How to get LCA in the right direction

Abstract Life Cycle Assessment as a quantitative tool for assessment of environmental impacts of products and services is often contentious. However, within the current framework of the methodology, functional unit definition, inventory, impact assessment and evaluation can all be improved considerably: (i) economic notions should be taken into account; (ii) mass balances need to check; (iii) classifications should be transparent, and/or focus on a few indicators; and (iv) no evaluation method as yet can stand scientific scrutiny.