Page 17 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

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1
Introduction

To date life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method defined by the international
standards ISO 14040 and 14044 to analyse environmental aspects and impacts
of product systems. Therefore, the introduction of the methodology in Chapters
2–5 relates to these standards. As a prelude, the scope and development of the
methodology are introduced here.

1.1
What Is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)?

1.1.1
Definition and Limitations

1)
In the introductory part of international standard ISO 14040 serving as a frame-
work, LCA has been defined as follows:
LCA studies the environmental aspects and potential impacts throughout a
product’s life (i.e. cradle-to-grave) from raw material acquisition through produc-
tion, use and disposal. The general categories of environmental impacts needing
consideration include resource use, human health, and ecological consequences.
A similar definition of LCA was adopted as early as 1993 by the Soci-
ety of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) 2) in the ‘Code of
Practice’. 3)
Similar definitions can also be found in the basic guidelines of DIN-NAGUS as
4)
well as in the ‘Nordic Guidelines’ commissioned by Scandinavian Ministers of the
5)
Environment. Those deliberate limitations of LCA to analysis and interpretation
of environmental impacts have the consequence that the method is restricted to
6)
only quantify the ecological aspect of sustainability (see Chapter 6). The exclusion
1) ISO (1997).
2) Foundation year 1979.
3) SETAC (1993a).
4) DIN-NAGUS (1994).
5) Lindfors et al. (1995).
6) Kl¨ opffer (2003, 2008).

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): A Guide to Best Practice, First Edition.
Walter Kl¨ opffer and Birgit Grahl.
c 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. Published 2014 by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.