The European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment (EPLCA) is the European Commission’s reference knowledge service for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Managed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), it provides harmonised methods, data, tools, and scientific evidence to support sustainable production and consumption policies across the EU.

The EPLCA supports the integration of life cycle thinking into policymaking and business practice, helping assess environmental impacts across supply chains, products, organisations, and waste management systems. Its work contributes to major EU policy initiatives, including the European Green Deal, Circular Economy Action Plan, Farm to Fork Strategy, Biodiversity Strategy, and Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability.

What we do

The EPLCA supports evidence-based policymaking by:

• developing and harmonising Life Cycle Assessment methodologies, including the Environmental Footprint methods;
• providing access to quality-assured datasets, guidance, models, visualisations, and assessment tools;
• analysing environmental impacts linked to production and consumption systems through life cycle approaches;
• supporting the monitoring and evaluation of EU sustainability policies and transition pathways;
• bringing together scientists, policymakers, businesses, and other stakeholders working on life cycle approaches and sustainability assessment. 

Knowledge for policy

As part of the European Commission’s Knowledge4Policy ecosystem, the EPLCA makes scientific knowledge accessible in a transparent, tailored, and policy-relevant way. The platform curates resources, tools, studies, and indicators to help policymakers and stakeholders understand environmental impacts and support informed decision-making.

About Knowledge4Policy

Knowledge4Policy (K4P) supports evidence-based policymaking: bridging the world of policymakers — who ideally develop public policy based on sound scientific evidence — and the scientists who develop that evidence in the first place.