Life Cycle Assessments
This lesson covers:
- What a 'life cycle assessment' ('LCA') is
- The 4 stages of a life cycle assessment
- An example of a life cycle assessment
- The problems with life cycle assessments
What is the purpose of a life cycle assessment (LCA)?
To assess the time it takes to produce a product
To assess the environmental impact of products
To assess the financial costs of products
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What the correct order for the stages of a life cycle assessment?
A - Using the product
B - Manufacturing and packaging the product
C - Disposing of the product
D - Extracting and processing the raw materials
D ➔ A ➔ C ➔ B
B ➔ C ➔ A ➔ D
D ➔ B ➔ A ➔ C
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Give two ways in which 'extracting and processing the raw materials' can damage the environment.
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Which of the following is not part of a life-cycle assessment (LCA)?
Disposing of the product at the end of its lifetime
Manufacturing the product and packaging
Advertising and marketing the product
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Which of the following is not a consideration when evaluating the manufacture of a product during a Life Cycle Assessment?
The pollutants released during the manufacturing process
Energy used by the manufacturing process
The cost of the equipment needed for manufacturing
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Which of the following methods of disposal has the lowest environmental impact?
Incineration
Landfill
Recycling
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When you're asked to compare the life cycle assessments of two products in an exam, you will normally be given information about the two products first.
Which of the following are limitations of life cycle assessments?
(Select all that apply)
It is difficult to gather all of the required data about each step
Companies can manipulate their LCAs to look more favourable
It is difficult to compare different harms e.g. lung disease vs global warming
We can't create tables large enough to hold all of the data
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