C2 Material Choices- Making Life Cycle Asssesments

Each product has 3 main stages:

• Manufacture (cradle)
• Use
• Disposal (grave)

The key features in a life cycle assesment include the following:

• The main requirements for energy input.
• The environmental impact and sustainability of making the materials from natural resources.
• The environmental impact of making the product from the material.
• The environmental impact of using the product.
• The environmental impact of disposing the product by incineration, recycling or landfill.

It is possible to mke a product from a different material for example, a spoon can be made from wood, plastic or metal. The life cycle assesments for products depend on the material they are made of.

A life cycle assesment can be used to compare and evaluate the impact of:

• Making a product from different materials,
• Making different products from the same materials.

It is possible to make a life cycle assesment for a certain material, when doing this what needs to be considered is:

• the factors involved in the production of the material,
• The factors that involve each of the products that are from this material.