Which statement about Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in humanitarian procurement is incorrect?

Which statement about Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in humanitarian procurement is incorrect?

• A. It analyzes environmental impacts from cradle to grave.
• B. It is used to choose lower-impact options in procurement.
• C. It only considers initial production costs.
• D. It covers materials, manufacturing, transport, and disposal.

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is how Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluates the environmental footprint of a product across its entire life, from beginning to end, to guide greener choices in humanitarian procurement. LCA looks at every stage—raw materials, manufacturing, packaging and transport, use, and end-of-life disposal or recycling. This cradle-to-grave view is what allows procurement teams to compare options and choose those with the lower overall environmental impact, rather than just focusing on the upfront price or production phase. In humanitarian procurement, using LCA helps identify hotspots where environmental burdens are greatest and steer decisions toward solutions that minimize harm across the product’s whole life. The statement that LCA only considers initial production costs is not correct because the method specifically accounts for impacts across all stages of the lifecycle, not just the price at the start. If cost considerations are needed, that would fall to a different analysis (life cycle cost), which separates economic assessment from the environmental focus of LCA.

The main idea here is how Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluates the environmental footprint of a product across its entire life, from beginning to end, to guide greener choices in humanitarian procurement. LCA looks at every stage—raw materials, manufacturing, packaging and transport, use, and end-of-life disposal or recycling. This cradle-to-grave view is what allows procurement teams to compare options and choose those with the lower overall environmental impact, rather than just focusing on the upfront price or production phase.

In humanitarian procurement, using LCA helps identify hotspots where environmental burdens are greatest and steer decisions toward solutions that minimize harm across the product’s whole life. The statement that LCA only considers initial production costs is not correct because the method specifically accounts for impacts across all stages of the lifecycle, not just the price at the start. If cost considerations are needed, that would fall to a different analysis (life cycle cost), which separates economic assessment from the environmental focus of LCA.