Chapter 7 Life cycle assessment: methods, limitations, and illustrations.

The second half of the twentieth century was characterized by a greater awareness on the importance of the protection of the environment and of the possible impacts associated with products and processes. Several organizations increased their interest in the application of methodologies aimed at a better understanding of the interactions that their products or activities had with the environment (Bjørn et al., 2018b). In the last years, LCA became one of the most important tools for environmental management. Probably it is not the best technique for every situation, but it has a fundamental characteristic: it is based on the life cycle thinking approach. According to this, every product, process, or activity must be seen from the perspective of its life cycle. This means that if there is the necessity of evaluating the environmental impacts of a product, its manufacturing is not enough, but its entire life cycle must be considered, from the extraction of the raw materials to its disposal or recycling.