Market Effects in Lifecycle Assessment: A Framework to Aid Product Design and Policy Analysis

Researchers have developed several methods to assess lifecycle environmental impacts of decisions in product design and policymaking. A major challenge is that whether impacts are reduced or exacerbated depends on market effects such as how the design change or policy influences the demand, use, and end-of-life of the relevant product and other products. However, little guidance is available to determine when market effects matter and how to model them. This paper identifies four categories of market effects and presents a framework to help researchers identify a priori whether these effects significantly influence environmental impacts and select an appropriate method.