Life-Cycle Assessment
SCS is a leading practitioner of Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) science.
Using LCA, SCS has helped companies and institutions:
– Determine the environmental profile of existing
production operations;
– Evaluate the environmental
impact indicators associated with various product and material
choices;
– Assess improvement strategies;
– Document environmental achievements in the
market place; and
– Enhance corporate and institutional procurement
programs to consider environmental factors.
SCS also helped spearhead an internationals effort to enhance the LCA
technical framework in order to expand its use a an environmental assessment
methodology. Countries participating in the ISO
14000 process view such efforts as the next important development
in environmental management performance
evaluation, decision making, and marketplace communication.
This technique is "cradle-to-grave" in scope, meaning that
it considers impacts at each stage of a product's life-cycle, from the
time natural resources are extracted from the ground and processed through
each subsequent stage of manufacturing, transportation, product use,
and ultimately, disposal.
The product's environmental information is summarized on an "eco-profile".
This eco-profile lists each impact indicator result, then compares these
results to a baseline, such as the average product performing the same
task. The eco-profile is very similar to a nutritional label on food.
But instead of listing nutritional components like protein, fat, and
sugar, the eco-profile lists impact categories like fossil fuel resource
depletion, ecosystem depletion, greenhouse gas loading, and residual
hazardous waste.
When a product is better in every impact category than the baseline,
it can be certified as environmentally
preferable.
For more information about the Life-Cycle Assessment program please
contact Stowe Hartridge-Beam at shartridgebeam@scscertified.com
