Genesis of LCA

The beginnings of LCA appeared in the United States in the 1960s under the name Environmental Profile Analysis (REPA). These REPAs were innovative tools in terms of environmental assessment, as they were characterized by a life-cycle approach. They made it possible to evaluate the consumption of materials and energy, and the waste associated with a product throughout its life cycle, without considering its environmental impact. In 1969, Coca-Cola commissioned a study from the Midwest Research Institute, a practitioner of this method, to carry out a comparative analysis of beverage packaging.

In the early 1980s, the introduction of the notion of potential environmental impacts illustrates the transition from REPA to LCA. The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) established the first LCA methodology in a more formal and consensual manner. A number...