Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the most modern and advanced scientific tool to describe environmental and climate-related impacts of a given choice for a product from cradle to grave. Whereas the waste hierarchy indicates some general recommendations, the LCA will provide detailed and very solid scientific documentation, quantifying the environmental and climate-related impacts of a certain choice.
LCA studies are widely used by politicians and environmentalists in order to provide the best possible information for environmental and tax legislation. Consequently, such detailed LCA studies must be in line with strict international standards in order to avoid “greenwash” and manipulation by commercial or political interests. Therefore, a set of ISO standards, ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, has been drawn up, securing a high level of scientific reliability and peer review by independent researchers.