Operations and Life Cycle Analysis .................. Operations – Profit in the short term,

One of the first LCAs, called an ‘Ecobalance’, compared the total energy

– the impact – used to produce glass, plastic, steel and aluminum

beverage containers.35 It was developed in the early 1970s. In the intervening years, LCAs became very complex, accounting for multiple impacts that only scientists could measure for every possible link in the supply chain.36 Many companies became disenchanted, seeing LCA efforts as terrifically expensive analysis with little application.