Introducing Life Cycle Assessment and its Presentation in ‘LCA Compendium’

Abstract

This chapter spans the time from the early days of Life Cycle Assessment—LCA (the time of the so-called ‘proto-LCAs’ between about 1970 and 1990), until recent trends of simplified/streamlined LCAs, the footprint specifications (carbon footprint, water footprint) and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment—LCSA.

Important benchmarks along this span are the harmonisation of LCA by SETAC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) and the standardisation of LCA by ISO (International Standardisation Organisation).

The basic discussions within SETAC occurred between 1990 and 1993.

The first attempt to develop a suitable LCA-structure was achieved during the SETAC workshop ‘A Technical Framework for Life Cycle Assessments’ in August 1990, held in Smugglers Notch, Vermont, USA. The LCA-structure, the famous ‘SETAC triangle’, consisted of three components: Inventory—Impact Analysis—Improvement Analysis.

SETAC revised the framework during the Sesimbra workshop in 1993. It was the merit of SETAC to initiate a standardisation process which culminated in the ‘Guidelines for Life-Cycle Assessment: A Code of Practice’. The LCA-structure, again a triangle, now included four components: Goal Definition and Scoping—Inventory Analysis—Impact Assessment—Improvement Assessment.

This structure was only slightly modified by the ISO standardisation process: The fourth phase ‘Improvement Assessment’ (formerly ‘Improvement Analysis’) was replaced by ‘Interpretation’.

After the harmonisation of LCA by SETAC, the International Standardisation Process was soon initiated (Autumn 1993 in Paris), but it took seven years for the first series of LCA standards to be published (ISO 14040, ISO 14041, ISO 14042, ISO 14043).

The successful first series of ISO LCA standards superseded the SETAC ‘Code of Practice’, the Nordic guidelines and several national standards and became the uncontested model of an environmental life cycle standard. The series 14040 ff was revised once and condensed into two standards 14040 and 14044 (2006).

The four-phase structure was not altered

This chapter discusses the four phases of the LCA-structure by SETAC and ISO which are the subject of four volumes—Goal and Scope Definition in LCA; Life Cycle Inventory Analysis; Life Cycle Impact Assessment; Interpretation, Critical Review and Reporting. The remaining volumes follow a structure outside the ISO-framework: Applications of LCA, Special Types of LCA, Life Cycle Management, and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment.

Appendix—Glossary

Cradle-to-grave analysis	All important steps in the life cycle of a product are included in the analysis (extraction of raw materials from the environment (soil, water, air), the production of materials, the final products, their use and waste removal or recycling)
Downstream process	Toward the ‘grave’
Footprint studies	Footprint studies are no full LCAs (see simplified/ streamlined LCA). They mostly contain only one impact category: ‘Carbon footprint’ = Global Warming Potential. The ‘water footprint’ can be integrated into LCIA as an impact category belonging to resource use
Functional unit	The basis of comparison of product systems (goods and services) if they provide the same or a very similar function
Life cycle sustainability assessment—LCSA	In life cycle product assessment, LCA deals with the environmental aspects only. In order to give the full picture, however, an economic and a social life cycle assessment have to be added to the environmental one In the ‘three pillar’ interpretation of sustainability, environmental, economic and social aspects have to be considered and weighted against each other LCSA = LCA + LCC + SLCA LCSA: Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment LCA: (environmental) Life Cycle Assessment LCC: (environmental) Life Cycle Costing SLCA: Social Life Cycle Assessment
Product tree	The most common form of graphical presentation of product life cycles
proto-LCAs	The early LCAs before harmonisation (SETAC) and standardisation (ISO).
SETAC triangle	Model of the phases (components) of an LCA. The first SETAC triangle was developed at the SETAC workshop ‘A Technical Framework for Life Cycle Assessments’ in August 1990, Smugglers Notch, Vermont and consisted of three components: Inventory, Impact Analysis, Improvement Analysis. The SETAC triangle 1992 (Sandestin workshop) and 1993 (Sesimbra workshop) consisted of four components: Goal Definition and Scoping, Inventory Analysis, Impact Assessment and Improvement Assessment. In the course of the ISO standardization process ‘Improvement assessment’ was replaced by ‘Interpretation’
Simplified LCA/Streamlined LCA	In 1994 the LCA Steering Committee of SETAC Europe established the Workgroup Screening and Streamlining. In the same year, the SETAC North America workgroup on Streamlining LCA was initiated. Both groups concluded their multi-year efforts on the issue of Simplifying/Streamlining by a report in each case. The approaches of the reports are different 1. The report of SETAC Europe discusses the methods for producing simplified procedures, commonly described as screening LCA studies, streamlined LCA studies and simplified LCA studies 2. The report of SETAC North America is more a description of carefully planning and stating an LCA’s goal than it is about Streamlined LCA methodology.
Simplified LCA	Simplified LCA is an application of the LCA methodology for a comprehensive screening assessment. A simplified LCA should cover three steps which are iteratively interlinked: 1. Screening: identifying those parts of the system (life cycle) or of the elementary flows that are either important or have data gaps. 2. Simplifying: using the findings of Screening in order to focus further work on the important parts of the system or of the elementary flows. 3. Assessing reliability: checking that simplifying does not significantly reduce the reliability of the overall result. Simplifying methods can reduce the complexity of an LCA and so reduce the cost, time and effort required, by exclusion of certain life cycle stages, system inputs or outputs or impact categories, or use of generic data modules for the system under study
Streamlined LCA	Identification of elements of an LCA that can be omitted or where surrogate or generic data can be used without significantly affecting the accuracy of the results Streamlining LCA is a practice to make a detailed/full LCA more manageable. Streamlining LCA can be achieved in a number of ways, including: –Limiting the scope in terms of time, cost, data, analytical approach: for example, eliminating life cycle phases deemed not significant, or processes with negligible effect on the environment; –Use of qualitative information; –Removal of upstream and/or downstream components; –Use of specific impact category.
Supply chain	Usual, but misleading (since suggesting linearity) designation of the upper part of a product tree or branches thereof
System boundary	The system boundary separates the system to be studied from the rest of the technosphere and the environment
Unit process	The smallest unit for which data are available.
Upstream process	Toward the ‘cradle’.
Use phase	The use phase is the centre of most life cycles defined in LCA.