LCI data and data quality

Abstract

Life cycle inventory (LCI) is becoming an established environmental management tool that quantifies all resource usage and waste generation associated with providing specific goods or services to society. LCIs are increasingly used by industry as well as policy makers to provide a holistic ‘macro’ overview of the environmental profile of a good or service. This information, effectively combined with relevant information obtained from other environmental management tools, is very useful in guiding strategic environmental decision making. LCIs are very data intensive. There is a risk that they imply a level of accuracy that does not exist. This is especially true today, because the availability of accurate LCI data is limited. Also, it is not easy for LCI users, decision-makers and other interested parties to differentiate between ‘good quality’ and ‘poor quality’ LCI data. Several data quality requirements for ‘good’ LCI data can be defined only in relation to the specific study in which they are used. In this paper we show how and why the use of a common LCI database for some of the more commonly used LCI data, together with increased documentation and harmonisation of the data quality features of all LCI data, is key to the further development of LCI as a useful and pragmatic environmental management tool. Initiatives already underway to make this happen are also described.