Life cycle assessment
What Life cycle assessment means in Combined Science GCSE, as defined for AQA.
Definitions of Life cycle assessment
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain Life cycle assessment in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: AQA
Carried out to assess the environmental impact of products in each of the stages, from raw materials to end of life.
A way of weighing impacts such as those of extraction and processing against the benefits of the finished material.
Tracks a product through four stages: extracting raw materials, manufacturing, using it, and disposing of it.
Combines objective measurements with subjective choices, so it is not a purely objective process.
Topics that use Life cycle assessment
- Life cycle assessment (AQA GCSE)
Related terms
- Comparing products over their lifetimes
- Disposal
- Environmental costs
- Extraction
- Finite and renewable resources
- Function and impact of packaging
- Processing
- Recycling and material choice
Using Life cycle assessment in the exam
Check the command word and mark scheme for your exact question. After comparing your explanation with the reference, use the term in an answer on the linked topic. This practice does not predict an exam mark.
Practise Combined Science questions
Create a free account to answer exam-style questions on this topic and get feedback on your answers.
A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge