Social life cycle assessment

Alexandra Weniger

Chapter 155 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, 2026, pp 575-577 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) is a methodology which aims to evaluate potential and actual social impacts associated with products and services across their entire life cycle. S-LCA was developed within the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), complementing environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) to provide a holistic approach to sustainability. The methodology follows the four-phase structure as defined in ISO 14040 and ISO 4044 for environmental LCA. This encompasses goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory, impact assessment, and interpretation. However, S-LCA introduces additional aspects necessary to measure social impacts, such as stakeholder definition and the categorization of social impacts by stakeholder groups. The methodology of S-LCA is outlined by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with the Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products and organizations 2020. The impact assessment in S-LCA can follow two approaches: the Reference Scale Assessment, which assesses social performance or risk against predefined scales, and the Impact Pathway Approach, which aims to define causal links between inventory data and social impact throughout the characterization factors.

Keywords: Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA); Sustainability; Stakeholders; Impact assessment; Methodology; Guidelines (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035309887
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