On 3 December 2025, Ecomatters hosted a webinar on how to develop industry-wide LCA studies. We welcomed representatives from industry associations and sustainability managers across sectors including chemistry, metals, electronics and construction. The range of people attending illustrates that industry-wide LCAs are relevant across many different sectors.
The session answered three key questions:
- What is an industry-wide LCA study? When different companies affiliated with the same industry association collaborate to develop one LCA study, they obtain roust industry-average results, and, where relevant, derive results for individual company products as well.
- Why choose an industry-wide approach over separate LCAs? A joint industry-wide study improves harmonisation between companies, supports consistent communication to stakeholders, builds capacity and reduces costs compared to multiple standalone studies.
- How do you get started? The project typically begins by aligning on the goal and scope, followed by collecting the relevant data points from participants. Then, LCA results can be calculated both on industry level and for company-specific products.
It was great to share our insights with an engaged audience of industry representatives. It also provided an opportunity to share our experience of project management and LCA development within industry LCA projects. One example of this is the industry-average LCA study for silver that we are currently working on with our partners at ARCHE Consulting.
Are you interested in learning more about industry-wide LCA and were you unable to attend the webinar? You can watch the webinar recording here. Alternatively, if you have questions or inquiries about industry-average LCA studies, please contact us or plan a call with one of our experts.
