LCAs and Materials

• what does life cycle assessments test

  extraction - raw materials

  renewable or non renewable

  damage do habitats from mining and quarrying or deforestation

  manugacturing - energy used to produce the product

  waste products - percentage yield atom economy

  usage - energy use, repairs

  disposal - recycling or landfill or reusable
• disadvantage of lifecycle assessments

  it is an objective process so it can be bias
• Advantages of recycling

  Fewer quarries and mines

  less crude oil

  less energy

  less landfill
• Disadvantages of recycling

  items have to be recollected and transported

  can be difficult to sort materials