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Knowledge4Policy
Knowledge for policy
European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment

The EPLCA is the EU’s knowledge base that responds to business and policy needs towards sustainable production and consumption. It supports the methodological development of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for the analysis of supply chains and end-of-life waste management.

  • Topic / Tool | Last updated: 12 May 2026
Life Cycle Assessment methods

Life Cycle Assessment is regarded as the best framework for assessing the potential environmental impacts of products. Explore the methodology, discover LCA projects, and more.

European Platform Life Cycle Assessment (EPLCA)

Brief me

LCA phases breakdown_no text

This platform enables the use of LCA into business and policies. 

  • For policies, we support the use of LCA in line with the European Commission Better Regulation Toolbox for the impact assessment of policies
  • We promote LCA as an essential integrated environmental assessment in support to the EU policy making process and the ambition of Green Deal and many other policy initiatives, as the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Farm-to-Fork, the Biodiversity Strategy, the Chemical Strategy, and many more.

Explore further

Plastics Life Cycle Assessment

In 2018, the European Commission proposed a vision where innovative materials and alternative feedstocks to fossil resources are used for plastic production. We conducted a research on the potential…

Ecotox explorer

The EPLCA Ecotoxicity Tool provides reliable data and models to assess the impact of toxic substance emissions on freshwater ecosystems. It delivers harmonised characterisation factors for use…

Latest knowledge

PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES | 12 May 2026
Global LCA Data Access
The Global LCA Data Access network (GLAD) is an interface comprising independently operated LCA datasets, with the aim to offer better data accessibility and interoperability.
PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES | 12 May 2026
International Life Cycle Data system (ILCD)
The ISO 14040 and 14044 standards provide an important framework for LCA. This framework, however, leaves the individual experts, practitioners and data developers, with a range of important choices that can...
PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES | 04 May 2026
Plastics Life Cycle Assessment
In 2018, the European Commission proposed a vision where innovative materials and alternative feedstocks to fossil resources are used for plastic production. We conducted a research on the potential...