A2.11 Where a proposal affects the flow of materials or waste it may be possible to access data on environmental externalities from Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies.25 LCA is the compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle. LCA studies and databases cover air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, resource depletion, aquatic eco-toxicity, human toxicity and other issues. These are expressed either as mid-point indicators (e.g. tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions) or end-point indicators (e.g. human health measured in Disability Adjusted Life Years).
A2.12 European data to feed into LCAs are publicised via the EU, although a range of other databases are in common use. When using published studies, it is important to ensure that the study is representative of the situation to which the data is being applied.
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25 Government analysis on carbon emissions for multiple sectors, including material use and waste disposal, are based on multiple LCA studies that estimate greenhouse gas reporting conversion factors. The latest data are available online on the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy web pages.