A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a summary of the environmental impact of your product or service throughout is complete lifecycle, From raw materials extraction to its end of life disposal, described as its “Cradle to Grave” analysis.
The main purpose of a Life Cycle Assessment LCA is to give you the carbon impact of each stage of its life and the opportunity to identify the potential for reducing the carbon emissions.
Design
Materials
Transport
Manufacture
In Use
End Of Life
What can a Life Cycle Assessment do to help my business?
Having a LCA carried out on your product gives you the opportunity to review and consider opportunities for change at all stages of the product life.
- Your Design: Is it overly complicated?
- Materials utilised: Are there more sustainable, can recycled material be used.
- Materials sources: Can it be sourced better
- Delivery options: Can we optimise deliveries, and look at alternate transport.
- Manufacturing processes: Can the process be improved
- Design for product use: Are there any “in Use” issues, that can be improved
- End of life: Are the materials recyclable
So GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD. ENGAGE YOUR TEAM, THINK OUT OF THE BOX
All of the steps in a LCA are capable of delivering an optimised design and a more sustainable product, making it more attractive to customers, perhaps more competitive.
If you are involved in the construction industry a product LCA can be used as the basis for a full Environment Product Declaration EPD enabling the listing of your product in an EPD register comparing your product with competitors.
Therefore the aim should be to produce as sustainable product as possible.
Carbon-Zero have an experienced team with good knowledge across many industries from manufacturing, house building and construction, pharmaceutical, waste handling and many more.
See our wide ranging carbon support topics at www.carbon-zero.uk and book your free (no obligation) 30 minute consultation today at www.carbon-zero.uk/booking.