Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA)

Why conduct LCA?
1. Minimise the magnitude of pollution
2. Conserve non-renewable resources
3. Conserve ecological systems
4. Develop and utilise cleaner technologies
5. • Maximise recycling of materials/waste
6. • Apply the most appropriate pollution prevention and/or abatement techniques
How is LCA used?
1. By manufacturers
  1. Product development
  2. Product improvement
  3. Product comparison
2. By public policymakers
  1. Environmental labelling
Steps in LCA
1. 1) Life-cycle inventory
2. 2) Life-cycle impact assessment
3. 3) Life-cycle improvement analysis
Planning an LCA Project
1. • Determine objectives
  1. – Why is the LCA being conducted?
2. • Define product under study and its alternatives
  1. What is its function?
  2. What is an appropriate functional unit?
3. • Choose system boundaries
  1. What inputs and outputs will be studied?
  2. How will data be collected?
The Functional Unit
1. Especially critical in LCAs conducted to compare products
  1. Plastic VS. Paper bag
Uncertainty in Results of Life-Cycle Inventories
1. • Use of regional or global data
2. • Poor quality data
3. • Unavailable data
SUMMARY
1. • Assumptions made when choosing system boundaries and data sources
2. • LCAs are a tool for assessing and minimising the impact of human activities.
3. • Life-cycle stages of a product include raw material acquisition, manufacturing, use and disposal.
4. LCA techniques have been adopted in industry and the public sector to serve a variety of purposes.
5. • Choices made during the planning phase of an LCA have a profound impact on the results obtained. The choice of functional unit, particularly when LCAs are conducted to compare products, is especially influential.

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Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA)

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