Life cycle assessment: data quality and databases practitioner survey

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a technique for holistic environmental assessment of products, packaging and activity systems. There are variations in the way LCA data are collected, processed and presented, which potentially affect the study results. A survey was conducted to document the range of variability in international LCA practice relative to data and databases. Results indicate that the inventory portion of LCAs is as well developed from a data quality perspective as it is from a technical/procedural framework standpoint. Practitioners are aware of the need for assessing and maintaining data quality. However, application of quality assessment procedures is by no means widespread, uniform or rigorous. Practitioners compensate by being cautious in drawing conclusions. The development of more systematic tools for assessing data quality in LCA, consistent with the goal of the study, is warranted. Judging from present practice, this development would be welcomed. Life cycle impact assessment is procedurally less well defined and the data quality practices reflect this state of affairs.