LCA standards must deliver greater supply chain transparency 

As efforts to combat global warming steadily ramp up, life cycle assessment  (LCA) is becoming an increasingly common practice in many industries, ranging from construction and textiles to chemicals and consumer electronics. The term refers to the systematic approach taken to measure the environmental impact of a product across its entire life cycle, from the sourcing of raw materials, through to manufacture, the use phase, and the end-of-life phase including its prospects for recyclability or re-use in second life. ISO 14040 was established by the International Organization for Standardization in 2006 to offer a general framework by which this can be accomplished.