Metals and Equilibria: Life Cycle Assessments

Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) evaluate the environmental impact of a product across its full life cycle - from extraction of raw materials, through manufacturing and usage, to disposal or recycling.
The initial stage of an LCA relates to extraction and processing of raw materials. For example, mining ores can cause significant environmental damage and uses large amounts of energy.
The extraction of metal ores, such as iron or aluminium, may involve physical processes like mining, chemical processes like smelting or electrolysis, and biological processes like bacterial leaching.
The production phase of the life cycle includes forming and shaping the raw materials into the final product. This may use more energy and produce further waste materials.
Wear and tear or corrosion can occur during the usage phase, leading to the need of maintenance or replacement parts.
Finally, the disposal stage involves either recycling or discarding the product. Recycling can reduce the environmental impact, but can also require additional energy and potentially generate waste.
LCAs also consider transportation, which creates CO2 emissions, at every stage of the product life cycle.
It’s important to remember that all these stages can have an impact on air, water and soil quality due to the release of gases, liquids and solid waste.
An LCA considers all inputs (resources, energy) and outputs (waste products, emissions), providing a detailed overview of the environmental loads of a product or service.
LCAs help to identify options to reduce environmental impacts, improve efficient use of resources, and support decision making for policies or strategies aiming to reduce environmental burdens.
However, an LCA is a complex tool and the results highly depend on the assessment boundaries chosen by the person conducting the study. This could lead to different findings and interpretations.
In the context of metals, an LCA can help in evaluating the recycling potential of metals and help in choosing more sustainable materials for product design.