Life Cycle Assessment: a review of the methodology and its application to sustainability

► LCA is a unique tool for addressing cross-media problems and avoiding the potential transfer of environmental impacts. ► The ISO 14000 standard series provides a broadly accepted set of principles and the present-day LCA framework. ► Users should be aware of the limitations of LCA when setting out to conduct an LCA or when reviewing an LCA study. ► There is no 'right' way to perform some of the modeling choices encountered in LCA. ► The practice would benefit by the continued development of harmonized guidance and global agreement on methodology.