What is a life cycle assessment (LCA)?
A way of judging a product’s environmental impact across its entire life.
AQA GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy (8464) — Chemistry — Higher · 5.10.2.1
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What is a life cycle assessment (LCA)?
A way of judging a product’s environmental impact across its entire life.
What are the four main stages of a product’s life considered in an LCA?
Why must transport and distribution be included at every stage of an LCA?
Moving materials and products uses energy and creates emissions.
Why does an LCA consider the whole life of a product rather than just one stage?
To avoid misleading conclusions: a product with low impact at one stage may have large impacts at another.
What resource uses and outputs can be measured relatively easily in a life cycle assessment (LCA)?
Water, raw materials and energy used, and some wastes produced.
Why is judging the seriousness of different pollutants in an LCA not completely objective?
Their environmental effects are not always directly comparable, so judgements depend partly on the assessors’ values and assumptions.
How can a selective or abbreviated LCA be used to support a pre-decided conclusion?
It can leave out important stages or impacts, making a product appear greener.