ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the procedural framework for performing a life-cycle inventory. A life-cycle inventory can be envisioned as a set of linked activities that describe the creation, use, and ultimate disposition of the product or material of interest. The appropriate response to these questions often rests on whether the life-cycle inventory is being performed for internal organizational use or for a more public purpose. Depending on the goal of the study, it may be possible to exclude certain stages or activities and still address the issues for which the life-cycle inventory is being performed. In a life-cycle inventory to create a baseline for future product development or improvement, the unit upon which the analysis is performed can be almost anything that produces internally consistent data. In a life-cycle inventory where there may be many steps in each life-cycle stage, the worksheets help ensure consistency among the various information sources.
