Column 2024.11.05

What is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)? Explaining its meaning and the difference with CFP

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What is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)? Explaining its meaning and the difference with CFP

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method for assessing the environmental impact of a product or Service, from raw material procurement to Manufacturing, use, and disposal.

LCA calculations use inventory databases, environmental load factors, and various LCA-specific databases to quantify a product's environmental impact over its entire life cycle, whereas carbon footprint (CFP) focuses on identifying greenhouse gas emission amount such as carbon dioxide.

While LCA evaluates the multifaceted environmental impact, CFP is a method for evaluating the impact on climate change in particular. As such, while LCA and CFP differ in purpose and scope, both are important efforts for companies to build sustainable business models.

The main purpose and importance of LCA

LCA is a method for assessing the environmental impact of products and Service throughout their entire life cycle. It clarifies the environmental impact that occurs at each stage, from the extraction of raw materials to Manufacturing, distribution, use, disposal, and recycling, and is an extremely important assessment method for promoting sustainable management.

The main purpose of LCA is to reflect the information on environmental impacts that has been identified in the process of sustainable development.

Specifically, the following points are important:

Understanding the full picture of environmental impacts
This allows for a comprehensive understanding of the overall picture, including stages that tend to be overlooked in partial evaluations, making the collaboration between LCA and CFP more effective.
Efficient resource use
You can develop strategies to minimize resource waste. Resource management based on numerical data from LCA and CFP directly contributes to improving corporate sustainability.
Development of environmentally friendly products
By considering environmental impact from the early stages of product development, sustainable product design is possible.Comply withand Corporate Social Responsibility
Utilizing LCA and CFP to comply with environmental regulations and as part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) will also contribute to improving corporate value.

Based on ISOLCA implementation procedure

The ISO 14040 series is an international standard for LCA, a set of standards that defines the methodology, procedures, definitions, and principles for quantitatively assessing the environmental impact of products and Service. It serves as an international guideline for companies and organizations to properly understand their environmental impact and consider improvement measures.

The four basic steps of LCA as defined in ISO 14040 are:

Defining the goal and scope
The first step is to clarify the purpose of the evaluation and define the target product or Service, system boundary, functional unit, and evaluation criteria, which establishes the scope of the evaluation and lays the foundation for smooth progress in subsequent steps.
Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Analysis
This stage involves collecting data across the entire life cycle of a product or system to Create a detailed inventory of resource inputs and emissions, measuring Energy consumption and emissions at each stage, from raw material acquisition to Manufacturing , use and disposal.
Impact Assessment (LCIA)
We quantify environmental impacts based on LCI data and conduct detailed analyses using methods to assess the impact on various environmental issues, such as climate change, resource depletion, acid rain, and ozone layer depletion.
Interpretation of results
Finally, the results are interpreted to support decision-making and suggest improvement measures. This step includes uncertainty assessment, sensitivity analysis, and identification of key influencing factors, providing a means to gain deeper insights.

By following these steps, companies can effectively conduct LCA and contribute to sustainability efforts.

Environmental impact measurement and evaluation methods

The basic steps of environmental impact assessment in an LCA according to ISO 14044 are as follows:

Classification
Categorize emissions and resource use into appropriate "environmental impact Category," e.g., CO₂ → global warming.
Characterization
For each impact Category, an assessment value is calculated by ** emission amount x impact coefficient (characterization factor)**.Example: 1 kg of CH₄ has the same warming impact as 25 kg of CO₂ → expressed in CO₂ equivalent.
Normalization (Optional)
The resulting impacts will be compared with regional and global annual averages to clarify their magnitude.
Weighting (optional)
The evaluation results are weighted and added together according to the importance of the environmental issue (used for policy decisions).

Relationship with CFP

CFP focuses on greenhouse gas emission amount and quantifies the amount of carbon emitted by a specific product or Service from production to disposal. CFP is extremely useful for companies pursuing sustainability and sharing environmental information about their products with consumers through environmental labeling. For example, a company could use LCA to identify the environmental impact of each stage of a product's lifecycle and calculate CFP based on the results, providing consumers with information to help them choose sustainable products.

Benefits of LCA-based environmental strategies

Environmental impact data obtained through LCA can be used in sustainability reports and ESG information disclosure, potentially contributing to improving a company's ESG score as a factor in increasing transparency and credibility. Specific examples include the introduction of new technologies that reduce the environmental impact of products and the promotion of the use of recycled materials based on LCA results. Data obtained through LCA also leads to improved communication and transparency with stakeholders, thereby increasing a company's credibility.

For companies aiming for sustainable management, understanding and properly implementing the concepts of LCA and CFP is an important point for strengthening their competitiveness. By referring to specific Case Study, you can use them to help your company's environmental strategy.

Contributing to the sustainability of products and Service

By introducing LCA, companies can analyze in detail the life cycle of their products and Service from Manufacturing to disposal, and understand the environmental impact such as Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission amount, water usage, etc. Below are some examples of specific contributions to sustainability.

Promoting eco-design
LCA can reduce environmental impacts from the product design stage, specifically by using more resource-efficient materials and introducing new production processes.
Full lifecycle optimization
Optimizing Manufacturing, transportation, use and disposal stages can reduce the overall environmental impact, for example by using recycled materials and improving Energy efficiency.
Increased transparency in the supply chain
By understanding the environmental impact of your entire supply chain and working with your suppliers to implement improvements, you can strengthen sustainability throughout your supply chain.

Thus, conducting LCA is a very effective means of significantly improving the sustainability of products and Service.

Contributing to improving corporate ESG ratings

As interest in ESG (environmental, social, and governance) grows among investors and consumers, the following factors are becoming important points in ESG evaluations:

Strengthening environmental management
By implementing LCA, companies can ensure thorough environmental management and flexibly comply with international environmental standards and regulations, thereby substantially reducing the environmental impact of their businesses.
Increased transparency and trust
Publishing data obtained through LCA makes a company's environmental efforts more transparent and increases trust among stakeholders, making it easier to gain sustainable investment and consumer support.
Improved risk management
LCA-based analysis makes it possible to detect and address environmental risks early, strengthening risk management to maintain a company's sustainable competitiveness.

Through these elements, LCA helps improve a company's ESG rating and lays the foundation for sustainable growth, maximizing corporate value and fulfilling social responsibility.

"Zeroboard CFP" is a cloud Service that allows you to calculate the carbon footprint (CFP) of your products in order to understand and reduce their environmental impact. It calculates the carbon footprint (CFP) using LCA (Life Cycle Assessment). LCA is an approach to comprehensively understand the environmental impact of products and Service, and our experts can provide support.

For more information, please visit Service page.

https://www.zeroboard.jp/service/zeroboard_cfp

For companies working to reduce the environmental impact of their products and Service
Zeroboard CFP
LCA-based carbon footprint (CFP) calculation solutions. Support from our experts is also available.
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