Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Life Cycle Assessment is a standardised method for quantifying the environmental impacts of a product, process or service across its whole life — from raw material extraction through manufacture, use and end of life. It is the basis for credible carbon-footprint and sustainability claims.
LCA accounts for environmental burdens at every stage of a product's life rather than just at one point, avoiding the trap of cutting impact in one phase while shifting it to another. The methodology is defined by international standards (ISO 14040 and 14044), which set out the steps of goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation.
A study tallies the energy and material inputs and the emissions and waste outputs across the chosen system boundary, then translates them into impact categories such as climate change, acidification or resource use.
For industry, LCA underpins product carbon footprints, eco-design decisions and regulatory or customer reporting. It is increasingly tied to decarbonisation strategy and to mechanisms that price embedded emissions, where defensible, life-cycle-based figures are required.
Related terms
Industrial Decarbonization · Carbon Intensity · Net Zero · CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism)