Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and carbon footprint are two distinct analysis methods, whether in terms of their scope, time scale, objectives, or the impacts assessed.
However, they share similarities: these two methods have become benchmarks for assessing the environmental impacts of a company, product, or service, and they aim for the same sustainability goal.
But then, how do you know which one to use in a given case? In what ways are they really different? We detail all this in 10 questions!
1) What is the carbon footprint and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)?
Carbon footprint
The carbon footprint is an analysis method that limits itself to quantifying direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide, methane, etc.) associated with an activity, organization, or product. Doing a carbon footprint is therefore taking a snapshot at a given time "T" of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to the activities of your company.
In France, the term "Carbon Footprint®" with capital letters is a registered trademark that designates the main method of measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions initially developed by the ADEME in 2002 and then transferred to the Association for the Low-Carbon Transition (ABC).
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Multi-criteria Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an analysis method that comprehensively assesses the environmental impacts of a product, service, or process throughout its life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life. There are several types of LCA: the ISO Compliant complete LCA, the simplified LCA, the carbon LCA. To understand everything about LCA, we recommend our dedicated article.
2) What are the fields of application for the carbon footprint and LCA?
The scope of these two methods differs:
- The carbon footprint was initially developed for companies but can also be applied to projects, events, products, individuals, etc.
- LCA can be applied to various sectors, products, or services. We perform ONE LCA per product or service but we can multiply LCAs if we want to analyze the environmental impacts of several products or services!
3) What are the objectives of LCA and the carbon footprint?
Both methods aim primarily to assess the environmental impacts of an activity, product, or service and thus enable the company to act to reduce them.
However, these two tools are different and are used in distinct cases since they do not achieve the same objectives:
- The objective of the carbon footprint is to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions that an individual or a company emits to realize their dependence on carbon and support efforts to reduce their emissions.
- The objective of LCA is to understand the overall environmental impact of a product or service in order to identify the steps in its life cycle where improvements can be made.
4) What time frame is considered for each of these analyses?
The time scale is not the same for these two methods.
- The carbon footprint generally focuses on an annual period and mainly evaluates the greenhouse gas emissions of a company during this period.
- LCA takes into account and encompasses the entire life cycle of a product or service, from raw material extraction to the end of the product's life. There is therefore no notion of time frame when talking about LCA. This can include production, transportation, use, and waste disposal at the end of life. With LCA, we can measure the environmental impacts of a product over several years until it reaches the waste stage.
5) What impacts are assessed in the context of an LCA and a carbon footprint?
LCA and carbon footprint differ in terms of the impacts assessed.
- The carbon footprint
The scope of the carbon footprint is narrower than that of LCA as it integrates a single-criteria approach and is exclusively limited to accounting for greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, methane, etc.). Thanks to this method, a company can therefore become aware of the impact of its activity on global warming.
To carry out its carbon footprint, we take into account carbon emissions from Scopes 1, 2, and 3.
- Life Cycle Analysis
LCA, on the other hand, allows zooming in on the environmental impact, not just climatic, of one or more products or services. It integrates a multi-criteria approach and provides us with a holistic view of environmental impacts.
LCA gathers all incoming and outgoing flows related to each phase of the life cycle of a product or service. Inputs can include raw materials or energy (such as oil, electricity, water), while outputs include waste, emissions, or discharged liquids.
Among the wide range of environmental impacts assessed by LCA, we find energy consumption, toxicity to humans and biodiversity, water and air pollution, depletion of natural resources, etc.
6) What are the differences between carbon LCA and carbon footprint?
As we saw earlier, there are different types of LCA, including carbon LCA. Carbon LCA or Product Carbon Footprint (PCF), unlike simplified LCA or ISO-compliant LCA, is carried out on a single criterion: greenhouse gas emissions. In this, carbon LCA shares a common point with the carbon footprint.
| Study | Temporality | Impact measured | Multi-criteria | Public communication | Tool to measure the impact of a product |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon LCA | Entire life cycle of a product or service. | Climate change | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Carbon footprint | Over a given period, often one year. | Climate change | ❌ | ✅ | Not the most suitable |
7) Why do an LCA and a carbon footprint?
An increasing number of companies want to know the environmental impact of their activities, products, or services to reduce it. Both LCA and carbon footprint have many advantages and prove to be very useful in practice!
The carbon footprint and LCA are management tools and aids to understanding and decision-making for companies. Both provide crucial information for making the best decisions in terms of eco-design, production processes, supply chain, and more broadly to help you define and effectively implement your CSR strategy.
However, each of these methods has specificities that make them more or less relevant to implement depending on your activity and your business strategy All the more so as they do not respond to the same regulatory obligations.
- The carbon footprint is an essential tool for your company's climate strategy. Mainly used as a tool for managing greenhouse gas emissions, it will be particularly useful in everything related to regulatory compliance (carrying out a carbon footprint is mandatory for companies with more than 500 employees), and environmental communication.
- LCA, on the other hand, is very useful and relevant:
- if you want to venture into eco-design: for a company to be able to improve the environmental performance of its products, it still needs to know it. LCA is useful to help you identify improvement opportunities at different stages of a product's life cycle, without risking generating higher impacts on other stages.
- for environmental labeling of your products and services.
- to communicate about the environmental performance of your products or services.
On this topic, you can consult our article: what LCA for what strategy?
8) Can you communicate about your carbon footprint or your LCA?
The answer is yes, the results of these analyses are often used to communicate publicly and transparently the environmental performance of a company or a product.
Warning, regarding the LCA, to communicate publicly about the impact of one of your products, you must conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) compliant with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards (i.e., a multi-criteria ISO Compliant LCA), accompanied by a report evaluated by third-party experts!
9) What to prioritize between your carbon footprint and an LCA?
You don't know where to start? There is no good or bad method! What is important is to opt in priority for the method most suited to your company's strategy. To help you, here are some answers.
The carbon footprint is faster and easier to interpret. It allows you to take stock of your emissions in a first step and define a trajectory to reduce them. Carrying out your carbon footprint allows you to have a first vision of your environmental impact even if it is a very global vision and only on the "climate change" indicator.
The LCA, on the other hand, can intervene in a second step to allow your company to go further by specifically targeting one of your products or services!
10) What subsidies for carrying out your LCA and your carbon footprint?
Good news, support programs and subsidies exist to help you finance your carbon footprint and an LCA!
- Fund your carbon footprint
When you carry out your carbon footprint, you can benefit from the Tremplin subsidy or be accompanied as part of the Diag Decarbon’Action program of the ADEME x BPI France.
→ All the information about the Tremplin subsidy is available in this article
→ All the information about Diag Decarbon’Action is available in this article.
- Fund your LCA
You can have the LCA of one of your products or services funded as part of the Ecodesign Diagnosis!
→ To find out everything about the Ecodesign Diagnosis, you can consult the dedicated article on the Sami blog.
Good to know: Faced with the multitude of aids, a recent report by the General Inspectorate of Finance highlighted the risk of confusion for potential beneficiaries. In response, the government has launched the "Mission Transition Écologique" website allowing SMEs to know what aid they can obtain.
In the article “subsidies and loans to finance your low-carbon strategy”, Sami has listed all the aid you can benefit from!
Who to be accompanied by to carry out your LCA and carbon footprint?
It is essential to be accompanied by experts to carry out your LCA and your carbon footprint.
- Sami accompanies companies in their climate strategy, and in particular helps them to measure and reduce their CO2 emissions.
- Sami is also referenced as an expert by the ADEME and the BPI to accompany you as part of the Ecodesign Diagnosis.
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Conclusion
LCA and carbon footprint are not exclusive methods but truly complementary. By integrating them into your CSR strategy, your company can understand in a global way its environmental impacts and identify areas for improvement to increase your overall environmental performance.
To go further, we advise you to read these two articles:
“Understanding Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)”
"Carbon footprint: an essential tool for corporate strategy"
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