Page 61 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

The Application of Life Cycle Assessment on Agricultural 47

distribution to the consumer; (5) product use and maintenance; and (6) end-of-life
management, i.e., reuse, recycling, and disposal (Udo de Haes and van Rooijen
2005). Although the methodology is by no means finalized and a number of
important issues still must be resolved, LCA is currently standardized by ISO
14040 series (ISO 1997).
The technical framework for the LCA methodology as it is defined in ISO
14040 consists of four phases, namely (1) goal and scope definition; (2) inventory
analysis; (3) impact assessment; and (4) interpretation (Fig. 6). (SETAC 1993; ISO
1997; Wenzel et al. 1997; Frankl and Rubik 2000). These phases are not followed
just one after the other, but they form an iterative process, which can be followed
in different rounds achieving increasing level of detail (from screening LCA to full
LCA) or which may lead to changes in the first phase because of the results of the
last phase (Korres 2013). More particularly, the first phase (i.e., goal and scope
definition) sets the boundaries for the analysis and defines the level of detail and
the functional basis for comparison. This is of crucial importance for avoidance of
confusing results and misleading interpretations (Frankl and Rubik 2000). Thus,
during this phase, questions should be considered about the purpose of the LCA;
the spatial and temporal scope of the LCA; the functional units to be assessed; the
target group; the decisions and the extent of these decisions supported by LCA;
and finally, the product/solution to be assessed along with alternatives for com-
parison. The second phase (inventory analysis) quantifies input and output flows of
materials, energy, water, and emissions or other pollutants used in each process
through the entire production chain and present these in a process flow chart
(Figs. 2 and 5). Since this phase can affect the complete LCA, it is necessary to
follow the precise standards for data collecting, calculation procedures, allocation
rules (SETAC 1993; ISO 1997). In this phase, the system to be assessed and the
system’s boundaries should be clearly defined. The third phase (impact assess-
ment) quantifies and clusters effects of the resource use and emissions into a
number of environmental impact categories (i.e., selection of impact categories,
classification and characterization of environmental impacts based on the inven-
tory analysis) which may be weighted according to their importance and goal and

Fig. 6 Life cycle assessment
framework (based on ISO
1997)