A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a scientific method used to evaluate the environmental impact of a product, process, or service across its entire life cycle — from the extraction of raw materials all the way through to production, use, and end-of-life disposal or recycling.
The goal of an LCA is to give companies a full picture of their environmental footprint, rather than focusing on just one stage (such as manufacturing). This "cradle-to-grave" perspective helps identify where the biggest impacts occur and where improvements can be made.
The four stages of an LCA
An LCA is typically structured around four main stages:
Goal and scope definition — Deciding what is being assessed, what boundaries apply (e.g. cradle-to-gate vs cradle-to-grave), and what functional unit will be used.
Inventory analysis — Collecting data on all inputs (energy, materials, water) and outputs (emissions, waste) across the product's life cycle.
Impact assessment — Converting the inventory data into environmental impact scores across categories such as climate change, water use, and resource depletion.
Interpretation — Drawing conclusions from the results and identifying opportunities for improvement.
Common LCA system boundaries
Boundary | What it includes |
Cradle-to-gate | Raw material extraction through production (excludes use and end-of-life) |
Cradle-to-grave | Full life cycle, including use phase and disposal |
Gate-to-gate | Only a specific processing step, e.g. manufacturing |
Cradle-to-cradle | Full life cycle including recycling loops |
Root focuses primarily on a cradle-to-gate scope, covering materials, production, and transport — giving companies a rigorous basis for product-level carbon and environmental reporting.
How Root automates LCA
Traditionally, LCAs are conducted manually by specialists and can take months. Root automates this process at scale by:
Matching your materials to the ecoinvent database using AI
Calculating facility impacts from your utility data (electricity, heat, water)
Mapping transport routes based on your order data
Aggregating everything into product-level and company-level impact dashboards
This means you can run continuous, data-driven LCAs across your entire product portfolio — not just occasional one-off studies.
FAQ
Is Root's LCA methodology standardised?
Yes. Root's calculations follow the ISO 14040/14044 standards for life cycle assessment and use the ecoinvent database as its primary data source.
What is the difference between LCA and a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint focuses exclusively on greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e). An LCA is broader — it assesses multiple environmental impact categories including water use, land use, toxicity, and more. Root calculates both.
Do I need to be an LCA expert to use Root?
No. Root is designed to make LCA accessible to sustainability teams without specialist LCA expertise. If you need guidance on impact matching or methodology, you can request help from Root's LCA experts directly in the platform.