Lifecycle assessment at Xerox

Product environmental life-cycle assessment is a tool for quantifying the total environmental impact of a product over its entire life-cycle. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is rapidly becoming the recognized methodology for evaluating the environmental performance of products. LCA is already being used to develop product environmental label criteria and is expected in the next couple of years to be standardized through ISO 14000, become a requirement in government procurement practices, and even become a mandatory requirement in some European countries. This paper describes how, in response to this rapidly developing recognition of LCA, the Environment, Health, and Safety Organization of Xerox took the initiative to develop LCA capability within the company.