LCA practitioners (meaning LCA software manufacturers, other types of product vendors and LCA consultants) are seeing a growth rate of 30-40% annually in demand for their services.
Increasingly, companies are incorporating LCA into routine business activities via modeling the environmental impacts of a product or facility, driving product innovation to improve environmental performance, and backing their “green” marketing claims through robust analysis of the impacts of design through disposal.
The increasing interest in LCA signals several important points to the market. First, it is becoming easier to do the homework on the environmental impacts behind a product. This should decrease the prevalence of many false claims of greenness, but also should incite companies to look deeper into this aspect. Second, LCA is becoming more standard and therefore expected. It could very likely soon become the norm in sustainability reporting through demand from consumers and reporting indices. Third, it is a good idea to have LCA-trained staff members in-house. Even if you plan to hire third-party consultants, in-house competency will be important in interpreting and implementing changes.
Click here to read the full blog write-up on the report at The Sustainability Business Blog.