The lifetime of a product is the period between the time of production and the time of initiating waste treatment of the product. This concept defines the temporal boundary during which a product remains in active use or storage before it enters the waste management system.
Understanding product lifetime is important in Life Cycle Assessment because it determines the duration over which use-phase impacts are distributed and helps establish when end-of-life processes begin. The lifetime begins at the moment the product is manufactured and ends not when the product stops being used, but specifically when waste treatment activities commence.
It is important to distinguish between a product's functional lifetime (how long it performs its intended purpose), its actual service life (how long it is kept by users), and its lifetime as defined here. A product may cease to function or be discarded by its user, yet its lifetime in LCA terms only concludes when waste treatment processes are initiated. This could include activities such as collection for recycling, incineration, landfilling, or other treatment operations.
As Chief Operating Officer, Iris leads our organisational development and oversees day-to-day operations. Before joining 2-0, she worked in the biotechnology sector. As an LCA consultant, Iris has devoted her expertise primarily to the domains of sustainable agriculture and food production. She is dedicated to teaching LCA and is responsible for our educational efforts. Iris holds an M.Sc. in Biology – Biotechnology from the University of Copenhagen.
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Glossary terms are clearer once you have seen them applied. Our guide to what LCA is and how it works walks through the complete methodology: goal and scope, inventory modelling, impact assessment, and interpretation.
If you are working on an LCA study and want it done properly, see how we approach life cycle assessment.
