Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Services

Life Cycle Assessment methodology: ISO 14040 and ISO 14044

Our life cycle assessment studies follow ISO 14040, which sets out the principles and framework, and ISO 14044, which specifies the requirements and guidelines. A study that does not follow both is an estimate rather than an LCA, and will not hold up when a customer's technical team reviews it.

The four phases of an LCA

• Goal and scope definition - fixing the functional unit and the system boundary. The functional unit expresses what is measured in terms of function delivered, not quantity of product, which is what makes comparisons meaningful.
• Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) - quantifying every input and output: energy, water, raw materials, emissions to air and water, and waste.
• Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) - translating inventory data into impact categories including climate change, acidification, eutrophication and resource depletion.
• Interpretation - identifying significant issues, checking completeness and consistency, and testing how sensitive the result is to the assumptions made.

Cradle to gate or cradle to grave?

A cradle-to-gate boundary covers raw materials up to your factory gate, and suits B2B products where the customer completes the chain. Cradle-to-grave continues through use and end of life, and is needed for consumer products and full impact claims. We agree the boundary before starting, because changing it later invalidates the inventory.

The same inventory supports product carbon footprint work and Scope 3 reporting, so data collected once is used several times.