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Articles

N. 1 (2025)

Quantifying Social and Environmental Impacts through the Life Cycle Assessment: Life Cycle Assessment and impacts

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/cgrds1-2025oa19332
Inviata
3 febbraio 2025
Pubblicato
05-05-2025

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the measures linked to social and environmental sustainability. Then, it proposes an empirical analysis of these impacts with an example of cotton production in India. The application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), as outlined by ISO 14040, allows one to quantify both the social and the environmental impact and define a strategy to mitigate both of them simultaneously.
Hence, the paper presents a set of trade-offs emerging when companies seek to optimize both environmental and social impact of their businesses. We demonstrate that, through the adoption of LCA, the pair social and environmental impact can be simultaneously optimized and sustainable strategies can be effectively created.

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