LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) provides the best framework for assessing the potential environmental impacts of products. LCA deals with product systems which comprise the full life cycle of a product, including raw material acquisition, fabrication, transportation, use, recycling/disposal and the related operations of energy supply, ancillary material supply and transport. ISO 14040 and 14044 standards define the rules and methodologies to consider and integrate properly all stages of the life cycle of a product.
EAA (European Aluminium Association) is supporting the use of the LCA tool by presenting reliable life cycle inventory (LCI) data for aluminium applications covering primary aluminium production, the fabrication of semi-finished aluminium products and the recycling of aluminium process and end-of-life scrap.
In addition, the European Aluminium Industry also contributes to the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment which is developed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. This LCA platform aims at integrating life cycle thinking into product development and into policy making using sound LCA methodologies based on ISO standards.
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