UNAIR NEWS 鈥 Every product people use carries a hidden story, including the environmental impacts generated throughout its existence. On Saturday (May 23, 2026), the Environmental Engineering Program at the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), 东京热 (UNAIR), hosted the Green Impact Talk (GRIT): Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Insight seminar at the Nano Building, MERR-C Campus. The event focused on how Life Cycle Assessment can be used to measure the environmental impacts of products and processes.
The seminar featured practitioner Chendra Ainun Naufal as the keynote speaker. With extensive experience managing LCA processes at several major companies, he shared insights into comprehensive impact evaluation using LCA principles. The event also included a Focus Group Discussion analyzing environmental impacts from a practical perspective.
Managing entire product life cycle
Naufal explained that Life Cycle Thinking is a comprehensive approach that goes beyond examining manufacturing activities alone. It also considers the environmental, social, and economic impacts associated with a product throughout its life cycle. Today, LCA is applied across a wide range of sectors, including industry, agriculture, food production, and energy generation.
鈥淭he focus of today鈥檚 discussion is the implementation of LCA in industry and corporate settings. Sustainable thinking means examining a process from raw material extraction and manufacturing to product use, disposal, and recycling. The goal is not simply to produce goods, but also to reduce the waste generated throughout the process, including emissions, solid waste, and other environmental impacts,鈥 Naufal said.
He added that Life Cycle Management and LCA represent comprehensive analytical tools for modern business practices, enabling organizations to manage the entire life cycle of products and services delivered to consumers. 鈥淟CA is essential for developing cleaner products, meeting regulatory requirements, understanding product systems, improving sustainability performance, and obtaining eco-labels or environmental certifications,鈥 he said.
Stages of LCA Analysis and its implementation
The first stage of an LCA study is defining the goal and scope, which establishes the objectives of the assessment and the boundaries of the analysis. This phase includes determining the product system under study, identifying the functional unit used as a reference point, and setting the system boundaries to be evaluated.
Two common approaches are used to define those boundaries. The first is the cradle-to-gate approach, which analyzes a product from raw material extraction through manufacturing and up to the factory gate. The second is the cradle-to-grave approach, which evaluates the entire product life cycle, including production, distribution, consumer use, and end-of-life processes such as recycling, composting, or final disposal.
To support the assessment, organizations must compile a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), which records all inputs and outputs associated with a product throughout its life cycle, including materials, energy consumption, and pollutants.
鈥淎fter the data are collected, the next stages are the Life Cycle Impact Assessment and interpretation. These stages evaluate the environmental impact categories generated and relate them to the study鈥檚 objectives and scope,鈥 Naufal explained.
Finally, Naufal discussed how companies implement LCA to comply with environmental regulations and fulfill requirements under Indonesia鈥檚 PROPER environmental performance rating program. The system evaluates companies based on five performance levels: black, red, blue, green, and gold. Achieving at least a green rating, he noted, can have significant implications across multiple aspects of a company鈥檚 operations and reputation.
Author: Fauziah Kandela
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
