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Why Sustainly Focuses on 3 Proven LCA Methods

After speaking with hundreds of specialists, we saw the same pattern: while databases like Ecoinvent list 40+ options, in practice companies are aligning around just a few. That’s why we give you the ones that matter most

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Methods you’ll see

1

EF 3.1 Environmental Footprint🌍

2

IPCC 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change♻️

3

ReCiPe 2016🧪

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Methods at a glance

MethodFocusIndicatorsExtras
EF 3.1Multi-indicator across climate, human health, nature16Normalisation and weighting
IPCC 2021Carbon footprint detail>30Short and long term GWP view
ReCiPe 2016Understandable, comparable analyses18Endpoints: health, ecosystems, resources

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Allocation Methods and Frameworks

As if the variability of different methodologies were not enough, you also have to consider which allocation method and framework to use. Attributional modelling (the raw contribution).
Most common for product studies and used to create both EPDs and PEFs. It totals the direct contribution of all lifecycle stages (e.g., wheat → milling → baking → delivery for a loaf of bread). Consequential modelling (measuring context).
Used more in academic and large-scale analyses. Looks at system-wide effects and market dynamics (e.g., assessing a solar park’s effect on the electricity market, not only its added emissions). Frameworks supported.
Sustainly supports cut-off, EN 15804, and consequential allocation. EN 15804 (for European EPDs) notably credits future recycling in how waste is modelled.

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Why these methods matter

While different methodologies vary in their specific indicators, LCAs look beyond CO₂e and typically consider impacts on nature, human health, and resources. ReCiPe’s endpoints, in particular, make effects tangible by expressing damage to human health, ecosystems, and resource availability.