Handbook on Life Cycle Assessment

by Guinee, Jeroen B.; Vanduin, Robbert; Huijbregts, Mark A. J.; Lindeijer, Erwin (CON); Roorda, Aksel A. H. (CON)

• ISBN13: 9781402002281
• ISBN10: 1402002289
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-07-01
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Pub

Summary

In 1992 the Centre of Environmental Science (CML) at Leiden University, The Netherlands, published a Guide on Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Many copies of this guide have been sold all over the world, setting the standard for a long time.Since then LCA methodology has progressed enormously and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a series of Standards on LCA. These developments have now been incorporated into a new Handbook on LCA authored by CML in cooperation with a number of other important institutes in the area of LCA. The general aim of this Handbook on LCA is to provide a stepwise 'cookbook' with operational guidelines for conducting an LCA study step-by-step, justified by a scientific background document, based on the ISO Standards for LCA. The different ISO elements and requirements are made operational to the 'best available practice' for each step. This book will appeal to persons from a wide range of scientific disciplines working in industry, in government, as consultants, or at university, who are interested in learning more about LCA and in performing LCA studies. It will be of especial interest to students and researchers in the field of LCA, industrial ecology, and those interested in environmental sciences in general. CML is strongly involved in the development of a standard methodology to determine environmental impacts of products, i.e., LCA. This is done within international fora such as the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Foreword	ix
LCA in perspective	1	(14)
Why a new Guide to LCA?	5	(1)
Main characteristics of LCA	5	(5)
International developments	10	(2)
Guiding principles for the present Guide	12	(1)
Reading guide	13	(2)
Guide	15	(106)
Reading guidance	19	(90)
Management of LCA projects: procedures	21	(10)
Goal and scope definition	31	(10)
Inventory analysis	41	(22)
Impact assessment	63	(34)
Interpretation	97	(12)
Terms, definitions and abbreviations	109	(12)
Operational annex	121	(274)
List of tables	125	(2)
Reading guidance	127	(268)
Management of LCA projects: procedures	129	(2)
Goal and scope definition	131	(2)
Inventory analysis	133	(28)
Impact assessment	161	(228)
Interpretation	389	(2)
References	391	(4)
Scientific background	395	(280)
Reading guidance	401	(258)
General introduction	403	(52)
Goal and scope definition	455	(22)
Inventory analysis	477	(48)
Impact assessment	525	(110)
Interpretation	635	(10)
References	645	(14)
Contributors	659	(2)
Areas of application of LCA	661	(14)
Partitioning economic inputs and outputs to product systems	675