Life cycle assessment

A life cycle assessment takes a holistic view of products, services and processes from an ecological perspective. Using comprehensive and standardized analyses, the products are weighed up for their production, the production itself and the effects after production and, for example, balanced for possible process optimization or a social consideration including the environmental aspects.

According to the Federal Environment Agency, a life cycle assessment is defined as follows: “A life cycle assessment is an environmental report of a product, a manufacturing or other process, a service or a production site”. In practice, comparisons are often made in order to determine a better and more neutral approximate value. For example, explicit life cycle assessments can be drawn up for individual areas and products, but independent test scenarios can also be commissioned to see how the company compares to the competition. In other words, products, processes or services with the same purposes or the same functions are compared in terms of their impact on the environment and process optimization.

Life cycle assessment: ISO standards determine the how

How a life cycle assessment is carried out, which guidelines and which questions need to be considered, is defined in so-called ISO standards. The standards 14040:2006 and 14044:2006 are affected – they apply internationally and were subsequently transferred to the German body of standards (DIN EN ISO 14040, DIN EN ISO 14044).

According to these standards, the life cycle assessment comprises four elements:

  • Definition of objective and scope of investigation
  • Life cycle inventory
  • Impact assessment
  • Evaluation.

A major problem in the implementation of life cycle assessment projects is the often very limited availability of suitable data. Only a few companies try to ensure transparency in order to eliminate their own errors with optimization.

Possible approaches:

  • Environmental impact of the manufacturing process
  • Production locations of all products used
  • Production of preliminary products
  • Auxiliary and operating materials
  • Energy generation
  • Extraction and provision of raw materials
  • Transportation of the finished product – from the warehouse to transport (aircraft, trucks)

Further information on ecological aspects in logistics can be found under Blue Economy.

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