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Life cycle assessment (LCA)

A life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates a product's environmental impact "from cradle to grave": raw material extraction, production, transport, use and waste handling. For comparisons to be fair, results must be calculated per a shared functional unit, such as "1 km of transport".

LCA: cradle→grave\text{LCA: cradle} \to \text{grave}raw materials, production, transport, use, disposal

Symbols

functional unit\text{functional unit}what is compared per, shared across alternatives

Example

Two packaging types can be compared per "1000 litres of milk packaged", not per kilogram of packaging alone — otherwise the comparison is skewed.

Without a shared functional unit, comparing products becomes meaningless.
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