Life Cycle Impact Assessment

Methods

Introduction
The availability of diverse sources for life
cycle inventory databases and Life Cycle
Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods should
be an asset to better perform life cycle
assessment studies
By tradition, an LCIA method is understood
as a set of LCIA impact categories
There are various available LCIA methods
and each method vary based on their impact
category

Life Cycle Impact Assessment

In a Life Cycle Assessment, the emissions and
resources consumed that can be attributed to a
specific product are compiled and documented in
a Life Cycle Inventory.
An impact assessment is then performed,
considering
human
health,
the
natural
environment, and issues related to natural
resource use.
The emissions and resources are assigned to
each of these impact categories. They are then
converted into indicators using impact assessment
models.

Impact categories
Some of the different impact categories are
Acidification
Water use
Climate change
Resource depletion
Energy demand
Eco toxicity
Eutrophication
Human toxicity
Ionizing radiation
Land use
Odour
Ozone layer depletion
Respiratory inorganics
Photochemical oxidation

Different LCIA methods

Different LCIA methods

Though there are different LCIA methods
available,
CML
Eco indicator 99 and
ReCiPe
Are the commonly used LCIA methods as they
have better normalization and weightage
compared to other methods

CML method
This method created by the University of
Leiden in the Netherlands in 2001 contains
more than 1700 different flows
The method is divided into baseline and
non-baseline, the baseline being the most
common impact categories

CML method

CML method - Normalisation

Normalisation factors for CML 2001 are available for
the Netherlands, Western Europe, EU and the World.
The normalisation factors are calculated via total
substance emissions and characterisation factors per
substance, and are hence following the substance
level updates as described above.
Normalisation data for other countries (e.g. Germany,
USA and Japan) and geographical units (e.g. North
America or OECD) is available in different LCA
packages. This data is scaled from the original CML
2001 normalisation via gross domestic product.

Eco Indicator Method

Eco-indicator 99 is probably still one of the most
widely used impact assessment methods in LCA.
It has replaced Eco-indicator 95, the first endpoint
assessment method.
It allowed the expression of the environmental
impact in one single score.
This method analyses three different types of
damage: human health, ecosystem quality and
resources. Relevant information about Ecoindicator 99 is that the standard unit given in all
the categories is point (Pt) or millipoint (mPt).

Eco Indicator Method

Since the aim of this method is the
comparison of products or components,
the value itself is not most relevant but
rather a comparison of values.
The method distinguishes three different
cultural perspectives or Archetypes:
H Hierarchist (default)
Individualist
E Egalitarian

Eco Indicator 99 - Categorization

Eco Indicator Method

These intermediate endpoint categories are
grouped into the three areas of protection:
Human Health, Resources and Ecosystems.
For calculating the ecosystem damage
category, a factor of 0.1 is applied to the
ecotoxicity impact category.
For the rest of the impact categories, a factor
of 1 is used.

General principles of Eco-Indicator 99

methodology

ReCiPe
ReCiPe is a follow up of Eco-indicator 99
and CML 2002 methods. I
It integrates and harmonises midpoint and
endpoint approach in a consistent
framework.
Although initially integration of the
methods was intended, all impact
categories have been redeveloped and
updated (except ionising radiation).

Unique features
Consistent use of midpoints and endpoints in
the
same
environmental
mechanism.
Midpoints are chosen as close as possible to
the LCI results (lowest uncertainty of the
indicator).
Consistent marginal approach.
Sub compartments rural air and urban air
applied in fate and exposure model for
human toxicity.
Most impact categories have been described
in peer reviewed papers (some still in press).

Calculation of Life Cycle

Impacts- Eco Indicator 99
Life Cycle Impacts in eco indicator 99 is
measured in a unit named Pt (Point) which
is a unit less number
The formula used in the calculation of life
cycle impacts is,

Impact category and its

weighting
Impact category

Rounded

Weighting

Human health

40%

0.4

Ecosystem Quality

40%

0.4

Resources

20%

0.4

If the impact is calculated for human health and

ecosystem quality, weighting value of 0.4 is
substituted in the formula
If the impact is calculated for resources, weighting
value of 0.2 is substituted in the formula for finding
the impacts

Sample Calculation
The environmental impacts caused while
production of 1 kg of aluminum is to be
calculated

= 0.0026 Pt or 26.5mPt

Thank You