Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an analysis for reporting resources consumed, energy consumed and pollution discharged as well as assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product's life quantitatively. LCA now has been incorporated into the series of international ISO 14000 environmental management systems, LCA provides methodology basis on other environmental management tools such as Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) , Environmental product declaration (EPD).
PCF is a measure of the total GHG emissions with all the stages of a product's life, which is from raw material acquisition, manufacture, distribution, and use, to waste disposal/recycling.
EPD consist of quantified environmental information concerning the cycle of the products in order to allow a comparison between products that perform the same function.
The significances of LCA, PCF assessment and EPD are:
Provide technical support as important indicators in green product certification, green manufacture system assessment and national green building assessment mark;.
Cope with the international green trade barriers and promote export effectively;
Exploit the potential in energy conservation and emission reduction, support green management of the whole supply chain to achieve sustainable development;
Improve reputation, strengthen brands and demonstrate corporate social responsibility.