Life Cycle Assessments (LCA)

Life Cycle Assessment Insight That Drives Better Decisions

Turning environmental data into confident decisions, credible claims and competitive advantage. We help organisations use LCAs and EPDs to reduce impact, strengthen credibility and make sustainability decisions that stand up to scrutiny.

What is a Life Cycle Assessment?

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a structured evaluation of the environmental impacts of a product, process, or service throughout its entire life cycle, aimed at identifying opportunities for sustainability improvements. It covers all stages, from raw material extraction and manufacturing to distribution, use, and disposal or recycling. An LCA quantifies an ecological footprint in areas such as energy consumption, carbon emissions, water use and waste.

By considering each phase, this framework produces insights which can be used to inform sustainable design, influence policy-making and promote sustainable consumer choices. McGrady Clarke’s experts have experience conducting LCAs across a range of sectors and brands, producing publishable reports which can be used to attract stakeholders and inform wider business and product strategies.

ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 provide the framework and guidelines for conducting LCA. Adhering to these standards is often necessary for obtaining environmental product declarations (EPDs) and other sustainability certifications.

Why Life Cycle Assessments Matter

As scrutiny around environmental claims increases, organisations need robust evidence to support product decisions, sustainability strategies and external communications.

A well‑designed LCA helps organisations to:

Identify environmental hotspots across products and supply chains

Compare materials, designs or processes on a like‑for‑like basis

Support credible environmental claims and avoid greenwashing risk

Inform product design, packaging and sourcing decisions

Strengthen responses to customer, investor and regulatory scrutiny

Support Net Zero, Circular Economy and EPR strategies

LCAs provide the depth of insight needed to make sustainability decisions with confidence.

What is an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)?

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a standardised, independently verified document that communicates the environmental impacts of a product based on a Life Cycle Assessment.

Developed in accordance with recognised international standards, EPDs provide transparent and comparable environmental information that can be used by customers, specifiers, procurement teams and other stakeholders.

EPDs are increasingly required across sectors such as construction, manufacturing and consumer products, helping organisations demonstrate product performance, support procurement requirements and substantiate environmental claims with confidence.

McGrady Clarke’s Approach

We deliver LCAs as practical decision‑support tools, not academic studies. We also work with several trusted partners who can third-party verify our LCAs and publish EPDs based on this.

Our LCAs are:

Aligned with recognised standards (ISO 14040/44)
Transparent, traceable and defensible
Designed to integrate with wider carbon, packaging and Net Zero strategies
Easily verified and published as EPDs by our partners

We focus on clarity, relevance and actionability, ensuring LCA outputs can be understood and used by both technical and non technical stakeholders.

How We Deliver LCAs

Goal, Scope and Boundary Definition

We work with you to define the purpose of the LCA, the functional unit, system boundaries and impact categories, ensuring the assessment is fit for purpose and aligned with business objectives.

Outcome: A clearly scoped assessment that answers the right questions.

Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) and Data Collection

We gather and model data across relevant life‑cycle stages, using a combination of:

Primary data from your operations and suppliers
Secondary datasets where primary data is unavailable
Clear data quality and assumption documentation

Outcome: A transparent, traceable dataset that underpins credible results.

Impact Assessment and Hotspot Analysis

We calculate environmental impacts and identify key drivers and hotspots across the life cycle, enabling meaningful comparison between scenarios (e.g. materials, formats, suppliers).

Outcome: Clear insight into where interventions will deliver the greatest benefit.

Interpretation, Reporting and Decision Support

Results are translated into clear, decision‑ready outputs, including:

Visual summaries and comparisons
Key insights and improvement opportunities
Methodology and assumptions documentation
Support for internal decision‑making or external communication

Outcome: LCA results that inform action – not just reporting.

EPD verifications and publication (optional)

Where required, we collaborate with our partners to verify and publish EPDs:

Conversion of LCA results into EPD formatting
Third-party verification by our trusted partners
EPD publication

Outcome: A third-party verified and published EPD

Why McGrady Clarke?

At McGrady Clarke, we combine strong technical expertise with commercial awareness to deliver LCAs that support real business decisions. Our clear, accessible reporting helps mixed audiences understand complex findings, while our integrated approach connects LCA insights with Net Zero, CBAM, EPR and Circular Strategy services to drive credible, transparent and action-focused outcomes.

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LCAs and EPDs: the key to product environmental footprints

By partnering with McGrady Clarke your organisation will receive detailed solutions that align with global sustainability standards, including ISO 14040, ISO 14044, and ISO 14067. Compliance with these standards ensures accurate environmental impact reporting, supports EPD certification and strengthens your organisation’s commitment to sustainability.