Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
A life cycle assessment is a systematic analysis of the environmental impacts of a product, service, or process throughout its entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life disposal.
What is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)?
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluates the environmental impacts of a product from “cradle to grave”: raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, use, and end-of-life treatment. It quantifies impacts across multiple categories, including climate change (carbon footprint), water use, acidification, eutrophication, and resource depletion.
LCA is governed by ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards. A full LCA involves four phases: goal and scope definition (what is being assessed and why), life cycle inventory (quantifying all inputs and outputs), life cycle impact assessment (converting the inventory into environmental impacts), and interpretation (drawing conclusions and recommendations).
For carbon accounting purposes, LCA provides the most comprehensive view of a product’s carbon footprint, covering Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions across the entire value chain. It is the basis for Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs), and eco-design decisions.
Practical Examples
A food manufacturer conducts an LCA of its bestselling product, finding that agricultural raw materials account for 70% of the product’s total carbon footprint.
A packaging company uses LCA to compare the environmental impact of glass, aluminium, and PET packaging options, informing a material switch that reduces per-unit emissions by 25%.
A building material supplier publishes an EPD based on an ISO 14040-compliant LCA, enabling architects to select lower-carbon alternatives.
How Climatise Helps
Climatise supports product-level carbon footprinting alongside corporate-level carbon accounting, providing the data foundation for LCA studies and enabling organisations to identify emission hotspots across their value chain.
Book a DemoRelated Terms
Frequently Asked Questions
Need help understanding your carbon data?
Climatise turns complex emissions data into clear, useful reports. Book a call and we'll walk you through it.
Book a Demo