Social Life Cycle Assessment: A Technique Providing a New Wealth of Information to Inform Sustainability‐Related Decision Making

The analysis of the social impacts of product supply chains is getting substantial interest from corporations that are becoming increasingly engaged in improving their performances in this area. Social life cycle assessment (LCA) is a framework and technique that allows for the generation, organization, assessment, and communication of social impacts in product life cycles. The chapter presents an overview of social LCA historical development from the 1990s. It discusses why S-LCA is of interest to businesses and society, describes the methodology, and contrasts it with other social assessment techniques. A presentation of advancement in database development will help convey the actual state of the art of S-LCA.

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