Life Cycle Assessment

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an analytical tool used to quantify and interpret the environmental flows to and from the environment, over the entire life cycle of a product or service. By analyzing the impacts throughout the product life cycle, LCA provides a comprehensive view of the product or process, and a more accurate picture of the true environmental trade-offs in product selection.

Depending upon the intended application and audience of your LCA endeavors, EarthShift will recommend an appropriate type and level of assessment. If your objective is to publish your results for an external audience or to use them to support marketing claims, we will make sure that your assessment and any related documentation complies with all ISO requirements related to data collection, modeling, interpretation and reporting.

Screening Level LCA/Hot Spot Analysis

Are you curious where the majority of impacts are occurring in your product’s life cycle? Are you seeking a cost-effective means to quickly identify the environmental hotspots in your product design or supply chain? If so, a screening level LCA or “hotspot analysis” is the most cost-effective way to gain a high level view of your product’s environmental footprint. Knowing where your biggest impacts originate allows you to focus your investment dollars and maximize the reduction of your environmental footprint.

Single Product LCA

Are you seeking to establish a baseline of a single product’s environmental footprint to use as a benchmark for future assessments of similar products? Are you receiving customer requests for more comprehensive information regarding the environmental performance of your product? If so, EarthShift can serve your needs by performing a rigorous, ISO-compliant single product LCA that is ready for critical review to enable you to provide your customers with the information they need to make informed decisions.

Multi-Product LCA/Comparative LCA (with Critical Review for Marketing Claims)

Are you trying to determine how one product compares with another, or with its competition? Are you seeking to make a marketing claim and state that one product is environmentally preferable to another? ISO standards require that your comparative LCA be critically reviewed by a third party. EarthShift can put the science behind your marketing claims by conducting an extensive, ISO-compliant LCA that refines your screening LCA and provides a report that is ready for critical review.

Packaging LCA

Are you attempting to quantify the environmental impacts of your package, or do you want to integrate environmental assessment into your design process? Would you like to go to market with a strong sustainability story for your new package? EarthShift’s packaging experts can help you do so by utilizing PackageSmart, a simplified LCA tool that maintains robust ISO 14040 methodology in the background. We can help you evaluate and communicate the environmental impacts of your packaging using the sustainability metrics that matter most to your customers and retailers.

If you are interested in more information regarding our LCA services, please contact us.