Enterprise Life Cycle Assessment (O-LCA)

Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (O-LCA)

Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (O-LCA)is a method that systematically evaluates the environmental impacts of an organization. This method was developed to analyze and reduce the environmental impacts of organizations' activities.

O-LCA considers the entire life cycle of an organization’s activities. This process includes the stages from the production of products or services to their delivery to the final consumer:

• Obtaining Materials: Procurement of raw materials from natural resources.
• Production: Production processes of products or services.
• Packaging: Packaging stages of products before they are introduced to the market.
• Distribution: Delivery of products to consumers.
• Use: Use of products or services by consumers.
• Waste Management: Management of waste after end of life of products.

O-LCA evaluates the environmental impacts of organizations by taking into account important indicators such as the use of environmental resources, greenhouse gas emissions, toxic waste, water and energy consumption.

This assessment process uses a variety of metrics to determine an organization's environmental performance:

• Carbon Footprint: Total greenhouse gas emissions.
• Water Footprint: Amount of water consumed.
• Energy Efficiency: Efficiency of energy consumption.
• Material Efficiency: Efficiency of materials used.

O-LCA is applied together with strategies such as energy efficiency, waste management, renewable energy use and material conservation to reduce environmental impacts. In this way, organizations can achieve their sustainability goals and take important steps towards minimizing their environmental impacts.