Life Cycle Analysis

A life Cycle analysis looks at all the environmental impacts of an item from manufacture through to disposal.

The aim is to understand what goes into an item in order to asses its environmental impact at each stage of its life from the raw materials through to disposal. To help you guide your pupils we have provided some information and examples.

 In the first instance we think about the different stages of a typical life cycle as shown in first diagram.

Next we should be thinking about how we dispose of the item when it reaches the end of its useful life. 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 anyway so that it can go back into the raw materials. The second diagram gives some ideas on how to close the loop.

Now the life cycle analysis has been explained try and work it through with some simple examples. Here's a simple example of a 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 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.

We've also provided a template for you to download and fill in your own examples.