Note: Intro -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Contributors -- Chapter-1 -- Introducing Life Cycle Assessment and its Presentation in 'LCA Compendium' -- 1 What is Life Cycle Assessment? -- 2 LCA-How it Came About -- 2.1 The Early Time -- 2.2 Harmonisation by SETAC -- 2.3 Standardisation by ISO -- 2.4 Recent Trends -- 3 The Structure of LCA According to ISO 14040 and 14044 -- 3.1 Goal and Scope Definition -- 3.2 Life Cycle Inventory Analysis -- 3.3 Life Cycle Impact Assessment -- 3.4 Interpretation -- 4 The Structure of LCA Beyond ISO 14040 -- 4.1 Applications of Life Cycle Assessment -- 4.2 Beyond the Classical ISO LCA -- 4.3 Life Cycle Management -- 4.4 Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment -- 4.5 LCA Worldwide -- 5 Structure of 'LCA Compendium' -- 5.1 Background and Future Prospects in Life Cycle Assessment -- 5.2 Goal and Scope Definition in Life Cycle Assessment -- 5.3 Life Cycle Inventory Analysis -- 5.4 Life Cycle Impact Assessment -- 5.5 Interpretation -- and, Critical Review and Reporting -- 5.6 Overview on LCA Applications -- 5.7 Special types of Life Cycle Assessment -- 5.8 Life Cycle Management -- 5.9 Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment -- 5.10 LCA Worldwide -- 6 New Developments and Special Types of Life Cycle Assessment-How Are they taken into Account? -- 7 How Scientific is LCA? -- Appendix-Glossary -- References -- Chapter-2 -- The Role of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Development and Application -- 1 Introduction-SETAC and Life Cycle Assessment -- 2 Life Before SETAC's Involvement with LCA -- 2.1 Focus on Pollution Reduction -- 2.2 Moving Beyond Pollution Control to Pollution Prevention -- 2.2.1 Duelling Diaper Debates -- 2.2.2 Mercury in Fluorescent Light Bulbs -- 2.2.3 Coca-Cola's Supply Chain Improvements -- 3 The Birth of SETAC -- 3.1 SETAC Workshops. , 3.1.1 Pellston Workshops -- 3.1.2 Technical Workshops -- 4 Early Days of SETAC 1990-1993 -- 4.1 SETAC LCA Groups -- 4.2 LCA Group Activities -- 4.2.1 A Technical Framework for Life Cycle assessment. August 18-23, 1990, Smugglers Notch, Vermont -- 4.2.2 Life Cycle Assessment: Inventory, Classification, Valuation, and Data Bases. December 2-3, 1991, Leiden, The Netherlands -- 4.2.3 A Conceptual Framework for Life Cycle Impact Assessment. February 1-7, 1992, Sandestin, Florida -- 4.2.4 Data Quality: A Conceptual Framework. October 4-9, 1992, in Wintergreen, Virginia -- 4.2.5 Code of Practice. Sesimbra, Portugal, March 31-April 3, 1993 -- 4.3 SETAC LCA Workgroups from 1994 to 2000 -- 4.4 SETAC LCA Workshops and Initiatives up from 1999 -- 4.4.1 Application of Life Cycle Assessment to Public Policy, August 14-19, 1995, Wintergreen, VA, USA -- 4.4.2 A Second Wave of LCA Workshops -- 5 SETAC and the International Organization for Standardization -- 6 On-Going SETAC Activities -- 6.1 Global Advisory Groups -- 7 UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative -- 8 SETAC's Role in Advancing the Use of LCA in the Building Sector -- 9 Future Role of SETAC -- 9.1 Expanding the Use of LCA -- 9.2 LCA Case Studies -- 9.3 Additional Pellston Workshops -- 9.4 On-Going Effort with the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative -- 9.5 Impact Assessment Advancement -- 9.6 Alternative Assessments -- 9.7 LCA in Developing Countries -- Appendix-Glossary -- References -- Chapter-3 -- The International Standards as the Constitution of Life Cycle Assessment: The ISO 14040 Series and its Offspring -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 History of LCA Standards Development -- 1.1.1 The Early Days -- 1.1.2 The First Revision -- 1.1.3 The Proliferation -- 1.2 Relevance of ISO Standards on LCA -- 1.3 ISO's Standardization Process -- 2 The Core Standards of LCA: ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 -- 3 The Spin-off Standards. , 3.1 ISO 14025-Type III Environmental Product Declarations -- 3.2 ISO 14047-Examples of Impact Assessement -- 3.3 ISO 14048-Data Documentation Format -- 3.4 ISO 14049-Examples of Inventory Analysis -- 4 The Future Standards Based on ISO 14040/44 -- 4.1 ISO 14045-Eco-Efficiency Assessment -- 4.2 ISO 14046-Water Footprint -- 4.3 ISO/TS 14067-Carbon Footprint -- 4.4 ISO 14071-Critical Review -- 4.5 ISO 14072-Organizational LCA (OLCA) -- 5 Summary and Outlook -- Appendix-Glossary -- References -- Chapter-4 -- The UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiativeand The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment -- 3 Main Contributions from 2002 to 2012 of the Life Cycle Initiative to the International Community and Best Examples Worldwide -- 3.1 Phase 1-Creating a Global Community -- 3.1.1 The Life Cycle Management Programme -- 3.1.2 The Life Cycle Inventory Programme -- 3.1.3 The Life Cycle Impact Assessment Programme -- 3.1.4 Crosscutting Activities -- 3.2 Phase 2-Becoming a Stakeholder -- 3.2.1 Overall Structure -- 3.2.2 Deliverables -- 3.2.3 Running a Multi-Stakeholder Process: Global Guidance for LCA Databases -- 4 Key Messages Based on Work Conducted During the Last 10 Years -- 4.1 Life Cycle Thinking in the Private Sector-Ahead of the Curve -- 4.2 Life Cycle Thinking in the Public Sector-Potential for Improvement -- 4.3 Life Cycle Methodologies, Impact Assessment and Data-The Foundation for Informed Decision-Making -- 4.4 Life Cycle Sustainability Approaches-Measuring Triple Bottom Line Impacts -- 4.5 Trade-Offs and Unexpected Consequences-Avoiding the Pitfalls -- 4.5.1 Trade-Offs Between Stages of the Product Value Chain -- 4.5.2 Trade-Offs Between Environmental Impact Categories -- 4.5.3 Trade-Offs Between Sustainability Pillars: Environmental, Social, Economic. , 4.5.4 Trade-Offs Between Societies/Regions -- 4.5.5 Generational Trade-Offs -- 4.5.6 Relevant Activities in Last 10 Years -- 4.6 Life Cycle Initiative Networks-Growing in Numbers and Expertise -- 4.6.1 The International Life Cycle Network -- 4.6.2 Life Cycle Jobs are Green Jobs -- 4.6.2 Accomplishments in Phases 1 and 2 -- 4.7 Communicating Life Cycle Information-The Right Story for Every Audience -- 5 The Future of Life Cycle Thinking and Phase 3 of the Life Cycle Initiative -- 5.1 Consultation Process -- 5.2 New Strategic Approach and Programmes -- 5.2.1 Programme on Data -- 5.2.2 Programme on Methodologies -- 5.2.3 Programme on Product Sustainability Information -- 5.2.4 Programme on Capacity Building and Implementation -- 5.2.5 Programme on Communication and Stakeholder Outreach -- 5.3 Setting up the Baseline for Phase 3 of the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative-Monitoring Progress by Key Indicators -- 6 Conclusions and Perspectives -- Appendix-Glossary -- References -- Chapter-5 -- Life Cycle Assessment as Reflected by the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Milestones in Int J Life Cycle Assess -- 3 Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)-Impact Factor -- 4 Online Publications -- 5 The National Societies -- 5.1 LCA Society of Japan -- 5.2 Indian Society for LCA (ISLCA) -- 5.3 Korean Society for LCA (KSLCA) -- 5.4 Australian LCA Society (ALCAS) -- 5.5 Life Cycle Association of New Zealand (LCANZ) -- 5.6 Other LCA Organisations and Networks -- 5.6.1 SPOLD-Society for the Promotion of Life Cycle Development -- 5.6.2 LCANET-European Network for Strategic Life-Cycle Assessment Research and Development. A Strategic Research Programme for Life Cycle Assessment -- 5.6.3 CHAINET-European Network on Chain Analysis for Environmental Decision Support -- 5.6.4 ISOLP-International Society for LCA Practitioners. , 5.6.5 UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative -- 5.6.6 Swiss Discussion Forum on Life Cycle Assessment -- 5.6.7 LCA Activities in Spain, Italy and Greece -- 6 Topics and Subject Areas -- 6.1 Life Cycle Management -- 6.1.1 Editorial: 'How to Communicate LCA Results' by Walter Klöpffer and Almut B. Heinrich, Int J Life Cycle Assess 5(3): 125 (2000) -- 6.1.2 Editorial: 'Two Planets and One Journal' by Walter Klöpffer and Almut B. Heinrich, Int J Life Cycle Assess 6(1) 1-3 (2001) -- 6.1.3 LCM in the Internet-Journal 'Gate to Environmental and Health Science (EHS)' and the Discussion Forum 'Global LCA Village' -- 6.1.4 Editorial: 'LCM-Integrating a New Section' by Almut B Heinrich and Walter Klöpffer, Int J Life Cycle Assess 7(6): 315-316 (2002) -- 6.1.5 The LCM Conferences -- 6.2 Life Cycle Costing (LCC) -- 6.3 Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) -- 6.4 Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) -- 7 Special Issues and Supplements -- 8 ISO Standardisation of LCA -- 9 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter-6 -- Strengths and Limitations of Life Cycle Assessment -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Strengths and Limitations-Perceived and Real-in Life Cycle Assessment -- 2.1 Matching the Goal of the Assessment to the Approach -- 2.2 Gathering the Inventory Data can be Very Resource and Time Intensive -- 2.3 Missing Impact Data and Models for LCIA -- 2.4 Dealing with Data Uncertainty -- 2.5 Distinguishing between Life Cycle Impact Assessment and Risk Assessment -- 2.6 LCA Does not Always (usually) Declare a 'Winner' -- 2.7 LCA Results should be Supplemented by Other Tools in Decision Making -- 2.8 Allocating Environmental Burdens Across Co-products -- 2.9 Assigning Credit for Avoided Burden -- 2.10 Expanding the Boundaries (consequential LCA) -- 3 Life Cycle Thinking -- 4 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter-7. , Challenges in Life Cycle Assessment: An Overview of Current Gaps and Research Needs.