Topic 5 LCA – standards and regulatory trends
International standard ISO 14040 defines the principles and framework of LCA, while 14044 defines its requirement and guidelines. Following these standards, other codes of practice to support LCA practitioners in operationalising LCA have been developed. However, zooming in on them can be technical and time-consuming, so below is a quick overview of some standards and regulatory trends linked to LCA.
International standard
ISO 14000: Environmental Management Standards (a family of standards)
ISO 14001: Environmental Management System
ISO 14020-14025: Environmental labels and declarations
Life Cycle Assessments:
ISO 14040:2006: LCA – Principles and framework
ISO 14044:2006: LCA – Requirements and guidelines
ISO 50001: Energy Management Systems (a family of standards)
EU level
Energy policy: general principles
European Energy Efficiency Directive (EED)
Thematic strategy on the sustainable use of natural resources
Thematic strategy on prevention and recycling of waste
Environmental Technology Action Plan (ETAP)
EuP Directive in green public procurement (GPP)
EuP Directive in environmental product declarations (EPDs)
LCA has been promoted in various European directives as a robust quantitative tool and a keystone in decision-making by producers and stakeholders.
European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment (EPLCA) – supports LCA methodological development for supply chain analysis and end-of-life waste management.
The EPLCA fosters LCA as an essential integrated environmental assessment in support of the EU policy-making process, Green Deal ambitions, and many other policy initiatives, with specific reference to the Circular Economy Action Plan, Farm2Fork Strategy, Biodiversity Strategy, Chemical Strategy, and many more.
