Back

Selecting best practice characterisation methods for impact assessment
Mark Goedkoop,^*   PRé Consultants B.V.
Michael Hauschild,   DTU
Mark Huijbregts,   Radbout University Nijmegen
Olivier Joliet,   University of Michigan
Manuele Margni,   Ecointesys
An De Schryver,   PRé Consultants B.V.
Reinout Heijungs,   CML

Since 1992 many new impacts assessment methods have been developed for LCIA. A handful of these have become frequently used but for the LCA practitioner it is often difficult to make a selection of the best or most appropriate method. The EU LCA centre in ISPRA has commissioned a project to provide guidance, and select recommended impact sets of characterisation factors for each impact category, both on midpoint and on endpoint. The project was executed by a team of experts that have also developed some of the leading methods, the CML method, Eco-indicator 99, ReCiPe, Impact 2002 and EDIP.

This paper describes the procedure that has been developed to analyse existing methods and to select the best candidates. The UNEP SETAC work on the criteria for impact assessment method was the starting point for the project. For each impact category specific criteria have been developed. The criteria and the results obtained from applying the criteria have been reviewed by domain experts and by several stakeholder groups. The paper presents the selection and summarises the research recommendations.

---

^* corresponding author: Goedkoop@pre.nl