What is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)?

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a scientific approach used to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product, process, or service across its entire life cycle—from raw material extraction to manufacturing, transportation, use, and final disposal.

This process is often called “cradle-to-grave”, meaning it considers all stages involved in making and using a product. Alternatively, it can be a “cradle-to-gate” assessment, ending at the point the product leaves the factory.

LCA & Sustainability: Measuring What Matters

LCA is at the heart of sustainability efforts. It empowers companies to:
• Identify emission hotspots
• Reduce energy consumption
• Optimize material usage
• Design more sustainable products
• Minimize waste and pollution

Sustainability is not just about being "eco-friendly"—it's about measuring impact and taking accountable actions. LCA helps achieve this by offering clear, data-driven insights that can shape both business strategy and policy-making.

Connecting LCA with Global ISO Standards.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developed globally recognized frameworks to ensure uniformity and credibility in environmental reporting.

• ISO 14064:2018 — Organizational GHG Accounting
  

• This standard focuses on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the organizational level. It provides guidance for:

Measuring and reporting emissions from facilities

Categorizing emissions as Scope 1 (direct), Scope 2 (energy), and Scope 3 (indirect)

Tracking carbon removals and offsetting strategies

Verification and third-party assurance

• ISO 14067:2018 — Product Carbon Footprinting
  

• This standard zooms in on individual products, guiding organizations to calculate the Carbon Footprint of Products (CFP) using LCA principles.
• It requires that all inputs and outputs (like fuel, water, materials, emissions) across the product’s life cycle be measured and converted into CO₂-equivalents.
• In essence:

ISO 14064 = Whole company’s emissions

ISO 14067 = Individual product’s emissions

Case Study: Life Cycle Assessment of Palm Oil.

Palm oil is found in over 50% of consumer products—from margarine and baked goods to cosmetics and detergents. But its production has often been linked to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and GHG emissions.
Conducting an LCA of palm oil helps trace its environmental impact and explore sustainable alternatives—especially when guided by ISO standard

How to Calculate Carbon Footprint Using ISO 14067?

Step-by-Step Breakdown of Palm Oil LCA.

1. Nursery and Plantation Stage:

Inputs: Diesel, fertilizers, pesticides, water

Processes: Land clearing, planting, irrigation, and harvesting

Emissions:

CO₂ from diesel combustion

N₂O from nitrogen fertilizer

CH₄ from peat soil drainage

ISO 14064 helps track emissions from land-use changes and energy use, while ISO 14067 ensures these inputs are allocated to product-level carbon accounting.

2. Palm Oil Milling:

Processes: Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) are processed into Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and palm kernel

By-products:

Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB)

Palm Kernel Shells (PKS)

Mesocarp fiber

Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)

Key Issue: POME, if untreated, emits high levels of methane (CH₄)—a major GHG.

LCA Insight: Use biogas recovery systems to capture and reuse methane, significantly reducing the product’s carbon footprint.

3.Biomass and Energy Recovery:

Good Practice: Utilize PKS, EFB, and fiber in biomass boilers to replace fossil fuels

Example: Malaysia exports PKS to Japan, where it powers biomass energy plants, reducing dependency on coal

This closed-loop use of biomass aligns with ISO 14064 emission reduction strategies and supports carbon offset projects.

4. Carbon Footprint Calculation (ISO 14067 Focus)

Let’s assume the system boundary is “cradle-to-gate” (from nursery to factory gate).

Stage	GHG Emissions (kg CO₂-eq) per kg CPO
Plantation & Harvesting	2.5
Milling & Processing	1.8
Packaging & Transport	0.7
Total (CFP)	5.0 kg CO₂-eq

This number helps organizations label their product, benchmark against industry standards, and showcase climate accountability.

How to Calculate Carbon Footprint Using ISO 14067

Life Cycle Assessment, combined with ISO 14064 and ISO 14067, transforms environmental ambition into concrete action. It shifts the conversation from “we want to be green” to “here’s how we’re reducing emissions.”

For industries like palm oil—which face public scrutiny and global demand—LCA provides the data, direction, and credibility needed to evolve responsibly.

In the end, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword. With LCA and ISO, it becomes measurable, actionable, and truly impactful.