Life Cycle Analysis (or ‘LCA’) is a method of assessing environmental impacts caused during the life of a product or service. The results from a product’s LCA are used to identify and quantify its impact on the environment, to highlight actions that go towards limiting this environmental impact and to improve the sustainability of our products.
Rip Curl Europe has volunteered to participate in the experiment organized by the French Ministry for the Environment and, in 2011, decided to run an LCA on one of its flagship products, the summer 2012 Mirage Boardshort.
The analysis covers every stage in the boardshort’s life cycle:
- Extraction of raw materials (energy and resources used, etc.)
- Product design (carbon emissions, electricity and water consumed, etc.)
- Distribution (mode of transportation, packaging, etc.)
- Use (number of washes, etc.)
- End of life (product elimination via the standard household waste disposal system or collection at a pick-up point, etc.)
The results of this Life Cycle Analysis on the Mirage Boardshorts from the 2012 Summer collection will soon be appearing in your stores and will shortly be posted on our website.
