Category: Industrial Process Pollution Prevention

TEAM is an LCA software program that allows the user to build and use a database and model any system representing the operations associated with products, processes, and activities (waste management options, means of transportation, etc.). It is designed to describe and model complex industrial systems and to calculate the associated life cycle inventories (LCM,… Continue reading TEAM (Tool for Environmental Analysis and Management)

Table 6.3 lists the LCA and LCI tools we shall discuss in this section, along with the vendor or developer of each and that organization’s Internet address. ECO‐it 1.0 ECO‐it is a database tool used to assist an LCI and LCIA. ECO‐it comes with over 100 indicator values for commonly used materials such as metals, plastics,… Continue reading LCA and LCI Software Tools

When the LCA has been completed, the materials must be assembled into a comprehensive report documenting the study in a clear and organized manner. This will help communicate the results of the assessment fairly, completely, and accurately to others interested in the results. The report presents the results, data, methods, assumptions and limitations in sufficient… Continue reading Reporting the Results

Significant “issues” are the data elements that contribute most to the results of both the LCI and LCIA for each product, process, or service. Examples include When these issues have been identified, the results are used to evaluate the completeness, sensitivity, and consistency of the LCA study (step 2). The identification of significant issues guides… Continue reading Step 1: Identify Significant Issues 

Life cycle interpretation is a systematic technique to identify, quantify, check, and evaluate information from the results of the LCI and the LCIA, and communicate them effectively. Life cycle interpretation is the last phase of the LCA process. The ISO has defined the following objectives of life cycle interpretation: It is not always possible to… Continue reading Life Cycle Interpretation

The impact categories that will be considered as part of the overall LCA were selected as part of the initial goal and scope definition phase. To guide the LCI data collection process and required reconsideration for an LCIA, impacts are defined as the consequences due to the input and output streams of a system on… Continue reading Step 1: Select and Define Impact Categories 

The LCIA phase is the evaluation of potential human health and environmental impacts of the environmental resources and releases identified during the LCI. Impact assessment should address ecological and human health effects; it can also address resource depletion. An LCIA attempts to establish a linkage between the product or process and its potential environmental impacts.… Continue reading Life Cycle Impact Assessment

A life cycle inventory (LCI) quantifies energy and raw material requirements, atmospheric emissions, waterborne emissions, solid wastes, and other releases for the entire life cycle of a product, process, or activity (USEPA 1993). Such an inventory is in the form of a list of the quantities of pollutants released to the environment and the amounts of… Continue reading Life Cycle Inventory

The required level of data accuracy for the project depends on the use of the final results and the intended audience. (Will the results be used to support decision making in an internal process? In a public forum?) For example, if the intent is to use the results in a public forum to support product/process… Continue reading Accuracy Required of the Data

To see the interrelatedness of the four components of an LCA, it is useful to refer to the flowchart shown in Figure 6.2. Goal Definition and Scoping The LCA process can be used to determine the potential environmental impacts from any product, process, or service. The goal definition and scoping phase will determine the time and… Continue reading Conducting an LCA