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Life Cycle / Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
From raw materials to end-of-life, the life cycle assessment tracks all phases of a product. LCA is the method to measure environmental impacts across these stages. Your product can have an impact on the following categories:
Impact Category | Unit | Short Description |
|---|---|---|
Climate change (total, fossil, biogenic, land use) | kg CO₂-eq | Contribution to global warming caused by GHG emissions, expressed as CO₂ equivalents (GWP, typically 100 years). |
Ozone depletion | kg CFC-11-eq | Potential of emissions to destroy the stratospheric ozone layer, expressed as CFC-11 equivalents. |
Acidification | mol H⁺-eq | Potential of emissions (mainly from energy, heat and transport) to acidify soils and water bodies. |
Eutrophication (freshwater) | kg PO₄-eq | Nutrient enrichment of freshwater ecosystems caused by nitrogen and phosphorus emissions. |
Eutrophication (marine) | kg N-eq | Over-enrichment of marine ecosystems mainly due to nitrogen emissions. |
Eutrophication (terrestrial) | mol N-eq | Nutrient enrichment of terrestrial ecosystems due to nitrogen emissions. |
Photochemical ozone formation | kg NMVOC-eq | Formation of ground-level ozone (summer smog) from precursor emissions. |
Resource depletion (minerals & metals) | kg Sb-eq | Depletion of mineral and metal resources, expressed as antimony equivalents. |
Resource depletion (fossil fuels) | MJ (net calorific value) | Consumption of finite fossil energy resources expressed in energy units. |
Human toxicity (cancer & non-cancer) | CTUh | Potential impacts on human health via environmental exposure pathways (USEtox). |
Eco-toxicity (freshwater) | CTUe | Potential toxic impacts on freshwater ecosystems (USEtox). |
Water use / water scarcity | m³ world eq. deprived | Water consumption weighted by regional water scarcity. |
Land use | Dimensionless (Pts) | Impacts from land occupation and transformation on soil quality and ecosystem functions. |
Ionising radiation (human health) | kBq U-235-eq | Potential impacts on human health from ionising radiation under normal operation. |
Particulate matter emissions | Disease incidence | Health impacts caused by particulate matter and its precursors, expressed as disease incidence per kg PM2.5. |
Source: https://green-forum.ec.europa.eu/environmental-footprint-methods/life-cycle-assessment-ef-methods_en
