CSC CSC Life Cycle Assessment & Supply Chain Sustainability 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluate?
- The financial return on investment over a product's sales cycle
- The environmental impacts of a product or service from raw material extraction through end-of-life disposal (Correct answer)
- The number of regulatory certifications a product has earned
- The market share trajectory of a sustainable product
Correct answer: The environmental impacts of a product or service from raw material extraction through end-of-life disposal
LCA is a systematic method for assessing the full environmental burden of a product across its entire life cycle, from cradle to grave.
Question 2: Which of the following is the correct sequence of phases in a standard LCA according to ISO 14040/14044?
- Inventory analysis → Goal and scope → Impact assessment → Interpretation
- Goal and scope → Inventory analysis → Impact assessment → Interpretation (Correct answer)
- Impact assessment → Inventory analysis → Goal and scope → Interpretation
- Interpretation → Goal and scope → Impact assessment → Inventory analysis
Correct answer: Goal and scope → Inventory analysis → Impact assessment → Interpretation
ISO 14040/14044 defines the four LCA phases in order: goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory, impact assessment, and interpretation.
Question 3: In LCA terminology, what is a 'functional unit'?
- A department within a sustainability consulting firm
- A quantified description of the function delivered by a product system, used as the basis for comparison (Correct answer)
- The minimum regulatory threshold for environmental reporting
- A unit of carbon credit traded on voluntary markets
Correct answer: A quantified description of the function delivered by a product system, used as the basis for comparison
The functional unit provides a measurable reference for comparing different systems that fulfill the same function, such as '1,000 liters of drinking water delivered'.
Question 4: What is 'Scope 3' greenhouse gas emissions in the context of supply chain sustainability?
- Direct emissions from company-owned facilities and equipment
- Indirect emissions from purchased electricity consumed by the company
- All other indirect emissions occurring in a company's value chain, including suppliers and product use (Correct answer)
- Emissions from company-operated vehicle fleets only
Correct answer: All other indirect emissions occurring in a company's value chain, including suppliers and product use
Scope 3 covers all indirect GHG emissions beyond Scope 1 and 2, spanning upstream supplier activities and downstream product use and disposal.
Question 5: Which certification is widely used in the US to verify that a product's supply chain meets specific sustainability standards, particularly for wood and forest products?
- ISO 9001
- Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification (Correct answer)
- ENERGY STAR
- Cradle to Cradle (C2C)
Correct answer: Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification
FSC certification verifies that forest products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social, and economic benefits.
Question 6: What is 'circular economy' in the context of sustainable supply chain management?
- A financial model in which sustainability investments generate circular returns
- An economic system that keeps materials in use as long as possible through reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling (Correct answer)
- A government program that provides circular grants to green businesses
- A supply chain risk model based on circular risk scoring
Correct answer: An economic system that keeps materials in use as long as possible through reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling
The circular economy aims to eliminate waste by continuously cycling materials and products through closed-loop systems rather than linear take-make-dispose models.
CSC CSC Life Cycle Assessment & Supply Chain Sustainability 1
What does a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluate?