Product Life Cycle Assessment to Reduce Health Risks and Environmental Impacts [Hardcover]

Life cycle design is a proactive approach for integrating pollution prevention and resource conservation strategies into the development of more ecologically and economically sustainable product systems. Cross media pollutant transfer and the shifting of other impacts can be avoided by addressing the entire life cycle, which includes raw materials acquisition, materials processing, manufacturing and assembly, use and service, retirement, disposal and the ultimate fate of residuals.

The goal of life cycle design is to minimize aggregate risks and impacts over this life cycle. This goal can only be attained through the balancing of environmental, performance, cost, cultural, legal, and technical requirements of the product system. Concepts such as concurrent design, total quality management, cross- disciplinary teams, and multi-attribute decision making are essential elements of life cycle design that help meet these goals.

The framework for life cycle design was developed to be applicable for all product domains. It was written to assist not only design professionals but all other constituents who have an important role in life cycle design including corporate executives, product managers, production workers, distributors, environmental health and safety staff, purchasers, accountants, marketers, salespersons, legal staff, consumers, and government regulators. A coordinated effort is required to institute changes needed for successful implementation of life cycle design.

Part I seeks to promote the reduction of environmental imparts and health risks through a systems approach to design. The approach is based on the product life cycle, which includes raw materials acquisition and processing, manufacturing, use/service, resource recovery, and disposal. A life cycle design framework was developed to provide guidance for more effectively conserving resources and energy, preventing pollution, and reducing the aggrelS(