Life Cycle Impact Assessment: a review of the main methods

Abstract

Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) is the third phase of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). It involves assessing the environmental significance of inventory results by using characterization models and factors contained in LCIA methods. This paper identifies the main LCIA methods and describes their characteristics. Through a literature review, 13 LCIA methods were identified. Most of them were developed in Europe and have been used throughout the world, including Brazil. Among these methods have been identified those with a global scope of application, being recommended for the use in Brazil. Each LCIA method evaluates different impact categories by means of a number of different characterization models, so it was concluded that there is a need to analyze the calculation procedures used by each model to provide support for the application of these methods and models in different regions of the world.

Keywords:
Life Cycle Impact Assessment; Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methods