Selecting the Key Environmental Characteristic of a Product Using the Life Cycle Assessment

The environmental optimisation of products involves many challenges and difficulties concerning, on the one hand, the identification of their environmental parameters and on the other hand, the correct determination of the environmental impacts of particular product systems. Product systems as multidimensional objects, and environmental changes with multifactor characteristics are linked by highly specialised methods to assess these relations. One of the methods addressing this challenge is life cycle assessment which additionally involves IT tools to support calculations and visualisation, as well as environmental databases of previously conducted analyses.

This paper uses life cycle assessment as a rich analytical tool and methodology in order to identify an important environmental characteristic of the product under study. It presents elements of an environmental inventory of the production systems of two different variants of a computer power supply, and determines their impact on the environment. The author performs an assessment of the product life cycle and answers questions concerning the environmental impact of the selected product characteristic, and determines the effects changes made to them. Thereby, he makes a selection of the most significant product characteristic in environmental terms, which constitutes an important indication of the desired direction of product development, allows for its evaluation and comparison, and will also determine which version of the product is more eco-friendly. The study uncovers a key feature of the product that enables it to pave the way for effective improvement of its environmental characteristics.