Estimating the overall environmental impact of textile processing: life cycle assessment (LCA) of textile products

Abstract: A life cycle assessment (LCA) is the only method which evaluates the environmental impact of a product over its entire life cycle. It is an holistic approach which takes into account all the activities involved in the creation of a product such as raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation and distribution, use and disposal. It is therefore able to evaluate all the different potential types of environmental impact associated with a product. This chapter discusses the history and basic principles of LCA, measurement methods and models for LCA and the standards governing a LCA study. It also discusses the key challenges of conducting a LCA study.