Recent progress and application of materials life cycle assessment in China

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a technique for systematically analyzing the environmental impacts and resources used throughout a target's life cycle, i.e. from raw material acquisition, via production and use phases, to waste management. It is an effective tool that gives a detailed information of environmental profiles of a material or a product. More importantly, the value of life cycle thinking lies in its ability to provide the decision making basis for sustainable development, making the products, industries and even the whole industry chain act more in line with the principles of sustainable development. The recent developments of LCA methods and applications of materials life cycle assessment in China were reviewed. In the sections on LCA methodology, the data quality analysis, the impact of land use and abiotic resource depletion as well as the weakness in life cycle impact assessment were discussed. In relation to the applications, the Chinese materials database (SinoCenter Database) and several representative case studies such as life cycle analysis of civilian buildings and metal production in China were introduced.