Standards and Legislation for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an internationally standardized methodology for assessing the environmental impacts of products, services and processes. It is applied on the basis of several standards and legislative frameworks that ensure consistency and transparency in this process. Below I present an overview of the most important standards and legislation.

International standards

1. ISO 14040 and ISO 14044
   • ISO 14040: Establishes principles and frameworks for conducting LCA, including defining objectives, inventory, impact assessment and interpretation of results.
   • ISO 14044: Specifies detailed requirements and guidelines for LCA implementation, including reporting and critical reviews. These standards form the basis for all other methodologies.
2. ISO 14067
   This standard focuses on the quantification and reporting of the carbon footprint of products based on LCA.
3. ISO 14064
   A framework for quantifying and reporting greenhouse gas emissions at the level of organizations. It includes both direct (Scope 1) and indirect (Scope 2 and 3) emissions.

European frameworks

1. ILCD Handbook (International Reference Life Cycle Data System)
   The manual provides detailed guidelines for performing LCA in a European context. It serves as a basis for eco-labelling, green public procurement and other policies to promote sustainable production and consumption.
2. Environmental Footprint Methods
   The European Commission has developed methods for assessing environmental impacts:
   • PEF (Product Environmental Footprint): Focused on products.
   • OEF (Organizational Environmental Footprint): Focused on organizations.
     These methods harmonize impact assessment in the EU and ensure consistency.

Specific methodologies and frameworks

1. GHG Protocol
   The most widely used standard for reporting greenhouse gas emissions at the organizational and product level. It includes specific frameworks for Scope 1, 2 and 3.
2. Product Category Rules (PCRs)
   Product category-specific rules that define the details of LCA assessment for specific products or sectors【64】.
3. Circular Economy and Cradle-to-Cradle
   These approaches complement the LCA methodology by emphasizing resource reuse and closure of material flows.

Legislative use

LCA is used in many areas, including ecodesign, carbon labeling, and green public procurement. For example, the EU supports the use of LCA in the circular economy action plan and sustainable consumption and production policies.

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More detailed information and access to the relevant standards can be found on the ISO pages (www.iso.org) and the European platform for LCA  Spring