12.03.2010

The first edition of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) handbook was published on 12th March 2010 by the European Platform on Life-Cycle Assessment to help policy-makers and businesses assess the environmental impact of products.

The publication consists of a series of technical documents which provide authoritative guidance on how to conduct life-cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify the emissions, resource consumption and environmental impact of products. These documents provide detailed technical guidance on all steps of LCA:

• General guide for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – detailed guidance
• General guide for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – provisions and action steps
• Specific guide for Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data sets
• Framework and requirements for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) models and indicators
• Review schemes for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
• Reviewer qualification for Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data sets and
• Analysis of existing Environmental Impact Assessment methodologies for use in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (Background document)

The main set of documents of the first edition of the ILCD Handbook is available here.

Joint development

The ILCD handbook was developed by the Institute for Environment and Sustainability in the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), in co-operation with the Environment DG. It is part of the Commission's promotion of sustainable consumption and production patterns. The ILCD Handbook is in line with international standards and has been established through a series of extensive public and stakeholder consultations.

Development of this tool follows the 2003 Communication on the Integrated Product Policy (IPP) in which the Commission committed to producing a handbook on best practice in LCA. The importance of such guidance is underlined in the SCP/SIP Action Plan, which confirms that “consistent and reliable data and methods are required to assess the overall environmental performance of products.”

Further information

• ILCD handbook flyer
• Sustainable Consumption and Production: Commission launches handbook on how to assess the environmental impact of products’ (Commission press release)
• JRC authored the Commission's handbook on how to assess the environmental impact of products’ (JRC highlight)
• JRC Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment website
• Integrated Product Policy (IPP)
• Communication on Integrated Product Policy (COM/2003/0302)
• European Sustainable Consumption and Production Policies

 "If Europe is to have a sustainable future, it needs to become more resource efficient and less polluting. This handbook will provide a much needed reference to support decision-making and ensure better environmental choices when designing goods and services. A scientifically robust and reliable approach is essential to support the requirements of business and policy-makers in a coherent and efficient manner."

Janez Potočnik, European Environment Commissioner