Co-product handling

Bo P. Weidema

Chapter 16 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, 2026, pp 50-52 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: When an activity has more than one product output, each of the products are called co-products. Co-product handling is the procedure of isolating the product of interest from other co-products, so that an unambiguous relation can be made between each co-product and the remaining inputs and outputs of the co-producing system. In the core standard for LCA, ISO 14044, a stepwise procedure for co-product handling is provided, often referred to as the ‘ISO allocation hierarchy for LCA’ because it describes how to allocate each input and output of the co-producing activity to its co-products. The ISO allocation hierarchy is applicable to situations of combined production, where the output of each co-product can be changed independently from the output of the other co-products, and to situations of joint production, where the co-products are produced in fixed proportions. Practical guidance for each of these two situations is provided.

Keywords: Allocation; Combined production; Joint production; Determining product; By-product; System expansion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035309887
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