Cradle to grave

A life cycle assessment boundary covering raw material extraction through to the point where the product leaves the factory gate, excluding transport to site, installation, use and end-of-life. In construction EPDs to EN 15804 this corresponds to the product stage, modules A1 to A3.

A standardised method, set out in ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, for quantifying the environmental impacts of a product or system across its life, from raw material extraction through manufacture and use to end-of-life. LCA results underpin environmental product declarations and embodied carbon calculations used in material selection.

The stage in a product's life cycle when it is removed from service and must be reused, recycled, recovered or disposed of. End-of-life scenarios are a required consideration in life cycle assessment and increasingly influence material selection for composites and roofing systems.

An economic model that keeps products and materials in use for as long as possible through reuse, repair, remanufacture and recycling, in contrast to the linear take, make, dispose model. In materials specification it drives requirements for recycled content, design for disassembly and credible end-of-life routes.