What is Cradle to Grave?

Cradle to Grave, or Lifecycle Assessment (LCA), is a methodology used to evaluate natural effects linked to all the phases in the life of the product from obtaining of raw materials, processing of these materials, manufacturing, dissemination, usage, maintenance, and repair, and selling or reusing. Normally, this procedure is utilized by designers when assessing their goods. Additionally, LCA focuses on:

• Putting together an inventory of applicable energy and raw materials together with other productions within the environment.
• Investigating the possible effects linked to the inputs and releases.
• Processing the outcomes to enable informed decision making.

What is Life Cycle Assessment?

The phrase life cycle describes the perception that a just and comprehensive assessment calls for proper analysis in the production of raw materials, manufacturing, dissemination, usage, disposal and all the ways of transportation brought about by the existence of the product.

The objective of Life Cycle Assessment is to draw a comparison of various environmental impacts attributed to services and goods by measuring the movement of materials in and out of the organization and how that flow impacts the environment. This data is critical not only in enhancing processes but also assisting in making good decisions.

Generally, there are several kinds of LCA namely:

Attributional LCAs focused on finding out the difficulties linked to the manufacture of the good and its use at a particular period. 

Consequential LCAs concentrate more on the environmental impacts of proposed changes or decisions in the system which is being studied. This implies that economic and market effects of a particular decision should always be taken into account.  

Another life cycle assessment that compliments the environmental LCA is the Social LCA which mainly deals with social effects.

The processes of Life Cycle Assessment are derived from the ISO 14000 standards of managing environment; ISO 14040:2006 and 14044:2006. The old versions of ISO 14041 to ISO 14043 were replaced by the new version of ISO 14044. GHG product life cycle assessment may also adhere with requirements like those of PAS 2050. Going by the specifications of ISO 14040 and 14044, a life cycle assessment is conducted in four steps as demonstrated in the diagram on the right. These steps are usually related because the outcomes of one step determine how the other phases will proceed.

Goal and Acope of a Lifecyle Assessment

LCA begins with a description of the scope and goals which provides the basis of the study and specifies the mode of communicating the outcomes and who the target audience is. This is a very important procedure as the ISO requirements ensure that the scope and goals of LCA be well described and matching the planned purpose. For this reason, the goal and scope certificate entails the following key technical attributes responsible for guiding the successive works:

•  The functional unit- describes what exactly is under study by measuring the service provided by the product structure hence giving a basis for relating outputs and inputs. In addition, the functional unit is a key element that allows alternative services or products to be weighed and analyzed. In general, a functional unit satisfies an intended purpose just like paint covers a wall with a functional unit of 1m going for a period of 10 years. In this case, the functional flow is the relevant items required for completing that function which entails the paint, a brush and a tin of paint.
•  The system boundaries- this governs the kinds of procedures that should be entailed in the product system assessment.
•  Any assumption and limitations
•  The allocation methods refer to the formula for partitioning environmental effects of a procedure in situations where many functions or products share similar processes. The allocation may be achieved through one of these three aspects: partition, substitution and system expansion. However, it may be difficult to achieve this purpose due to the fact that various procedures deliver separate outcomes.
•  The impact categories selected for instance global warming, eutrophication, human toxicity, and smog.

According to the LCA practitioners survey of 2006, one major role of LCA is to aid business plans(18%) and R&D(18%), 15% for input and designing the product, 13% for education and 11% for declaring the product. LCA will merge with various environmental aspects like the European ENSLIN Building project which guides practitioners on how to put into use design aspects when implementing LCI data.

Many firms in the global arena are either practicing LCA within or supporting its studies. On the other hand, governments support LCA by factoring it in when developing national databases. Specifically is the rising in the usage of LCA for ISO Type III Labels are known as Environmental Product Declarations which is described as "quantified environmental data for a product with pre-set categories of parameters based on the ISO 14040 series of standards, but not excluding additional environmental information". Such LCA is the third party which gives an important avenue for the analysis of various environmental advantages of the products that are competing. 

Third party approval is very critical in the current industry. Certification not subject to outside influence proves the firm's focus towards friendly and safe environmental goods to both NGOs and customers.Despite all these, LCA plays key purposes in the assessment of environmental impact, the study of pollution and consolidated management of waste. A survey carried out recently considered the LCA of a laboratory-based experiment for an air filled with oxygen accompanied by economic analysis from the eco-design perceptive. In addition to these, LCA has been useful in finding out the environmental influence in maintaining pavement, rehabilitation, and general repair.