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Chemistry · Glossary

What is Life-cycle assessment?

Also known as: functional unit · system boundary · cradle-to-gate assessment

Definition 31.12 University Chemistry — Year 3 · Chapter 31 — Green Chemistry and Industrial Processes

A life-cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates the environmental impacts of a product over its life, from raw-material extraction to disposal. It is expressed per functional unit, the service delivered (for example, one wash of a load of laundry), within a system boundary that states which processes are included. A cradle-to-gate assessment stops when the product leaves the factory.

Stages of a product’s life and two system boundaries. Inputs and outputs are inventoried for every process inside the boundary and converted into impact categories (climate change, acidification, water use, toxicity…) per functional unit.
Stages of a product’s life and two system boundaries. Inputs and outputs are inventoried for every process inside the boundary and converted into impact categories (climate change, acidification, water use, toxicity…) per functional unit.
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