LCA Value1
Mapping a Product's
Enviro-Impact Across Its Whole Life-Cycle |
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Extraction and processing of raw
materials
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Manufacturing of the product (and any
associated packaging and consumables)
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Use or operation of product
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End-of-life options (e.g. re-use,
re-manufacture, recycling, treatment, and disposal)
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Four Stages of the LCA Methodology1 |
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Definition of the goal and
scope
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Life-cycle inventory
analysis
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Life-cycle impact
assessment
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Life-cycle interpretation
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Cleaner Production Strategies |
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Eliminate residue streams
that contain substances under phase-out regulatory restrictions...
More
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LCA Methodology
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a process for
analyzing the environmental impacts generated over the entire life cycle of
a product from provision of raw materials to final disposal of the product.
The internationally agreed standard for LCA
has been developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation
(ISO), and this is documented in four environmental management system
standards (the ISO 14000 series). The methodology is generally broken up
into
four stages1: definition of the goal
and scope; life-cycle inventory analysis; life-cycle impact assessment, and
life-cycle interpretation.
Why and How of LCA
Conducting a highly detailed, quantitative LCA
is an extremely complex and time-consuming process. Several industry groups
or national organizations have sponsored broad studies of products such as
shoes, detergents, or basic materials like steel and cement. Due to the
level of resources required, however, many companies choose to either
undertake qualitative LCAs to prioritize issues or they settle for
approximate data results that indicate the order of magnitude of the
problem.
An LCA begins with mapping the life cycle of
the product, starting with the production of raw materials and moving
through the various stages of production (or manufacture), use, and
disposal. At each point, an inventory is created that identifies the
environmental impacts caused at that stage, including both pollution
emissions and resource depletion. Calculating the impacts of operations
under a company's direct control (i.e. typically manufacturing or assembly
of the product and perhaps distribution) is relatively straightforward.
However, accurately calculating the environmental impacts at other stages in
the life cycle, such as the manufacture of inputs or the use of the product,
is not always possible. Such calculations require access to information
about the facilities or operations of other organizations or of individual
consumers that may not be available and can only be estimated.
Computer-aided Modeling
Life cycle assessment is usually
considered as the basic principle for developing general guidelines to
evaluate how clean is clean. Computer-aided LCA "modeling methodology
categorizes and quantifies the environmental attributes of a certain product
within its life cycle into major impact groups, such as ozone depletion,
greenhouse-gas emission and acid rain, etc. Parameters and indicators are
defined to represent the different attributes. The LCA methodology consists
of inventory analysis, impact analysis and interpretation. It is not
straightforward and requires a huge number of data. It usually needs
professional service to perform a good and reliable LCA study."4
Simplified Approach
Approach to LCA During the Product Design Stage
Traditional life cycle assessment (LCA)
methodologies are accurate and accepted ways of analyzing environmental
burdens. However, a good LCA is time-consuming, expensive, and depends upon
having clear and reliable information about the product. The new trend is
towards simplified LCAs instead of undertaking complex and detailed
quantitative evaluations. It is particularly important to have a simplified
LCA methodology to support decisions at the conceptual stage of
product design. Decisions during the conceptual design stage have a
great effect on the environment impact of the product. However, the detailed
product information necessary for traditional quantitative LCA is often
unavailable. A simplified LCA approach, called a learning surrogate LCA, was
developed to make LCA predictions during the conceptual stages of design.3 |