Life Cycle Assessment as a tool for environmental management

 This paper illustrates, using data from test cases, how Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) may be used to enhance environmental management, particularly when used in conjunction with Environmental Management Systems. There are a number of areas where LCA can be helpful: in the identification of significant environmental effects; in the quantification of those effects; in the assessment of year-to-year changes in environmental performance and in the assessment of the environmental benefits (or disadvantages) arising from changes (actual or planned) in operating conditions, equipment, procedures, raw materials or products. There are some issues which cannot (at present) be adequately assessed using LCA and these are also discussed.