis (SFA and MFA); hazard and risk assessment of chemicals; risk analysis and risk management of facilities and plants; product stewardships, supply chain management; design briefs, life cycle thinking; life cycle costing (LCC)