Background and Future Prospects in Life Cycle Assessment

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become the recognized instrument to assess the ecological burdens and human health impacts connected with the complete life cycle (creation, use, end-of-life) of products, processes and activities, enabling the assessor to model the entire system from which products are derived or in which processes and activities operate. This volume introduces the major new book series LCA Compendium - The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment. In this volume, the main drivers in the development of LCA are explored. The volume also discusses strengths and limitations in LCA as well as challenges and gaps, thus offering an unbiased picture of the state-of-the-art and future of LCA.

In 1990, the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) sponsored an international workshop where the term ‘life cycle assessment’ was coined. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has since become the recognized instrument to assess the ecological burdens and human health impacts connected with the complete life cycle (creation, use, end-of-life) of products, processes and activities, enabling the assessor to model the entire system from which products are derived or in which processes and activities operate.

The LCA Compendium - The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment Book Series is a major work responding to the timely need for an authoritative, detailed review of all aspects of LCA.

This first volume, Background and Future Prospects in Life Cycle Assessment, sets the stage by first exploring the main drivers in the development of LCA.

SETAC, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have established and advanced the understanding and use of the LCA framework, methodology, and data throughout the years. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment has been instrumental in promoting LCA since 1996. The roles, standards, and initiatives of the main drivers in developing the field of LCA are discussed.

The volume then goes on to discuss the strengths and limitations in LCA, as well as challenges and gaps, thus offering an unbiased picture of the state-of-the-art and future of LCA.

This text will be a useful resource for LCA and Life Cycle Management (LCM) scientists, practitioners and consultants; environmental managers in product manufacturing; government policymakers; scientific and industrial societies involved in LCA and LCM development; and ecological research institutions and bodies.