The Hitch Hiker's Guide to LCA : an orientation in life cycle assessment methodology and application

The environmental life cycle of a product consists of all the stages from raw material extraction through production and use to waste management. Life cycle assessment (LCA), then, is the assessment of the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle. The holistic perspective that LCA provides on the environmental performance of products has made it a central concept for both environmental management in industry and environmental policy-making in public government. This is a textbook on LCA for those who want to learn the practice of LCA, e.g. environmental engineers, environmental managers and ecodesigners. The title paraphrases Douglas Adams’ famous story The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in which the machine Deep Thought after seven and a half million years of computing come up with ‘42’ as the answer to the ‘great Question of Life, the Universe and Everything’. Expectations on LCA are often similar – simple answer to difficult environmental dilemmas, and the