Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): what is it?

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a standardized method (ISO 14040 and 14044) used to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of a product (or service, or activity) by accounting for the flows of materials and energy throughout its life cycle.

LCA is a scientifically grounded method, recognized and adopted by public institutions such as ADEME (The French Agency for Ecological Transition) and the European Commission. It has various limitations, insights into which our consultants are well-versed.

Most of the LCAs we conduct at EVEA are attributional LCAs. In other words, we analyze the impacts of a "static" system, whether it's a material good or a service, at a given point in time, without considering changes over time in its life cycle.

We also perform consequential LCAs, where we analyze the impacts resulting from a change in the product or service life cycle compared to a reference life cycle, taking market dynamics into account. Consequential LCA is particularly used for research purposes, aiding in political or strategic decision-making for certain sectors.

A Life Cycle Assessment is a treasure trove of information on its own. For an organization, it can serve as both the starting point to reduce its environmental footprint and the extension of a comprehensive environmental strategy. Moreover, while the LCA method is already standardized for environmental issues (ISO 14040 and 14044), a standard is currently being developed for social issues (expected to be ISO 14075), slated for release in 2024. In fact, one of our EVEA teams specializes in social LCA.

Since 2005, we have accumulated solid methodological expertise in the field of LCA. Contact us to learn more and conduct the LCA for your product, service, or activity.■