The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to LCA

A product’s environmental life cycle progresses from raw material extraction through production, use and finally to waste management. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) concerns the impact of a product on the environment. LCA’s holistic perspective of products’ environmental performance makes it a key concept for environmental management in industry as well as for environmental policy-making in government. This book for environmental engineers and managers, ecodesigners and students presents a broad repertoire of LCA methological alternatives, their implications and their usefulness in many different applications such as product development, marketing, production and waste management. Here environmental professionals can learn to interpret LCA methodology and results. The text also provides indepth coverage of LCA applications and offers many useful exercises to help prepare for the 10 major LCA exercise projects that are also included.