livscykelbaserat

Livscykelbaserat (Swedish for "life cycle based") is a descriptive term used to indicate that an assessment, decision or policy is informed by the full life cycle of a product, service or system. The concept emphasizes life cycle thinking: considering environmental, social and economic impacts from raw material extraction, production and use to end-of-life management such as reuse, recycling or disposal.

In practice, livscykelbaserat approaches often employ methods from life cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify emissions, resource use and other impacts across stages. They can guide product design (eco-design), public procurement, corporate sustainability strategies and regulatory frameworks by revealing trade-offs between stages and avoiding burden shifting. The term is commonly used in Swedish-language sustainability literature, policy documents and communications to signal alignment with life cycle principles.

Advantages of a livscykelbaserat perspective include more comprehensive impact measurement, improved resource efficiency and support for circular economy objectives. Challenges include data requirements, methodological complexity, uncertainty in modeling future use and end-of-life scenarios, and potential difficulty communicating results to non-specialists.

Related concepts include circular economy, extended producer responsibility and eco-labeling. When applied transparently and with recognized standards (such as the ISO 14040 series for LCA), livscykelbaserat approaches can help organizations and policymakers make decisions that better reflect long-term and system-wide consequences.