Page 20 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

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Environmental Life Cycle Assessment:
Background and Perspective

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Gjalt Huppes and Mary Ann Curran *
institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
2 US Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, USA

Abstract
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has developed into a major tool for sustainability decision
support. Its relevance is yet to be judged in terms of the quality of the support it pro-
vides: does it give the information as required, or could it do a better job? This depends
very much on the questions to be answered. The starting point was the application to rel-
atively simple choices, such as making technical changes in products and choosing one
material over another, with packaging as a main example. This was then followed by the
use of LCA in consumer choices. Over time, there has been a shift to more encompassing
questions, such as the attractiveness of biofuels and the relevance of lifestyle changes.
This chapter describes the ongoing discussions on issues that still need to be addressed,
such as allocation, substitution data selection, time horizon, attributional versus conse-
quential, rebound mechanisms, and so forth. The chapter then describes how LCA might
develop in the future. There are important tasks ahead for the LCA community.

Keywords: Life cycle assessment, LCA, allocation, attributional, consequential,
decision support

1.1 Historical Roots of Life Cycle Assessment

The concept of exploring the life cycle of a product or function initially
developed in the United States in the Fifties and Sixties within the realm of
public purchasing. Back then, use cost often carried the main share of the
total cost. A first mention of the life cycle concept, by that name, is by Novick
(1959) in a report by the RAND Corporation, focusing on Life Cycle Analysts
of cost. Costs of weapon systems, a main application at that time, include
not only the purchasing cost, or only the use cost. They also cover the cost of

* The views expressed in this chapter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or
policies of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Mary Ann Curran (ed.) Life Cycle Assessment Handbook: A Guide for Environmentally
Sustainable Products, (1-14) © 2012 Scrivener Publishing LLC

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