Product Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)

Life cycle analysis is a systematic method that evaluates the environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its entire life cycle, starting from the extraction of raw materials and including production, use, end-use and waste management stages. It is considered a critical tool in sustainability studies because it helps determine ways to reduce environmental impact. Life cycle analysis is a concept that refers to the systematic analysis of potential environmental impacts of products throughout their entire life cycle. Within the scope of this assessment, many question marks are answered, including the production, distribution, use and end-of-life stages of the product. It is possible to address the environmental impacts of products more meticulously within the scope of life cycle analysis, which also offers the opportunity to evaluate upstream and downstream processes from many aspects. Life cycle analysis refers to a process that expresses inputs from the environment and emissions from air, water and soil. It provides guidelines and requirements for life cycle assessment within the scope of ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 determined by ISO. Drawing attention as an increasingly important option in the past 30 years, life cycle analysis has also managed to become a subject that has gained great importance in terms of product standards. Benefits of Product Life Cycle Analysis Within the scope of the evaluations carried out within the scope of the benefits of life cycle analysis, it is considered a very remarkable solution. Within the scope of this analysis, which covers the processes of the products from production to the final stage, it is possible to talk about many advantages for companies and service providers. When the benefits listed below are evaluated, life cycle analysis should be considered a very serious solution.

• Encouraging demand for products with less environmental impact.
• Making evaluations within the scope of potential improvements and investments.
• Realizing optimization related to supply processes.
• Evaluating environmental impacts one by one at each stage of production processes.
• Comparing sustainability of products in manufacturing processes and making improvements.
• Measuring and managing various life cycle stages within the scope of sustainability of products.
• Determining environmental impacts related to life cycles of products.
• Preparing guiding sustainability plans and evaluating risks and potentials

The aim of all these evaluations is to reach more reasonable solutions. When the meticulousness of the process and the necessity of completing it from a professional perspective are considered, the value of product life cycle analysis becomes clear. Advantages of Life Cycle Analysis It should be stated that you can reach advantageous solutions in many aspects with life cycle analyses. In this context, what is important is that the life cycle continues in a more reasonable way and the targeted success is achieved with the analyses. It should not be forgotten that the following objectives should be taken into consideration within the scope of life cycle analyses.

• Reducing resource consumption to more reasonable levels.
• Reducing the negative impacts caused by environmental emissions.
• Conducting studies to improve or develop social factors.
• Describe the positive connections between economic and environmental factors.

In addition to all these purposes, the life cycle analysis application purposes are also considered to be among the elements that need to be taken into consideration. In this context, we will need to state that it is necessary to list the important issues as follows.

• Product Impact Measurement
• Eco Labeling
• Determining Environmental Impacts
• Product Comparison Solutions
• Product Development and Improvement
• Strategic Planning
• Decision Making
• Marketing

How to Prepare a Life Cycle Analysis? Life Cycle Analysis is one of the alternatives that expresses a process and consists of many stages. In this context, it is possible to answer the question of how to conduct a life cycle analysis by taking into account the following steps.

1. Raw Material Production: Manufacturing of one or more raw materials required for product creation.
2. Production of Products or Services: Manufacturing stages related to products or services.
3. Consumption – Usage: The usage phase after the product reaches the customer.
4. Disposal: Disposal processes when products are not recycled.
5. Recycle: The process of converting the product back into raw material form.
6. Transport: Logistics stages of products and services, including intermediate processes.

Life Cycle Analysis Evaluation Steps While it is very valuable to make evaluations within the scope of life cycle analysis, what these stages are and what should be taken into consideration is also considered as a very important issue. It will be possible to achieve a successful result regarding the process by taking into account the steps that express different analyzes and stages. Goal and Scope Definitions Target and Scope Definitions refer to defining the product to be evaluated and choosing a functional basis for comparison. Then, targets are determined, including purpose, application and target audience. In the final stage, it is also taken into consideration whether or not an examination is required within the scope of determining this target. Inventory Analysis Inventory analysis refers to the compilation of data and the processing of all resources in the environment. The final inventory is the process of obtaining a list including all products, inputs and outputs. Impact Assessment Thanks to the impact assessment, classifications are made within the framework of the potential impacts of resource use and emissions produced. In addition to the classification study carried out in terms of quantity, a part of the life cycle analysis study It is also possible to make evaluations. Interpretation Information is discussed in terms of relevance, implications, robustness, data quality and limitations. It is also aimed to conduct systematic studies to eliminate negative impacts on products or services. Since Life Cycle Analysis is a comprehensive process and studies that include very important stages, it is very important to complete this process with professional support. In particular, it would be best to act meticulously in order to more reasonably evaluate the environmental impacts of products and services. You can reach us from the contact section for Product Life Cycle Analysis and consultancy services.