Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Your product or service – the impact from cradle to grave

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a globally standardised method defined by multiple ISO standards. It comprehensively measures all emissions, resource consumption, and related environmental and health impacts linked to goods or services from cradle to grave.

An LCA evaluates both the entire or partial life cycle of a product: from resource extraction, production and usage, to recycling, the disposal of waste, and potential product reuse.

Why undergo a Life Cycle Assessment of your product or service?

An LCA serves various purposes, including:

• Understanding the comprehensive environmental impacts of a product or service beyond measuring the Carbon Footprint, and identifying potential trade-offs.
• Informing design and supply chain decisions.
• Identifying opportunities for enhancing product design and removing inefficiencies.
• Communicating science-based information about your products and services through Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) and Climate Active certifications.

Our LCA-related services

Talk to us to better understand if and how an LCA fits your sustainability plans and goals, and the best tool for your organisation. We offer a range of LCA-related services. Your process may incorporate the following:

LCA: a step in the Climate Active certification process

We have worked with over half of the successfully certified organisations in Australia.

Our registered consultants can help with all Climate Active requirements, starting with measuring the emissions of the product or service to be certified. We are known for the detail and accuracy of our Greenhouse Gas Assessments (or carbon footprints) which capture all associated scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions throughout the life cycle of the product or service .

We also help with the next step: developing an Emissions Reduction Strategy (ERS). Climate Active requires proof of emissions reductions for all types of certification – whether product, service, event, building, organisation, or precinct. The ERS often incorporates sustainable or circular product design, supply chain carbon management, and identification and implementation of energy efficiencies.

Compliance with international standards

Our consultants apply the following standards (compliance depends on the type of project):

• ISO 14040:2006 – environmental management – life cycle assessment – principles and frameworks.
• ISO 14044:2006 – environmental management – life cycle assessment – requirements and guidelines.
• PAS 2050 – specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services.
• BS EN 15804:2012+A2:2019 – sustainability of construction works – environmental product declarations – core rules for the product category of construction products.
• ISO 14025:2006 – environmental labels and declarations – type III environmental declarations.
• ISO 14067:2018 – greenhouse gases – carbon footprint of products – requirements and guidelines for quantification.
• Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard.

Examples of LCA projects

Examples of our clients who have undertaken a Greenhouse Gas Assessment for Climate Active certification of products and services:

• Frasers Properties International, Real Utilities (case study) – Climate Active PDS
• Hither & Yon Wines – Climate Active PDS, read more: The lifecycle of a Hither & Yon wine:
  Closed loop product from off farm to the customer’s table.
• Capital Brewing Co (case study) – Climate Active PDS
• BioPak
• JCDecaux

A few screening and full LCA projects:

• Frankie4: carbon footprint for 20 models of shoes.
• Taylors Wines: carbon footprint for three wines.
• Xypex: Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) of three ranges of products (building materials).