Life Cycle Assessment, which is abbreviated as LCA is a tool to assess the impacts caused by the environment and the resources used throughout the life cycle of the product. The life cycle starts from the acquisition of the raw materials, production process, use of the product, and finally its disposal. ISO defines Life Cycle Assessment as a collection and assessment of the efforts, products and the probable ecological impacts of a product system throughout its Lifecycle. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool developed to evaluate the products development processes as systems apply to the evaluation and analysis of environmental performance. In 1969, The Coca-Cola Company moved from glass bottles and introduced plastic bottles. They studied the environmental impacts of its packaging forming today’s LCA methodology.
Four Stages of Life Cycle Assessment
The four phases of LCA include scope definition and goal setting, life cycle inventory analysis, impact assessment and results in interpretation.
- Stage 1: Defining Goal and Scope – The main goal of a planning phase is to analyze the major concerns at hand in a way that will look into product alternatives. In addition, goal and scope are able to fault limiting factors of a system in use, define the way that would be used to collect data, and outline environmental concerns and how to evaluate them. The process of evaluation could be done in a number of ways: identifying an inefficient process of production, new product design that is cheaper to produce than the current product, resource allocation process, and the burden a product would cost to the environment.
- Stage 2: Inventory Analysis – Inventory analysis refers to the mechanisms set to monitor and sanctify both the inputs and output employed in the operations of a firm. Inventory analysis is a measure of the factors mentioned in the goal and the scope above and whose boundary lies within the planning phase. At this stage, all the production needs, products, and waste materials, and emissions are quantified. This process can be achieved by researching the mentioned parameters through historical study analysis, making database searches, and employing data acquisition methodologies.
- Stage 3: Impact Assessment – Impact assessment lays focus on how a business’ activities affect and impact the environment. The impact assessment process is a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the information attained in the inventory analysis. This further step is aimed at interpreting the issues raised in a more focused way so that a format for decision-making can be laid. This stage aims at coming up with how real contributors like raw material use, effluent output, gas emissions, energy, and solid wastes among others contribute to environmental depletion. The effects thereof are adequately looked into in relation to how they impact the present scenario and forecasted implications they may have on the environment in the future.
- Stage 4: Improvement Analysis – After establishing the business process products in line with how they contribute to the degradation of the environment, improvement analysis then follows; steps that can be taken to reduce environmental burdens. It requires looking at the overall view of the entire production process and validating how the environment would be made better following the changes yet to be made.
Implementation of LCA as an environmental management strategy has many benefits of improving the environment. Consumers are alert concerning manufacture turning of goods and services that are harmful to the environment due to increased concerns on the environment. As a result, customers will shy away from buying products and services whose production is detrimental to environmental sustainability. This is a concern to any business set up and by adopting environment conscious business processes; a sustainable business life is achievable. In addition, setting up an environment friendly process will minimize wastages and limit the amount of energy consumed; hence, an improved profit margin.
Advantages of Life Cycle Assessment
LCA helps in determining the extent to which a product or a process pollutes the environment. It shows the products or the process’s basic requirements for instance the resources and energy. It also identifies areas in the life cycle of a product or a process that reduce environmental pollution if followed. Many manufacturing companies apply LCA to identify areas that achieve a total reduction of environmental loads and emissions. They fix a method that is environmentally friendly into the existing design followed in processes and product development. The product process designers determine the energy and emissions at all the steps of product development all the way from raw material acquisition, processing, distribution and dispatch, utilization, and waste management. Companies concentrate on the specific parts of the life cycle phases to reduce waste, utilize the energy, do away with dangerous materials, and preserve materials using LCA methodology.
Using the LCA methodology, researchers, companies, managers, and policymakers realize the potential benefits of a certain product and at the same time, they determine and minimize the potential risks in the development of the product.
Limitations of Life Cycle Assessment
LCA does not analyze the risks associated with the uncertainty. Also LCA methodology is too expensive requiring a lot of money and time to implement. The complexity of the methodology adds to its limitations in application. This means that it is not easy to understand and interpret. LCA methodology application is relative and therefore not beneficial in referencing or comparing two products. It cannot help in determining the cost-benefit and practicability of two products. From the example product above, LCA does not gather for the uncertainties such as failure of the respondents to give accurate results. In addition, the study took a lot of money and time to come up with the results, as its interpretation needs a lot of expertise.
LCA as a tool analyses products and comes up with one of the many inputs and outputs when making crucial decisions. The use of LCA as a tool depends on the user and freedom to use it is a problem in spite of the standardization imposed by ISO. LCA user uses their judgments and knowledge to make inherent choices and determine the criteria that will positively affect the outcome.
LCA presents a subjective dimension meaning that outcomes always determine the weighing of the choices by the practitioner and the criteria chosen to affect the interpretation of the results. LCA is an important tool, but when applying it in the decision-making process, it is good to be aware of its challenges, limitations, and subjectivity. LCA helps in justifying the choice made but it does not give a decision in itself.