Introducing “Special Types of Life Cycle Assessment”

Abstract

Aims and Scope Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has become the recognized instrument to assess the ecological burdens and human health impacts connected with the complete life cycle (creation, use, end-of-life) of products, processes and activities, enabling the assessor to model the entire system from which products are derived or in which processes and activities operate. Due to the steady, world-wide growth of the field of LCA, the wealth of information produced in journals, reports, books and elec-tronic media has made it difficult for readers to stay abreast of activity and recent developments in the field. This led to the realization of the need for a comprehen-sive and authoritative publication. LCA Compendium – The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment will discuss the main drivers in LCA (SETAC, UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, etc.), the strengths and limitations of LCA, the LCA phases as defined by ISO standards, specific applications of LCA, Life Cycle Management (LCM) and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). Further volumes, which are closely related to these themes will cover examples of exemplary LCA studies ordered according to the importance of the fields of application. They will also present new insights and new developments and will keep the whole work current. The aim of the series is to provide a well-structured treatise of the field of LCA to give orientation and guidance through detailed descriptions on all steps necessary to conduct an LCA study according to the state of the art and in full agreement with the standards. LCA Compendium – The Complete World of Life Cycle Assessment anticipates publishing volumes on the following themes: