LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) 1999.04.15

What is LCA? LCA is one way to analyze, evaluate, and quantify the impact of our products and services on the environment through the entire life cycle (life products ranging from materials procurement, production, consumption, and disposal).

Although the purpose of implementing LCA is to reduce environmental impact in various aspects of human activity, the purpose of use of LCA has been seen in various ways. 

① Voluntary improvement support. We can calculate the environmental impact of products and process processes, select recyclable materials, and quantitatively evaluate the support tools to develop environmentally friendly products (ECP) with low environmental impact, and to improve processes by energy-saving processing and assembly. The quantitative evaluation tool of the improvement effect by the environmental management system of the enterprise, and the environmental Harmony type product can be used for marketing. 

② marketing assistance. The company publishes not only product development but evaluation results positively as a company comparison, and uses it as a support tool such as self-assertion PR for the image improvement of the product and the enterprise. In the future, it can be published in catalogues as a comparison PR with other companies ' products. 

③ consumption activity support. Use of environmental information (such as eco-labels) to review lifestyles to reduce environmental impact, and to choose the tools for promoting environmental education and purchasing products with low environmental impact.We can also contribute to the promotion of green procurement to actively purchase environmentally friendly products and services.

 ④ reflected in the economic and social system. Basic information on low environmental impact and the realization of a cyclical economic and social system. It can be used as basic environmental information to grasp the environmental realities and to build environmental administration for the future. In addition, it can be reflected in the environmental management system correspondence which leads to voluntary improvement. 

It can be divided into two types of product selection support that are common to the voluntary improvement type of ① and other ②-④, when classifying it from the aspect of the implementation or the user of LCA.