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Life Cycle Assessment Impact Calculator

Work out life cycle assessment impact instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Life Cycle Assessment Impact Calculator

A cradle-to-grave carbon footprint sums the impacts of each life cycle stage: material production, transport at around 62 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne-kilometre for road freight, and end of life, which can be negative where recycling credits are claimed. Production almost always dominates.

Formula

Life cycle impact

Total = quantity x production factor + tonne-km x transport factor + quantity x end-of-life factor

Worked example

With the default values below, Life Cycle Assessment Impact Calculator returns Total Life Cycle Impact of 2.6310. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Material Quantityminimum 0 kg
1,000 kg
Production Impact Factorminimum 0 kg CO2e per kg
2.5 kg CO2e per kg
Transportminimum 0 tonne-km
500 tonne-km
End-Of-Life Impact Factorminimum -5 kg CO2e per kg
0.1 kg CO2e per kg

Results

Total Life Cycle Impact
2.6310
Production Stage Impact
2.5000
Transport Stage Impact
0.03100
End-Of-Life Impact
0.10000

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Life cycle impact
  3. 3Total Life Cycle Impact= 2.6310
  4. 4Production Stage Impact= 2.5000
  5. 5Transport Stage Impact= 0.03100
  6. 6End-Of-Life Impact= 0.10000

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 5 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
  • Life cycle assessment for comparative public claims must follow ISO 14040 and 14044 with defined system boundaries and independent critical review.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Life cycle assessment for comparative public claims must follow ISO 14040 and 14044 with defined system boundaries and independent critical review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does production usually dominate?

Because primary material production is energy intensive while transport, even over thousands of kilometres, is comparatively efficient per tonne. Reducing material quantity beats optimising logistics.

Should recycling credits be claimed?

Only with a stated allocation method — cut-off, avoided burden or a 50:50 split. The choice can change the result substantially and must be disclosed.

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