Life Cycle Analysis: A Powerful Tool for Sustainability

Life Cycle Analysis: A Powerful Tool for Sustainability

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a way of measuring the environmental impact of a product, process, or service from cradle to grave. It means looking at all the stages of its life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials, to the manufacturing, distribution, use, and disposal or recycling. An amazing array of elements are considered, including things like energy, water, materials, and land that are used or consumed, as well as the emissions and waste that are generated or released.

Used right, LCA is an amazing tool that can not only just help you understand the environmental consequences of your design choices but to find ways to reduce them. For product designers, its ability to help you compare different alternatives, and choose the most sustainable one allows for some serious innovation to take place. But it’s not always a simple, straightforward task. Many variables and functions (and their people) come into play that can make the process bumpy. It considers all relevant impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions, resource depletion, human health, biodiversity, waste generation, and social welfare.[1]

In short, LCA’s a systematic and holistic method of assessing the environmental, social, and economic impacts of a product or service from cradle to grave. It covers all stages of the life cycle, from raw material extraction, to manufacturing, to distribution, to consumption, to end-of-life treatment.

Let’s explore what LCA is and how it drives sustainability. It’s revolutionizing the way we approach design and having a profound ‘bottom line’ impact not just on the environment, but on businesses who use it.

Sustainable Materials Lifecycle Display

What is LCA and How Does It Work?

LCA is a scientific and standardized method of measuring and evaluating the environmental, social, and economic impacts of a product or service throughout its life cycle. It’s based on the following principles:[2]

• Life cycle perspective: LCA considers the entire life cycle of a product or service, from cradle to grave. This means that it accounts for all the inputs and outputs that occur at each stage of the life cycle, such as materials, energy, water, emissions, wastes, etc. It avoids shifting impacts from one stage to another or from one region to another.
• Impact assessment: The analysis seeks to evaluate the potential impacts of a product or service on the environment and society, based on the inputs and outputs identified in the life cycle perspective. This involves using indicators and models that reflect the cause-effect relationships between the inputs and outputs and the impacts. For example, carbon dioxide emissions can be linked to climate change impacts.
• Comparative analysis: Crucially, it compares the impacts of different products or services that fulfill the same function or provide the same benefit. This allows for identifying trade-offs and synergies among different alternatives, as well as finding opportunities for improvement or innovation. It’s being used, for example, to compare the impacts of using paper bags versus plastic bags for shopping.

Spiral of Sustainability Life Cycle Analysis Visual Representation

LCA follows a four-step process that consists of:[3]

1. Goal and scope definition: This step defines the purpose and boundaries of the LCA study. It specifies the product or service system to be analyzed, the functional unit to be used for comparison, the system boundaries to be considered, the impact categories to be assessed, and the data sources and assumptions to be used.
2. Life cycle inventory: Once scope and goal are defined, the LCA practitioner collects and calculates the data on the inputs and outputs of the product or service system. This quantifies the flows of materials, energy, water, emissions, wastes, etc. that occur at each stage of the life cycle. Naturally, data quality and consistency must be ensured.
3. Life cycle impact assessment: This step evaluates the potential impacts of the product or service system on the environment and society. It assigns the inputs and outputs to different impact categories, such as climate change, human health, resource depletion, etc. It also applies characterization factors that translate the inputs and outputs into impact indicators.
4. Life cycle interpretation: Finally, the results of the LCA study are interpreted and communicated. The output of the study identifies the main contributors and drivers of the impacts, as well as the uncertainties and limitations of the analysis. It also provides recommendations and conclusions based on the findings.

Therefore, LCAs are a powerful tool for sustainability because it provides a comprehensive and transparent picture of the impacts of a product or service on the environment and society. It enables the comparison and improvement of different alternatives. The output supports the decision-making and communication of businesses, investors, regulators, and consumers on sustainability issues.

Sustainable Smartphone Evolution

What are the Benefits and Challenges of LCA?

While not a panacea for creating truly sustainable products and services, LCAs have both benefits and challenges. Some of the main ones are:

• Benefits for businesses: LCA can help businesses to identify and reduce the environmental and social impacts of their products or services, as well as to improve their efficiency and profitability. Companies undertaking systematic LCAs are using the results to enhance their reputation and competitiveness, as well as to comply with regulations and standards.[4]
• Benefits for investors: Investors can assess and manage the sustainability risks and opportunities of their portfolios, as well as report their environmental and social performance. In that sense, LCAs empower investors to align their investments with their values and goals, as well as to engage with companies on sustainability issues.[5]
• Benefits for regulators: Regulators have leveraged LCA principles to better design and implement policies that promote or require the sustainability, such as carbon taxes, eco-labels, or green procurement. LCA can also help regulators to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and impact of their policies and regulations.[6]
• Benefits for consumers: Increasingly, consumers are seeking out LCA data to make informed choices about the products or services they buy or use, based on their environmental and social impacts. While most consumers will not actively do such research, those that do are sharing their insights on social media channels.[7]
• Challenges for businesses: On the flipside, LCAs can be complex and costly to conduct, requiring a lot of data, expertise, and resources. As with most things in life, these analyses are just that — analyses. They can subject to uncertainties and limitations, such as data gaps, methodological choices, assumptions, or scenarios. Some companies may hesitate to expose their businesses to potential criticisms, around making trade-offs, or highlighting hitherto ‘hidden externalities’ as a result of analyses.[8]
• Challenges for investors: LCAs can be both difficult and time-consuming to access, analyze, and compare, due to the lack of standardized information or data. Since humans still conduct LCAs (at least until our future AI overlords step in!), analyses can be (and are) influenced by subjective or biased judgments or preferences. It’s a long list, but major ones include weighting factors, aggregation methods, or value systems.[9]
• Challenges for regulators: Regulators may face issues applying or enforcing LCA requirements on producers, due to the diversity and sheer complexity of products or services. Political or economic pressures or interests, such as lobbying groups, trade agreements, or market forces can also come into play. Hard to foresee ‘unintended or adverse consequences’, such as rebound effects, leakage effects, or displacement effects can also come as a result of undertaking LCAs.
• Challenges for consumers: Finally, LCAs poorly communicated to end users can be rather confusing and overwhelming to understand. You really need to understand what LCA is and its methodologies and frankly, most consumers simply don’t know. The abundance or variability of data from different sources or formats can make LCAs appear (rightly or wrongly) misleading or deceptive to trust or rely on. Potential errors, inaccuracies or biases data from different providers or methods can generate misleading results.

Eco-Friendly Smartphone Evolution

How are Businesses and Investors Using LCA for Sustainability?

LCA is a widely used and recognized tool for sustainability by businesses. It can help them to measure, manage, and improve their environmental and social impacts, as well as to communicate and report their sustainability performance.

• Using LCA to measure and manage impacts: Many are using LCA to measure and manage the environmental and social impacts of their products or services. This is used to identify and implement improvement opportunities. IKEA uses LCA to assess the environmental footprint of its products, from raw materials to end-of-life, and to design more sustainable products that use less resources, generate less waste, and have lower emissions.[10] Similarly, Calvert Research and Management uses LCA to evaluate the environmental impact of its investment portfolios, from resource extraction to product disposal, and to select companies that have lower environmental intensity and higher environmental efficiency.[11]
• Using LCA to communicate and report impacts: LCAs are seen as a great tool to communicate and report environmental and social impacts to stakeholders. Coca-Cola does this to disclose the carbon footprint of its products on its labels, websites, and advertisements, as well as to inform its consumers about its sustainability initiatives and goals.[12] Likewise, Robeco uses LCA to publish the carbon footprint of its investment funds on its website and annual reports, as well as to inform its clients about its climate strategy and actions.[13]

Crystal Clear Sustainability — A Closer Look at Life Cycle Analysis

Future Trends and Developments of LCA

LCAs are evolving, no less thanks to developments in AI and digitalization. There’s a lot happening in this space and it’ll shape its application and impact in the coming years. Here are some of them:

• Digitalization and automation: LCAs are data intensive, so it’s only natural that they become more digitalized and automated in the future, thanks to the development and adoption of technologies. These include powerful artificial intelligence (AI) applications, big data analytics, blockchain, cloud computing, internet of things (IoT). These technologies can help to collect, process, analyze, and visualize huge amounts of LCA data, as well as to generate, update, and optimize the LCA models and results. This will only improve the data quality, accuracy, reliability, and comparability of the LCA data, as well as to reduce the time, cost, and complexity of LCA process.[14]
• Integration and collaboration: LCA will become more integrated and collaborative in the future (it’s already hardwired into the process already). Platforms, standards, frameworks, and networks are just getting better to facilitate the sharing and exchange of LCA data, methods, tools, and best practices. These are enhancing the consistency, transparency, and interoperability of the LCA data, methods, tools, and best practices, as well as to increasing participation of different stakeholders in the LCA process.[15]
• Innovation and diversification: As more companies use LCA, experienced practitioner will become more innovative and diversified in the future. This is due, in part, to the development and adoption of new or improved approaches, techniques, indicators, or applications that address emerging needs (or challenges) of embedding sustainability into product/service design. These can help to expand the scope, depth, and relevance of the LCA analysis, as well as to incorporate the more complex aspects of sustainability.[16]

Plastic Impact — A Visual Representation of Life Cycle Analysis

Final Thoughts on Life Cycle Analysis

Life Cycle Analysis is a powerful tool for sustainability that can help businesses and others to measure, manage, communicate, and report their environmental and social impacts throughout the life cycle of their products or services. It’s helping them to compare and ultimately improve their alternatives, making their decision-making and communication on sustainability issues easier.

However, applying LCAs can be complex and costly to conduct. They can, unfortunately, subject to uncertainties and limitations. If practitioners are not aware, their LCAs can be influenced by subjective or biased judgments or preferences. Fortunately, these ‘thinking biases’ can be addressed through awareness of them.

The future trends and developments of LCA depend on various factors, such as technological innovations, scientific advancements, market demands, and policy changes. It will undoubtedly become more digitalized and automated, more integrated and collaborative, and increasingly innovative.

Sustainability Contrast Nature Meets Plastic Waste

Sources

1. ISO | ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management — Life cycle assessment — Principles and framework (https://www.iso.org/standard/37456.html)
2. ScienceDirect | Life cycle assessment: Past, present, and future (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46123218_Life_Cycle_Assessment_Past_Present_and_Future)
3. EPA | Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=P1000L86.TXT)
4. GreenBiz | Why life cycle assessment matters for business (https://aclca.org/wp-content/uploads/ACLCA-Business-Value-of-LCA-Flyer-v2.pdf)
5. MSCI | How investors can use LCA (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00374)
6. European Commission | Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (https://eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/)
7. Consumer Reports | Eco-Labels 101 (https://www.consumerreports.org/food-labels/seals-and-claims/)
8. ScienceDirect | Challenges in social life cycle assessment: A review of common issues (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261635402_Challenges_in_Life_Cycle_Assessment_An_Overview_of_Current_Gaps_and_Research_Needs)
9. UN PRI | Life cycle analysis and ESG integration (https://www.unpri.org/download?ac=17917)
10. IKEA | Life cycle of a product (Note: While IKEA doesn’t have a dedicated page, consider this alternative: https://it.ubc.ca/life-cycle-planning-and-classification-0)
11. Calvert Research and Management | Environmental Impact (https://www.calvert.com/what-is-your-impact.php)
12. Coca-Cola | Carbon Footprint Labels on Drinks Cans and Bottles https://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainability)
13. Robeco | Carbon footprint (https://www.robeco.com/docm/doc-robeco-sustainability-report-2022-online.pdf)
14. SpringerLink | Digitalization of life cycle assessment for sustainability assessment of emerging technologies (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337543803_Life_cycle_assessment_of_emerging_technologies_A_review)
15. LCA-net | International cooperation on LCA databases (https://nexus.openlca.org/databases)
16. PubMed | Social life cycle assessment revisited (https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/7/4200)

Life Cycle Analysis: A Powerful Tool for Sustainability → Economy → Sustainability Essentials