Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies the environmental aspects and potential impacts throughout a product's life (i.e. cradle-to-grave) from raw material acquisition through production, use and disposal (International Standard ISO 14040).
An LCA collects available environmental factors from the time resources are extracted from nature to the time when the used materials are returned back to nature; a so-called ‘Cradle to Grave’ process. For example, from oil extraction, through oil refining for fuels and chemicals, through the use of those fuels and chemicals to manufacture products, followed by the consumption of resources during product use and finally to the disposal of the product after its useful life is complete. ‘Industry’ provides the consumer services by connecting several industrial processes together in what can be complicated networks involving many classes of industry like basic chemicals, power generation, transport, retail sales and waste collection/disposal. To start a LCA, environmental data has to be collected across all these different service groups and be compiled into one inventory, this inventory is called a LCI, or Life Cycle Inventory.
Collection of LCI data can be extremely costly and time consuming and often results in LCA studies being abandoned or inadequate because of poor and inconsistent LCI data. Good LCA’s demand sound LCI’s that subsequently contribute to making good judgements about environmental matters. The build up of a LCI puts together a whole series of smaller process data sets, either for individual processes or collections of individual processes. These will be prepared by many of the specific industry groupings for the connected processes that are under their control. Such ‘block’ collections of industry data are known as Eco-profiles. A collection of Eco-profiles can then be added together to form a complete LCI.
This procedure:
- reduces costs,
- saves time,
- provides reliable and accurate data,
- makes LCA studies easier to complete, more widely applicable, and as a consequence, assists with sound decisions on environmental management by appropriate bodies and authorities.