Life Cycle Assessment ISO 14040 and 14044: A Guide for Exporters

What is a life cycle assessment under ISO 14040 and ISO 14044?

A life cycle assessment (LCA) lists what a product consumes and releases at each stage of its life, from raw material extraction to end-of-life treatment, then converts those flows into potential environmental impacts. ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 are the two International Standards that define the method.

The current editions, read on iso.org on 11 November 2026, are:

• ISO 14040:2006 — Environmental management — Life cycle assessment — Principles and framework (formerly ISO 14040:1997), second edition of July 2006, completed by ISO 14040:2006/Amd 1:2020;
• ISO 14044:2006 — Environmental management — Life cycle assessment — Requirements and guidelines, first edition of July 2006, completed by ISO 14044:2006/Amd 1:2017 and ISO 14044:2006/Amd 2:2020.

Both come from committee ISO/TC 207/SC 5 and were reviewed and confirmed in 2022 (stage 90.93): they remain current, and no revision is announced on iso.org as of 11 November 2026. According to each standard’s page, the 2006 editions replaced ISO 14040:1997 and three standards now withdrawn: ISO 14041:1998 (inventory), ISO 14042:2000 (impact assessment) and ISO 14043:2000 (interpretation). A specification that still cites one of them needs updating.

Both standards cover two kinds of study: the full LCA, which goes as far as impact assessment, and the life cycle inventory (LCI) study, which stops at the list of flows. They are method standards, not management system standards: a company does not get “ISO 14044 certified”; it has a study reviewed.

LCA, product carbon footprint, corporate inventory: where does LCA sit?

LCA is multi-criteria: it can cover climate, water, resources, toxicity and land use. A product carbon footprint under ISO 14067:2018 applies the same approach to climate change only; a corporate carbon footprint under ISO 14064-1:2018 measures an organisation over a year, not a product. Our comparison of LCA, corporate and product carbon footprints sets out the differences, and our ISO 14067 product carbon footprint guide covers the carbon calculation for a product.

What do ISO 14040, ISO 14044 and their amendments contain?

ISO 14040 describes the principles and framework of LCA; ISO 14044 sets the requirements and guidelines. Both cover the same topics: goal and scope, inventory analysis, impact assessment, interpretation, reporting and critical review, the limitations of LCA, the relationship between phases, and the conditions for using value choices and optional elements.

The difference is the level of detail. According to its official abstract, ISO 14040 does not describe the LCA technique in detail or specify methods for each phase. ISO 14044 holds the requirements a study must meet. Both take the intended application into account when the goal is defined, but the application itself (declaration, claim, ecodesign) is outside their scope.

One practical point is often missed: according to iso.org, amendments are sold separately and are not included in the text of the standard. A study that claims conformity with ISO 14044 should have been carried out with the 2006 text and both amendments. iso.org publishes no summary of these amendments; their pages and free preview (“Read sample”), checked on 11 November 2026, show the following. ISO 14040:2006/Amd 1:2020 and ISO 14044:2006/Amd 2:2020 were prepared in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/SS S26 of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), under the Vienna Agreement; the preview of each reproduces definitions from Clause 3: life cycle (3.1), system boundary (3.32), completeness check, consistency check and sensitivity check (3.41 to 3.43). ISO 14044:2006/Amd 2:2020 also contains an Annex D, “Allocation procedures”. The preview of ISO 14044:2006/Amd 1:2017 shows only its foreword. The detail of the changes is in the text of each amendment.

Which standards complement ISO 14040 and ISO 14044?

The same subcommittee publishes documents that detail one part of the method or apply it to a use. Those exporters meet most often, read on iso.org on 11 November 2026:

What are the four phases of an LCA, and what must you decide at each?

Goal and scope, life cycle inventory, impact assessment and interpretation. They are not steps you run once in order: interpretation often sends you back to the first phase to correct a boundary or an assumption, and that is expected.

Phase 1: goal and scope

This phase decides everything else. The goal states why the study is done (ecodesign, a customer request, an EPD, a comparison with a competing product), for which audience, and whether a comparison will be made public. The scope sets the functional unit (the function delivered, quantified), the reference flow, the system boundary, cut-off rules, the allocation rule, impact categories and assessment method, data quality requirements and the type of review.

A ceramic tile maker near Fès comparing two glaze recipes does not need the same scope as a competitor preparing an EPD for a European tender: the first can stop at the factory gate, the second follows the scope set by the product category rules. The difference between a functional unit and a declared unit is explained in our ISO 14067 guide; it applies to an LCA in exactly the same way.

Phase 2: life cycle inventory

The inventory is the quantified list of flows in the system: materials and energy going in; products, co-products, air emissions, water discharges and waste coming out, all related to the functional unit. It is the longest phase and the one that takes most of your teams’ time.

Two subjects need a written rule before data collection starts. First, allocation, when a process yields several products: an olive oil mill near Meknès produces oil and pomace, a fertiliser plant runs several formulas on the same lines. ISO 14044 governs this choice; the rule must be justified, applied consistently and tested for sensitivity. Second, data quality: measured data for what you control, documented secondary data (database, version, year) for the rest.

Phase 3: impact assessment

Impact assessment turns the inventory into indicators. The core steps are selecting impact categories (climate change, acidification, eutrophication, water use, land use, resources, toxicity and so on), classification (assigning each flow to the categories it affects) and characterisation (calculating each category indicator with recognised factors).

Normalisation, weighting and single scores are optional elements based on value choices. Since November 2022, ISO/TS 14074:2022 has given principles, requirements and guidelines for these operations and for interpretation, on top of ISO 14040 and ISO 14044; according to iso.org, it does not favour any weighting method over another. If a customer asks for a “single score”, ask which method they expect.

Phase 4: interpretation

Interpretation identifies the hotspots (the stages and flows that weigh most), checks completeness, sensitivity to assumptions and consistency, deals with uncertainty, and draws conclusions that do not go beyond what the study shows. “Our packaging is better for the environment”, drawn from a study covering three impact categories, is the most common mistake.

When is a critical review needed, and how do you prepare for it?

A critical review is an examination of the study by one or more independent reviewers, who check that it conforms to the standards and that its choices hold up. Decide on it in the first phase, because the level of review depends on how the results will be used.

The reference is now ISO 14071:2024 — Environmental management — Life cycle assessment — Critical review processes and reviewer competencies (formerly ISO/TS 14071:2014, withdrawn). Published in October 2024, it adds requirements and guidance to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 on how to conduct a critical review of any type of LCA study and on reviewer competencies. Its page on iso.org, read on 11 November 2026, stresses that it matters most for comparative assertions intended to be disclosed to the public, and that its weight grows with LCA-based applications such as carbon footprinting and environmental labelling.

To prepare, keep a file from day one that lets a reviewer trace each result to its data and each choice to its justification: the goal and scope document, the model, the register of primary data with supporting records, the register of secondary data, sensitivity analyses and the report. Bring the reviewer in early: a review run alongside the study causes fewer rework loops than one at the end. The review is always carried out by someone independent of the person who did the study.

ISO 14044 alone, PCR, EN 15804+A2 or PEF: which calculation framework applies?

ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 leave open choices that change the result; sector rules close them so studies can be compared. Check first whether a rule applies to your product and the intended use, and fall back on ISO 14044 alone, with written choices, only when none does.

Three points. EN 15804:2012+A2:2019 (with its 2021 corrigendum) replaced EN 15804:2012+A1:2013; exporters of cement, ceramics or aluminium profiles meet it in European tenders. ISO 14025:2026 (formerly ISO 14025:2006), published in June 2026, requires ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 for building an EPD: our product carbon footprint and EPD service describes that step. Finally, Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 of 15 December 2021, which repeals Recommendation 2013/179/EU, recommends the Product and Organisation Environmental Footprint methods (PEF and OEF). According to its recitals, read on EUR-Lex on 11 November 2026, the 2013–2018 pilot phase produced 19 finalised PEFCRs and 2 OEFSRs, and the method integrates normalisation and weighting; where a PEFCR exists for your product category, it should be used.

The same product may fall under two frameworks depending on the customer. Build one configurable model rather than one spreadsheet per request.

How do you run an LCA in a Moroccan plant: data, tools and team?

With your plant data for everything you control, supplier data for the materials that weigh most, and a documented LCA database for the rest. The software is a calculation tool; the quality of the study comes from the scoping and the data.

Which data do you need beyond carbon?

An LCA needs more than the energy bills that often suffice for a carbon inventory, because it also covers water, discharges and resources.

For transport, ISO 14083:2023 (formerly IWA 16:2015) provides a common method for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from transport chains; ask your carriers for compatible data. For electricity, document the grid mix used and its source, and treat on-site generation separately: our article on Morocco’s Law 82-21 on electricity self-generation sets out the framework. This article deliberately gives no emission or characterisation factor: each one must come from a documented, dated source.

Software and database: what should you require?

LCA software links your inventory to secondary datasets and applies the characterisation methods. Whatever the tool, require three things: traceability of every data point to its source, the ability to rerun the calculation with other assumptions (sensitivity analysis), and a statement in the report of the software, the database, their versions and the licence. If your customer works with PEF, they may require Environmental Footprint-compliant datasets.

Who needs to be involved?

An LCA draws on production (processes, yields, scrap), purchasing (materials, suppliers), maintenance and energy (meters), QHSE (discharges, waste, permits), R&D or methods (bills of materials) and export sales (intended use, customer request). A plastics converter in Tangier that hands the study to one person with no access to these departments will end up with an inventory full of secondary data. If your site holds ISO 14001 certification, its registers of environmental aspects, waste and discharges are a ready data source.

Checklist: is your LCA ready to start?

• The intended use of results is written down: ecodesign, customer request, EPD, PEF study or public comparison.
  
• You have looked for a customer method, a PEFCR, a programme PCR or EN 15804+A2 before making your own choices.
  
• The functional (or declared) unit and the reference flow are defined.
  
• The system boundary and cut-off rules are written; every exclusion is justified.
  
• The allocation rule between co-products is written and will be tested for sensitivity.
  
• Impact categories and the characterisation method are set before calculation.
  
• The data year covers twelve consecutive, documented months.
  
• Water, discharge and waste data are available, not just energy.
  
• Suppliers of the materials that weigh most have been asked for primary data.
  
• The software, the database, their versions and the licence are chosen and recorded.
  
• You have ISO 14040:2006, ISO 14044:2006 and their three amendments.
  
• The review level is decided; if a comparison will be published, a critical review under ISO 14071:2024 is planned.
  
• Any planned claim will be checked against Directive (EU) 2024/825 and ISO 14021:2026.
  

What should you do with LCA results: ecodesign, customer replies, claims?

Three uses, with rising requirements: improving the product, answering a customer, communicating to the public. The further the result travels outside the company, the more it needs review and the more communication rules apply.

Ecodesign. The most rewarding and least constrained use: the hotspots show where to act (a material, a firing step, a pack, a transport leg). Reduction levers for climate are covered on our decarbonisation strategy page; an LCA above all prevents you from shifting an impact to another category, for instance cutting carbon at the cost of higher water use.

Customer replies. European buyers increasingly ask for life cycle data in their sustainability questionnaires: see our page on CSRD, VSME and ESG questionnaires. For packaging, an LCA also informs material choices under the EU packaging regulation: see our PPWR guide for non-EU exporters.

Claims. Directive (EU) 2024/825, on empowering consumers for the green transition, has applied since 27 September 2026 (Article 4, read on EUR-Lex on 11 November 2026). Towards EU consumers, it bans in all circumstances a generic environmental claim without demonstrated recognised excellent environmental performance (point 4a), a claim about the whole product that only concerns one aspect (point 4b), and claiming, based on offsetting, that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions (point 4c). On the standards side, ISO 14021:2026 (formerly ISO 14021:2016) governs self-declared environmental claims. An LCA supports a precise claim on a defined category and scope; it does not justify “eco-friendly” or “neutral”. More in our article on Directive 2024/825 and environmental claims.

Our position: reduce first, claim only what the study shows, and have any claim aimed at EU consumers reviewed before it is printed or published.