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AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND CURRENT PRACTICES WORLDWIDE
Citation:
Curran*, M A. AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND CURRENT PRACTICES WORLDWIDE. Presented at Waste & Recycle 2004 Conference, Fremantle, AUSTRALIA, September 21 - 24, 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Environmental life cycle management looks at products, processes, and activities by recognizing all the "cradle to grave" stages that are involved and identifying where potential environmental and economic impacts occur. Government, industry and non-governmental organizations can apply the life cycle concept to product policy, design, and process improvement in order to broaden their focus on environmental issues and arrive at a more informed decision. Behind the life cycle concept are complicated methodological issues that relate to data availability and impact assessment modeling. Much activity is being conducted on both fronts, although not always in a coordinated fashion. There are several national and international efforts underway to create life cycle inventory databases. In addition, the US EPA developed a website entitled LCA access, a searchable global directory that identifies potential data sources. To further analyze and understand inventory data, EPA developed TRACI, the Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and other environmental Impacts, which allows the characterization of ozone depletion, global warming, acidification, human health effects (cancer, noncancer, and criteria pollutants), eutrophication, smog formation, ecotoxicity, fossil fuel use, land use, and water use.
This paper addresses these research efforts, focusing on the need to make life cycle inventory data more accessible. An overview of the current state-of-the-practice of life cycle assessment, including life cycle inventory analysis and life cycle impact assessment, at the global level is provided.