Waste is not a service

摘要: Almost every overview of LCA gives a graphical indication of the idea of a life cycle. Such diagrams consist of a linear sequence or network of blocks, connected with arrows, representing the major life stages of a product life cycle. Examples from recent textbooks on LCA can be found in Klöpffer and Grahl (2014, p. 2), Jolliet et al.(2016, p. 36), and Hauschild et al.(2018, p. 120). All such flow diagrams agree on the basic setup of a chronological order: resource becomes products, products are used, and it all ends with disposal of waste.Yet, some of the databases for LCA tell a different story. In this paper, we focus on the ecoinvent database, a popular source of LCI data. We do not rule out that our analysis is also applicable to some other databases, but we did not analyze these.