Mastering Life Cycle Assessment: Steps, Software, and Impact Analysis

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provides a holistic, science-based, detailed and robust environmental impact assessment. How does it work?

Table of contents

Introduction to life cycle assessment

Steps for conducting a life cycle assessment

Advantages of a life cycle assessment

How are environmental impacts recorded?Environmental impact categories

Hotspots

Software solutions for life cycle assessment

Databases for life cycle analysis

Conclusion

Introduction to life cycle assessment

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an important tool for evaluating the environmental impact of products, services or processes over their entire life cycle. It makes it possible to identify, quantify and evaluate environmental impacts along the entire value chain. By taking into account the extraction of raw materials, production, use, disposal and recycling, it is possible to gain comprehensive insights into the environmental impact. Especially beyond the pure CO2e consideration.

Why is a lifecycle assessment important for environmental evaluation?

The LCA makes it possible to identify environmental impacts that might otherwise be overlooked. It helps to reduce environmental impacts, improve resource efficiency and develop more environmentally friendly products and processes.

Companies and organizations can use LCA to optimize their products and processes to minimize environmental impacts. This can not only lead to cost savings, but also strengthen the environmental image and sustainability efforts, because the process also puts these efforts on a serious footing through ISO standardization - in contrast to purchased green claims.

LCAs are also central to the Green Claims Directive, which counters greenwashing with verifiable facts.

Steps for carrying out a life cycle assessment

1. Determining the objective and scope of the analysis: The objective of the LCA must be defined at the beginning. For example, should the environmental impact of a specific product be assessed over its entire life cycle? Or is the focus on optimizing a specific process? The scope of the analysis determines which environmental impacts are to be considered and within which system boundaries.

2. Data collection - Life cycle inventory (LCI): Data collection is a crucial step that requires accurate information on energy consumption, emissions, waste generation and other environmental impacts. Primary data from your own company as well as secondary data from literature, databases and industry reports are collected.

3. Implementation - Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA): The actual analysis is carried out using the collected data. Various environmental indicators such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, water consumption and land use are taken into account.

4. Interpretation of the results and derivation of recommendations for action: The results of the LCA are interpreted to identify the hotspots of environmental impact. On this basis, recommendations for action can be derived in order to reduce environmental impacts and achieve sustainability goals.

This LCA follows this scheme:

This is also standardized with the ISO standards 14040 and 14044 .

Advantages of a life cycle assessment

The results of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can help companies, policy makers and other organizations make more informed decisions to drive sustainability. It provides important data that can support the following areas:

• Improving processes and product design
• Marketing (e.g. supporting environmental claims or meeting consumer demand for green products)
• Hot-spot analysis to drive continuous improvement
• Third party verification or certification for e.g.Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)
• Method for quantifying key aspects of environmental impact (e.g. greenhouse gas, carbon emissions, water consumption and energy use)
• Objectives for climate change and other sustainability strategies
  
  

How are environmental impacts measured?

Sustainability can seem like an abstract idea. A Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) helps to make it concrete and actionable by looking at the environmental impacts scientifically.

Industrial activities interact with the environment in many ways. Some of these interactions are immediate, while others may take place far from the company's actual location, thanks to the reach of global supply chains. Industry, in all its forms, involves many activities and processes - consuming a variety of resources and emitting different substances. An LCA helps to determine the extent to which these material exchanges with the environment are harmful to both natural ecosystems and human health. This is also useful in the context of the TNFD.

When conducting an LCA, an analyst establishes metrics to quantify the various inputs (e.g., energy, water, resources, land) and outputs (e.g., emissions, waste, products) that occur during the life cycle of an industrial process, technology, or product. It enables an assessor to map the flows of energy, resources and materials into and out of a system. These are objective measurements that track specific quantities such as volume, mass or weight. They are collected as part of the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI).

The LCI data is later interpreted in the analysis during the Life Cycle Inventory Assessment (LCIA) to represent the actual impact on the environment or human health. For example, a certain volume of petroleum may be used to produce a plastic fork. This is recorded in the LCI. In the LCIA, this measurement is used to calculate how much this contributes to global warming.

Environmental impact categories

Each LCA sets out specific environmental impact categories that guide the direction of the LCIA. There are many different LCA methodologies and each utilizes a unique set of categories. However, there are general types that are found in all methods, although different formulations and metrics may be used.

• Climate change (contribution to global warming)
• Acidification (contribution to the occurrence of acid rain)
• Energy (cumulative energy demand and loss during a life cycle)
• Eutrophication (the release of nitrogen and phosphorus leading to algal blooms)
• Radiation
• land use
• Air pollution
• Resource depletion
• Water consumption
• Ecotoxicity (the release of toxins that are harmful to life)

These categories can be applied almost 1:1 to the concept of planetary boundaries:

Since 2009, researchers at the Stockholm Resilience Center have identified nine quantitative limits within which humanity can continue to thrive for generations. Exceeding these limits increases the risk of large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental changes. By 2023, we will have already exceeded six of the nine planetary boundaries.

Hotspots

When assessing the environmental impact of a product or industrial activity, an LCA is used to identify hotspots. These are points in the life cycle that have a significant negative impact on the environment. Often the resolution of hotspots becomes the cornerstone of the sustainability plan based on a full LCA.

One example is the LCA of OneFive, a plastic alternative for PET packaging:

While 4 out of 5 categories are very positive, the opposite is true for the land use hotspot, because the main input kraft paper requires land use. However, this could be reduced through the use of recycling sources.

Software solutions for life cycle analysis

Various software solutions are available for carrying out life cycle analyses. These range from comprehensive LCA software packages to specialized tools for specific industries or applications. Common software solutions include SimaPro, GaBi, openLCA and Ecochain.

When comparing the different software options, features such as database access, modeling capabilities, ease of use and reporting capabilities should be considered. The selection of the appropriate software solution depends on the specific requirements and the scope of the planned life cycle analysis.

Databases for life cycle assessment

Environmental impact assessment databases play an important role in conducting LCAs. They contain comprehensive data sets on the environmental impacts of various materials, processes and technologies. Well-known databases include Ecoinvent, ELCD, US LCI Database and Ökobau.dat.

When selecting a database for LCA, it is important to consider the environmental indicators it contains, the timeliness of the data and its applicability to different industries. Effective use of databases helps to achieve accurate and reliable results in the assessment of environmental impacts.

Conclusion

Life cycle assessment is an indispensable tool for assessing environmental impacts and promoting environmental sustainability. Companies and organizations can use LCA to achieve their sustainability goals and strengthen their environmental image. The selection of the appropriate software solution and database as well as the careful implementation of the LCA are crucial for meaningful results and well-founded recommendations for action. For example, the venture capital fund Planet A uses LCAs to assess start-ups and their impact: Planet A LCAs.

The importance of life cycle analysis will continue to grow in the future as sustainability and environmental protection become increasingly important for companies and organizations. The continuous development of software solutions and databases will help to facilitate the performance of LCAs and improve the accuracy of the results.

If you have any questions, suggestions or further information on lifecycle assessments, please feel free to contact me at any time. As an expert, I am at your disposal and happy to help. Together we can ensure that your company meets the requirements, that your image as an environmentally conscious player is strengthened and that you benefit from the advantages of an LCA in the long term.