Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) – in brief

We live in a time where many talk about sustainability and the green transition. The need to take action is significant, but what can be done, and what role can a life cycle assessment play?

Sustainability's three pillars

Let’s start with the word “sustainability.” Sustainability is a concept we have discussed for many years, and the term is used in many different contexts.

In 1987, the so-called Brundtland Report was published, where “sustainability” was defined for the first time. The definition here is that we must meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations.

Sustainability is further divided into three pillars: social, economic, and environmental sustainability. So when we simply refer to “sustainability,” it can, in principle, concern social and economic sustainability, even though it is often environmental sustainability that is being referenced.

What is a life cycle assessment and what does it contain?

A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a quantitative evaluation of the environmental impacts that occur throughout a product’s or service’s lifetime. Environmental impacts occur throughout all of the product's life stages. 

The life stages include:

• Raw material extraction
• Transport
• Production
• Use phase
• Disposal and/or recycling

There will always be a consumption of resources such as materials, energy, etc., as well as emissions such as wastewater or waste.

What is achieved with a life cycle assessment?

By conducting a life cycle assessment, environmental impacts are quantified, meaning that actual figures are assigned to a product’s or service’s environmental impacts. It is therefore possible to estimate how many kilograms of CO₂ are emitted during the production of a specific product.

However, it is not only climate impact that is estimated, but rather a wide range of different environmental impacts, including:

• Acidification
• Eutrophication (nutrient loading)
• Ozone layer depletion
• Impact on biodiversity

Read how LCA screening helps a major music festival make sustainable decisions.

External experts ensure an objective life cycle assessment

It is important to be aware that there may be special interests in the results of a life cycle analysis. Therefore, it should be considered to make use of external experts.

The experts can verify the study if the results are to be communicated externally. The aim is to ensure objectivity—something that is also required in the ISO standards for life cycle assessments. Two international standards relate to LCA: ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.

Why is a life cycle assessment important?

There are increasing legal requirements to use life cycle assessments to substantiate claims about products. Claims can be words like “environmentally friendly” and “climate friendly.” This aspect is, among other things, addressed in the Consumer Ombudsman’s Quick Guide for companies on environmental marketing.

Additionally, life cycle analyses are used as the basis for Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which are used to estimate the total environmental impacts of buildings.

Finally, it is an advantage that by using a life cycle assessment, you can avoid transferring environmental impacts from one category to another, for example, from climate to biodiversity.

Avoid shifting the environmental impact

Currently, there is a strong focus on climate impact, i.e., the emission of CO₂ to the atmosphere. But if you focus solely on reducing climate impact, you risk shifting the environmental impact to another category.

In other words, it is possible for a production process to become more climate-friendly, but if it increases the pressure on biodiversity—which is predicted to become the next major environmental challenge—then you are merely contributing to another environmental issue.