LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT

17.10. LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT

From the beginning, industrial ecology must consider process/product design in the management of materials, including the ultimate fates of materials when they are discarded. The product and materials in it should be subjected to an entire life-cycle assessment or analysis. A life-cycle assessment applies to products, processes, and services through their entire life cycles from extraction of raw materials—through manufacturing, distribution, and use—to their final fates from the viewpoint of determining, quantifying, and ultimately minimizing their environmental impacts. It takes account of manufacturing, distribution, use, recycling, and disposal. Life-cycle assessment is particularly useful in determining the relative environmental merits of alternative products and services. At the consumer level, this could consist of an From the beginning, industrial ecology must consider process/product design in the management of materials, including the ultimate fates of materials when they are discarded. The product and materials in it should be subjected to an entire life-cycle assessment or analysis. A life-cycle assessment applies to products, processes, and services through their entire life cycles from extraction of raw materials—through manufacturing, distribution, and use—to their final fates from the viewpoint of determining, quantifying, and ultimately minimizing their environmental impacts. It takes account of manufacturing, distribution, use, recycling, and disposal. Life-cycle assessment is particularly useful in determining the relative environmental merits of alternative products and services. At the consumer level, this could consist of an

A basic step in life-cycle analysis is inventory analysis which provides qualitative and quantitative information regarding consumption of material and energy resources (at the beginning of the cycle) and releases to the anthrosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere (during or at the end of the cycle). It is based upon various materials cycles and budgets, and it quantifies materials and energy required as input and the benefits and liabilities posed by products. The related area of impact analysis provides information about the kind and degree of environmental impacts resulting from a complete life cycle of a product or activity. Once the environmental and resource impacts have been evaluated, it is possible to do an improvement analysis to determine measures that can be taken to reduce impacts on the environment or resources.

In making a life-cycle analysis the following must be considered:

• If there is a choice, selection of the kinds of materials that will minimize

waste • Kinds of materials that can be reused or recycled • Components that can be recycled • Alternate pathways for the manufacturing process or for various parts of it

Although a complete life-cycle analysis is expensive and time-consuming, it can yield significant returns in lowering environmental impacts, conserving resources, and reducing costs. This is especially true if the analysis is performed at an early stage in the development of a product or service. Improved computerized techniques are making significant advances in the ease and efficacy of life-cycle analyses. Until now, life-cycle assessments have been largely confined to simple materials and products such as reusable cloth vs. disposable paper diapers. A major challenge now is to expand these efforts to more complex products and systems such as aircraft or electronics products.