Description of LCA

1. LCA address the environmental aspects and potential environmental impacts (e.g. resource use and environmental consequences of releases) throughout a product’s life cycle from raw material acquisition through production, use, end-of-life treatment and disposal (i.e. cradle-to-grave)
2. LCA can assist in
   -   Identifying opportunities to improve the environmental performance of products at various points in their life cycle
   -   Informing decision-makers in industry, governmental or non-governmental organizations (e.g. strategic planning, priority setting, product or process design or redesign)
   -   Selection of relevant indicators of environmental performance, including measurement techniques; and
   -   Marketing (e.g. an environmental claim, ecolabelling scheme or environmental product declaration). Ref: ISO 14040 Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and framework
3. LCA addresses environmental impacts of the system under study in the areas of ecological health, human health and resource depletion. It does not address economic considerations or social effects.
4. LCA is only one of several techniques of environmental management.  Ref: SETAC Guidelines for Life-Cycle Assessment: A “Code of Practice”, 1993

SETAC Life-Cycle Assessment

SETAC provides an international infrastructure to support the mission of the SETAC and SETAC Europe Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) groups in advancing the science, practice, and application of LCA and related approaches worldwide. SETAC brings three features that are also critical and important to the LCA community: 1) its membership is international; 2) its scope is multidisciplinary, and 3) its governance and membership are multisector, representing government, industry, and academia.

LCA Mission Statement
The mission of the LCA Advisory Group in North America and the LCA Steering Committee in Europe is to advance the science, practice, and application of LCAs to reduce the resource consumption and environmental burdens associated with products, packaging, processes, or activities. The organizations will

• serve as focal points of a broad-based forum for the identification, resolution, and communication of issues regarding LCAs.
• facilitate, coordinate, and provide guidance for the development and implementation of LCAs in close cooperation with each other.

Core tasks include planning and organizing LCA sessions and conferences (such as the Annual Meetings in Europe and North America and the LCA Case Studies Symposium), coordination of topical working groups, preparation and global integration of SETAC LCA publications, and promotion of the UNEP/SETAC Life-Cycle Initiative.