Climate Mitigation:

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

Understanding the environmental impacts of your products and services throughout their entire life cycle will enable you to make the right decisions on climate and sustainability

What is a life cycle assessment?

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a methodology to assess the environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its life – from raw material extraction, manufacture and use, to end-of-life disposal, recycling or reuse.

LCAs can be used comparatively to assess different product or service design options or to identify environmental hotspots in the lifecycle. This enables a business to make informed choices on how to most effectively reduce its impact on the climate and the environment, and to mitigate any risks posed to their value chain by climate change.

Further to this, LCA can be a valuable tool to stimulate innovation by supporting sustainable choices on product design, development and manufacture. With the arrival of net zero targets, new ideas, designs, products and processes will be required to facilitate the transition to a low carbon economy, and LCA can be a vital first step in this process.

How we can help with

Life Cycle Assessments

Our expert consultants have experience in measuring emissions across complex value chains, and supporting businesses in understanding how to turn this analysis into effective strategies for minimising environmental impact and enhancing commercial value.
  • Why should companies use LCA?

    An LCA can determine any potential environmental risks of existing or future products and help to mitigate these. It can highlight which stages of the life cycle are the most relevant areas of focus and identify measures for reducing impact.

    LCA is a powerful tool in addressing climate change and can help calculate Scope 3 carbon emissions and facilitate a strategy for emissions reduction.

    With the growing demand for low carbon solutions, LCA also supports the opportunity for innovation and design/product development, which in turn supports in future-proofing an organisation and delivering commercial returns.

    An LCA can determine any potential environmental risks of existing or future products and help to mitigate these. It can highlight which stages of the life cycle are the most relevant areas of focus and identify measures for reducing impact.

    LCA is a powerful tool in addressing climate change and can help calculate Scope 3 carbon emissions and facilitate a strategy for emissions reduction.

    With the growing demand for low carbon solutions, LCA also supports the opportunity for innovation and design/product development, which in turn supports in future-proofing an organisation and delivering commercial returns.

  • Providing confidence in environmental claims

    Product sustainability claims are becoming increasingly important for consumers, but without robust evidence companies face significant risks of being accused of greenwashing. LCA provides a robust and transparent way for companies to make claims on their products and to demonstrate a commitment to environmental sustainability. They also support Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) which provide a framework for companies to communicate environmental credentials consistently across industries.

    Product sustainability claims are becoming increasingly important for consumers, but without robust evidence companies face significant risks of being accused of greenwashing. LCA provides a robust and transparent way for companies to make claims on their products and to demonstrate a commitment to environmental sustainability. They also support Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) which provide a framework for companies to communicate environmental credentials consistently across industries.

  • How to do a Life Cycle Assessment

    Every company and product is entirely unique and our EcoAct consultants can carry out life cycle assessments to your specific needs. The scope of the LCA can also vary. For example it could be a comprehensive study across the full value chain or simply an assessment of a specific feature of a product or service. We can also develop ecodesign tools that enable your organisation to carry out mini-LCAs independently, supporting the internal innovation process and guiding material choices.

    Every company and product is entirely unique and our EcoAct consultants can carry out life cycle assessments to your specific needs. The scope of the LCA can also vary. For example it could be a comprehensive study across the full value chain or simply an assessment of a specific feature of a product or service. We can also develop ecodesign tools that enable your organisation to carry out mini-LCAs independently, supporting the internal innovation process and guiding material choices.

Download our

Factsheet

LCA is an internationally recognized, science-based methodology that assesses the potential environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its life from raw material extraction, manufacture, distribution and use, to end-of-life disposal, recycling or reuse.

In this new factsheet we run through the LCA process and show how it can drive innovation, help effectively communicate green credentials, and enable you to make the right strategic choices to meet emissions targets with confidence.

Why

choose EcoAct.

At EcoAct we are driven by a shared purpose to make a difference. To help businesses to implement positive change in response to climate and environmental challenges, whilst also driving commercial performance.

400

carbon offsetting projects supported across 55 countries worldwide

360+

experienced international experts with offices in 9 countries

+5,000

climate advisory projects delivered globally

7x

winner of the Environmental Finance Global Awards

Case study

innocent

"EcoAct have been instrumental in helping us work out what our climate change target should be as well as the best way to go about achieving the target. They offer a great balance between providing the cold-hard technical insight required alongside a fun, friendly and engaging way of doing things."

Simon Reid
Sustainability Manager, innocent

Featured blog

What is an Organisational Life Cycle Assessment (OLCA)?

EcoAct Senior Consultant, Lau Tambjerg explains how Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can work at an organisational level to add business value and aid the transition to net-zero. So far, more …

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