What does Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluate?

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluates the environmental impact of a product throughout its entire life cycle, which includes all phases from creation to disposal. This comprehensive approach enables organizations to understand the full range of environmental effects linked to a product, including resource extraction, manufacturing processes, transportation, usage, and end-of-life disposal or recycling.

By assessing these stages, LCA helps identify opportunities for improvement in sustainability and can guide decision-making regarding product design, material choices, and waste management. It serves as a critical tool in making more environmentally conscious decisions, aligning production and consumption patterns with sustainability goals. The focus on the entire life cycle distinguishes LCA from other assessments that may only consider specific phases or factors, underlining its importance in comprehensive environmental management.