Life Cycle Gaps: Interpreting LCA Results with a Circular Economy Mindset

Circular economies require the closing of material cycles, upcycling rather than downcycling, and increased responsibility of producers for the end of life of their products. This challenges not only the predominant linear business approach but also the way we conduct and interpret LCA studies. The conventional cradle-to-grave approach, even when it includes credits for substituted materials, is not fully suitable for meaningful interpretation within a circular economy setting. We therefore propose the idea of a life cycle gap analysis as an additional means of interpretation and decision support within LCA. It highlights the theoretical circularity gaps with regard to the potential environmental impacts during a product's life cycle in terms of system losses – the so-called life cycle gaps – between an ideal closed system and the status quo. The desired new state of the life cycle gap analysis is the minimization of the gaps to zero while fulfilling the defined restrictions of the approach. Our contribution explains and exemplifies the method.