A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a scientific method that is used to calculate the impact of a product or service on the environment. Why is it relevant? Well, whenever we try to make sustainable decisions – in business, politics or our personal lives – LCA provides science-based, comprehensive environmental information.
Making sustainable decisions is more critical than ever. Our natural world is heating up at an unprecedented rate. Aside from climate change, there are other ways that human activities influence the environment. We affect the environment with everything we do. Simple things like driving, using water, or throwing away waste all impact the environment in different ways, which in turn can affect human health.
An LCA helps us make responsible decisions – business could ask themselves:
- How can our products be more sustainable?
- Is it more important to make our products energy-efficient, or to reduce material consumption?
- Should we aim to recycle or use bio-based materials? And how much of a difference does that make?
These are not simple questions, as there are countless factors involved. For example:
- Which raw materials are involved in the production process, and where do they come from? What about soil, seeds, and fertilizer?
- How do my goods get produced? What about heating, water, and ventilation?
- How do the goods get transported? Via truck, rail, or airplane?
An LCA accounts for all these factors and translates them into environmental impact. This makes options comparable and reveals potential environmental trade-offs, enabling evidence-based decisions rather than relying on gut feel or popular notions of sustainability.
Further, an LCA splits the assessment into several product life cycle phases – from raw material extraction, processing, retail, product use to when it is discarded (or recycled etc). This allows you to track environmental impact across several phases or hone in on one.
In short: a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is THE scientific method to measure the environmental impact of a product or service.
Whether you’re a CSR manager working towards your company’s sustainability goals, or a product designer wanting to better understand the impact of material and production processes, LCA can help. These are the four most common ways LCA is used to create value for businesses:
1. Ecodesign
To incorporate true sustainability into design practices, you need insight into the impact of the changes you want to make. LCA shows you exactly which materials, processes and life-cycle-stage cause which impact. This enables you to focus your sustainability efforts, and create your products as sustainably as possible! Reducing environmental impacts through your product design is called ecodesign. Ecodesign incorporates policy, regulations and customer demand, often resulting in more efficient use of company resources.
2. More sustainable supply chains
In many industries, the supply chain accounts for more than 80% of their environmental impact. Therefore, incorporating sustainability into your procurement practices can have a massive impact on your product’s environmental footprint.
3. Valid sustainability claims
Many people prefer sustainable products and want companies to do more for the environment. However, greenwashing scandals have taught consumers to look behind the “green” facade and ask for environmental data. LCA offers reliable environmental data about products. With data, you reduce greenwashing risk, gain trust, and help empower consumers to buy more responsibly.
Additionally, legislation can require businesses to report on their environmental impact. In the Netherlands, for example, calculating the environmental footprint of construction projects is required to submit tenders for public procurement. Another example is the European CSRD, a regulation that will soon require many businesses to report on their environmental footprint
4. Improved reputation
Knowing the complete environmental impact (not only carbon) of your entire product portfolio creates an enormous opportunity to care for people and the planet. Sustainable companies attract talent and capital and develop better reputations.
As you can see, every department of a company can benefit from performing a LCA. To perform a LCA, you can use LCA Assessment software. Many tools exist and depending on your specific job-to-be-done, one or more tools can suit your needs. The most common tools used are Simapro, Gabi, Ecochain, and OpenLCA. Check out the full list here.