Life Cycle Assessments

Every product we use has an environmental impact — from the moment raw materials are extracted from the Earth, through manufacturing and use, to the product's eventual disposal. A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool that quantifies this impact at every stage. This lesson covers LCAs as required by the AQA GCSE Chemistry specification.

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What Is a Life Cycle Assessment?

A life cycle assessment (LCA) is a systematic analysis of the environmental impact of a product throughout its entire life — from raw material extraction to disposal. It is sometimes called a "cradle-to-grave" analysis.

An LCA examines four key stages:

graph LR
    A[1. Raw Material<br>Extraction] --> B[2. Manufacturing<br>and Processing]
    B --> C[3. Use and<br>Operation]
    C --> D[4. Disposal at<br>End of Life]
    style A fill:#ffcc80,stroke:#e65100
    style B fill:#fff59d,stroke:#f57f17
    style C fill:#a5d6a7,stroke:#2e7d32
    style D fill:#ef9a9a,stroke:#c62828

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The Four Stages of an LCA

Stage 1: Raw Material Extraction

This stage considers the environmental impact of obtaining the raw materials needed to make the product.