Preparing a standard‑compliant LCA in accordance with ISO 14040/44 is often complex and associated with high effort. Many companies shy away from this because access to data is difficult and extensive documentation requirements exist. As a result, the potential of LCA as an analysis instrument often remains unused. A pragmatic solution is offered by the Screening‑LCA, a simplified LCA that enables an initial assessment of a product’s environmental impacts. GREENZERO provides a methodological description (separate document) that defines minimum requirements and methodological specifications in order to ensure a structured and comparable Screening‑LCA. Although it is not standardised, the Screening‑LCA follows clear methodological principles to provide a reliable basis for sustainable decisions. Its main goal is to identify hotspots in the product life cycle, reveal environmental potentials, and evaluate the need or necessity for a full LCA. In the long term, it can contribute to further development towards a standard‑compliant LCA and help companies systematically reduce their environmental impacts. The following sections give an overview of the requirements for the Screening‑LCA (cosmetics sector). A detailed description of the Screening‑LCA is provided in a methodological document.
A Screening‑LCA is not yet a standardised term or process. The preparation of simplified LCAs can be carried out in accordance with the core LCA standard ISO 14040/44 and other standards, but indicates that, for the sake of simplification, compliance with all aspects of the standards is deliberately waived. The results of Screening‑LCAs are therefore only of limited significance and can generally not be used for further comparative analyses or external communication without additional validation. The statements made in this document are based on considerations by GREENZERO and do not claim completeness or conformity with any other standard.
Here is a comparison between Screening vs. Scientfic Life Cycle Assessment:
Category
Screening LCA
Scientific LCA
Goal / Result
Detailed scan of individual products for environmental cost calculation and hotspotting
Precise analysis of environmental impact and costs of individual products
ISO Compliance (14040/44)
Based on standards
Yes
Data Collection
LCAP software or Excel
LCAP software or Excel
Mapping
LCA consultant
LCA consultant
No. of Raw Materials Included
Up to 20 (note: ~)
Up to 30 (note: ~)
More Raw Materials Possible
Yes (extra cost)
Yes (extra cost)
Use of LCA Database
Limited preset by GREENZERO
e.g., Ecoinvent (more optional)
Proxy* Design w/ Primary Data (from Manufacturer)
No
Optional*
Proxy* Design w/ Secondary Data (Literature)
No
Optional*
Cut-off Criteria
5%
0.1%
Hotspotting Possible
Yes
Yes
Result Report
Simple report (optionally detailed report for review)
Simple report (optionally detailed report for review)
Result Presentation
Optional*
Optional*
Consultation on Results
Optional*
Optional*
Critical Review by Third Parties
No
Optional*
Effort
~4 h incl. plausibility check (plus LCAP onboarding)
Conducting a Screening‑LCA for a cosmetic product (e.g. shampoo) to determine potential environmental impacts and associated environmental costs.
Execution of a Screening‑LCA for the product.
Detailed analysis progressing towards a full LCA.
Intended application
Use the results as a decision basis for deeper analyses (e.g. certification according to GREENZERO v1.11). Results are not published or made accessible to third parties.
Internal use by product manufacturers and third parties which have explicit permission.
Optional publication for external stakeholders (when a full LCA exists).
Target audience
Internal: primary addressees are product manufacturers as well as third parties which have explicit permission, B2B.
Cosmetic product on the shelf (e.g. shampoo) including ingredients and primary and secondary packaging. The product system includes raw‑material extraction and transport (for ingredients and packaging), product manufacturing, inbound and outbound logistics, and the end‑of‑life of the product packaging.
Consideration of all relevant processes of the product system (see “Description”).
Analysis of alternative packaging/ingredients.
Accounting/functional unit
One product on the shelf (including ingredients and primary and secondary packaging). Reference flow: one sales unit (e.g. 200 ml shampoo).
1.6 System Boundaries, Data Collection, Quality and Exchange
System Boundaries (Life-cycle phases)
Description: Cradle‑to‑grave: raw‑material procurement, manufacturing, packaging, transport, end‑of‑life of packaging. Use by consumers and storage are not considered.Minimum Requirements:
Consideration of the defined system boundaries
Optional Extensions:
Inclusion of the use phase possible
Expansion to additional processes possible (e.g. end‑of‑life of ingredients)
Primary Data Requirements
Material & Ingredient Data
Process Data
Transport Data
Data relate to the raw materials and Ingredient used in a product.Examples:
Material type and quantity (e.g. 200 g PET for a bottle)
Chemical composition of ingredients (Bill of Materials, e.g. 5% surfactants in shampoo)
Origin of raw materials (e.g. sustainably sourced palm oil from country X)
Minimum Requirements:
100% use of complete primary data for material type and quantity (packaging) and chemical composition of ingredients (product) required
Comprehensive list of all primary data sources used
Optional Extensions:
High share of primary data for further material‑ and ingredient‑related data
Supplement with detailed secondary data
Data Sources
Primary Data Sources
Direct information from manufacturing partners for material/energy flows (BOM, production, logistics).Minimum:
Direct exchange with manufacturers
Comprehensive list of all primary data sources used
Optional: Supplement by specific studies
Secondary Data Sources
Use of LCA databases (e.g. ecoinvent 3.9).Minimum:
Use of recognised data sources (see methodological documentation)
Comprehensive list of all secondary data sources used
Optional: Comparison of different databases
Data Quality Requirements
Aspect
Primary Data
Secondary Data
Minimum
Optional
Temporal Reference Limits
Most recent data, not older than two years for primary data.
Not older than five years.
Compliance with temporal requirements (for primary)/ Use of the latest available data.
For primary data: Update after project end
For secondary data: Sensitivity analysis for older data
Geographical Reference Limits
Consideration of country‑specific primary data.
Consideration of location‑specific secondary data.
For primary data: Use of country‑specific average values
For secondary data: Use of continental average values
For primary data: Use of manufacturer‑specific average values
For secondary data: Use of country‑specific average values
Cut-off Criteria
Mass‑based cut‑off criteria of 5.0% (use of proxies).Minimum Requirements:
Documentation of cut‑off criteria
Use of proxies when applying cut‑off criteria (see methodological documentation)
