Life Cycle Analysis

Life cycle analysis is where we look at all the impacts an item has on the environment.

This is useful because the environmental impacts of waste are not limited to their disposal. The processing, manufacture and transport of materials before they end up as waste all use energy and resources and create pollution. By looking at all the impacts we can find out where improvements can be made to reduce any harmful effects on the environment.

To do this we need to look at the life cycle of a product from the raw materials through to disposal once the product has reached the end of its useful life. At each stage we look at the every thing we put in including raw materials and energy and look at all the outputs for example waste and emissions.

The first diagram on the left shows a typical life cycle analysis and some of the things we need to think about.

So in the first diagram we have thought about the life cycle but what about the disposal? Is landfill the only option? This is where we think about closing the loop. Does the product need to go to landfill or can it be reused or recycled in any way so that it can go back into the raw materials. The next diagram on the right will give you some ideas on how to close the loop.

Now we've started to think about how to do a life cycle analysis try and work it through with a simple example. The next diagram on the left shows a basic life cycle analysis for an apple.

Firstly what raw materials do we need? Apple trees obviously and possibly fertilisers and pesticides to help the trees grow and produce apples. If fertilisers and pesticides are used machines will also be needed to spray the trees. Next we need to think about everything that goes into the manufacturing process in getting the apples ready to go into the shops. Then we need to think about how apples are going to be delivered to the shops. The use of apples is nice and simple we use them for eating but then what do we eat the entire apple? Usually the apple core is left over and we might not eat the peel. So what do we do with them? We could put them in our rubbish bins to be sent to landfill but it would be much better to compost the core and peel. The compost produced could then be used a fertiliser for the next crop of apples thus closing the loop.