The status of life-cycle assessment as an environmental management tool

As environmental awareness increases, industries and businesses have responded by providing 'greener" products and using ''greener" processes. Many companies have found it advantageous to explore ways of moving beyond compliance, using pollution prevention strategies and environmental management systems, to improve their environmental performance. One such way is life-cycle assessment (LCA). This concept considers the entire life cycle of a product, process, or an activity. Evaluating environmental impacts holistically from raw material acquisition, through manufacture, use, and disposal using a life-cycle perspective is gradually being viewed by environmental managers and decision makers as an important element in achieving environmental sustainability. The use of a holistic, life cycle approach can help industry and government avoid the unintended trading of one environmental problem for another. this paper addresses ongoing research in LCA methodology in the US EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory. Two key areas of this research include life-cycle inventory (LCI) data availability and life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) modeling. To address the issue of data availability, EPA developed a website entitled LCAccess. Although LCAccess does not itself contain data, it is a searchable global directory to potential data sources. LCAccess also serves as a central source for LCA information. In addition, 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, eutrophication, tropospheric ozone (smog) formation, ecotoxicity, buman Particulate effects, human health, fossil fuel depletion, and land use effects. TRACI can be used with life-cycle inventory to further analyze and understand the data. (C) 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog.