Life cycle assessment (LCA): a guide to best practice

This first hands-on guide to ISO-compliant Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) makes this powerful tool immediately accessible to both professionals and students. Following a general introduction on the philosophy and purpose of LCA, the reader is taken through all the stages of a complete LCA analysis, with each step exemplified by real-life data from a major LCA project on beverage packaging. Measures as carbon and water footprint, based on the most recent international standards and definitions, are addressed. Written by two pioneers of LCA, this practical volume is targeted at first-time LC.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); Contents; Preface; Chapter 1 Introduction; 1.1 What Is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)?; 1.1.1 Definition and Limitations; 1.1.2 Life Cycle of a Product; 1.1.3 Functional Unit; 1.1.4 LCA as System Analysis; 1.1.5 LCA and Operational Input-Output Analysis (Gate-to-Gate); 1.2 History; 1.2.1 Early LCAs; 1.2.2 Environmental Policy Background; 1.2.3 Energy Analysis; 1.2.4 The 1980s; 1.2.5 The Role of SETAC; 1.3 The Structure of LCA; 1.3.1 Structure According to SETAC; 1.3.2 Structure of LCA According to ISO; 1.3.3 Valuation -- a Separate Phase?; 1.4 Standardisation of LCA.

1.4.1 Process of Formation1.4.2 Status Quo; 1.5 Literature and Information on LCA; References; Chapter 2 Goal and Scope Definition; 2.1 Goal Definition; 2.2 Scope; 2.2.1 Product System; 2.2.2 Technical System Boundary; 2.2.2.1 Cut-Off Criteria; 2.2.2.2 Demarcation towards System Surrounding; 2.2.3 Geographical System Boundary; 2.2.4 Temporal System Boundary/Time Horizon; 2.2.5 The Functional Unit; 2.2.5.1 Definition of a Suitable Functional Unit and a Reference Flow; 2.2.5.2 Impairment Factors on Comparison -- Negligible Added Value; 2.2.5.3 Procedure for Non-negligible Added Value.

2.2.6 D…