Project 4.3, LCA steps

Primarily, an LCA examines the extraction of the resources from the environment to the production of the product to the use phase and then what happens to it after the fact. The website, Pre-Sustainability, calls it the “cradle to grave”. Aside from this very general overview of your product, there are 4 concrete steps that happen in a formal LCA. These four steps are

1. Goal and scope definition: this step outlines the “most important choices, often subjective” when it comes to your product. This step gives you the most accurate definition of your product, its function and its application to the system.

2. Inventory analysis: This step consists of the environmental inputs and outputs that the product creates. An input is something you take out of the environment to put into your products life cycle and an output is what the product puts out into the environment.

3. Impact assessment: this step analyzes better business steps for continued consumption of the product. It evaluates what is the best choice for both your company and the environment.

4. Interpretation: this step is where most of the turn arounds happen. For this step, you are to reread what sort of answers you have established and encourage you to rework them in order to get the best analysis possible to prevent further damage to the environment and human health.

The reason Pre-sustainability explains for having 4 steps is that it is typical for you to constantly revise and revisit steps for one product while conducting your LCA.

https://pre-sustainability.com/articles/life-cycle-assessment-lca-basics/