What is LCA?
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a method that assesses the environmental impact of a product, service or process throughout its life cycle. In general terms, it covers, for example, the stages of raw material procurement, manufacturing, use and final disposal. LCA creates fact-based information and serves as a measure of sustainability. This approach has become even more important as companies and organizations strive towards more sustainable products and more responsible business.
LCA Definition phase: objectives and scope
In the definition phase, Ecobio and the customer specify the objectives and scope of the work in accordance with ISO 14040 and other applicable guidelines. The phase also clarifies the life cycle stages to be taken into account in the work, the availability of source data and the applicability of the initial data. The scope and level of accuracy of LCA depends on who the customer wants to communicate the results to. Usually, the initial data used have been collected during the year preceding the calculation.
Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)
In the second phase of the work, Ecobio will create a life cycle calculation model using SimaPro software and enter the data used in the calculations. Ecobio uses the calculation model to perform LCI calculations, which result in a life cycle inventory, i.e. a lifecycle balance of substances and energy. The work utilises information obtained from the customer, which is supplemented with generic data obtained from specific databases.
Impact Assessment (LCIA) and results
In the third phase of the work, Ecobio uses SimaPro software to perform product life cycle impact assessment calculations based on LCI calculations. The result is LCIA profiles describing the significance of environmental impacts as a basis for the interpretation phase of the results.
“LCA creates fact-based information and serves as a measure of sustainability.”
Interpretation, sensitivity analysis and reporting of results
The interpretation of the results brings together the findings of the inventory analysis and impact assessment and assesses their relationship to the objectives and scope. The interpretation phase produces results in accordance with the objectives and scope, on the basis of which conclusions can be drawn, limitations clarified, and recommendations made.
Life cycle assessment provides a comprehensive picture of the environmental impacts of products or services. It helps companies make more responsible decisions and communicate them to their stakeholders.
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