Life Cycle Assessments (LCA)
A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a standardized method to quantitatively assess the environmen¬tal performance of a product, service, or material. An LCA evaluates a product's impact across its life cycle and considers all aspects of its fabrication, including raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, distribution, usage and disposal, and material recycling and new life.
An LCA identifies opportunities for improvement by localizing environmental hot spots in the life cycle by studying the contribution of the different life stages on the overall environmental impact.