Product Life Cycle Environmental Impact and Risk Evaluation
Basic rule for efficient and sustainable resource and
environmental quality management = minimize cumulative
product life cycle risks and environmental impacts. The
product life cycle system defines the material and energy
flows and conversions in the total life cycle of a
product. It can be organized into five basic subsystems
or segments:
1. Raw Materials Procurement
2. Manufacturing
3. Consumer Use
4. Resource Recovery
5. Disposal
The risks and environmental impacts associated with
the product life cycle include:
- virgin raw materials consumption
- energy consumption
- air pollutant emissions
- water pollutant discharges
- hazardous waste generation
- nonhazardous waste generation
- radioactive waste generation
- industrial accidents
- occupational safety and health risks
- consumer safety and health risks
- ecological degradation
The life cycle framework provides a systematic method
to evaluate risks and environmental impacts associated
with the flow and conversion of material and energy
throughout the system. Applications of the product life
cycle framework include: 1) consumer product comparative
risk and environmental impact assessment, 2) product and
process design guidelines to minimize risks and impacts,
3) product labeling and 4) policy making.
Do prices of consumer products reflect true social,
and environmental costs? Two important market failures
that lead to inefficient resource and environmental
quality management are 1) externalities, which are costs
born by society that are not included in the price of a
good or service (e.g., industrial pollution and the
disposal of consumer products); and 2) lack of
information about risks and environmental impacts for the
consumer.