When conducting an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) of your product, you gain insight into its full environmental impact. The results will show the impact across various impact categories, each representing a different type of environmental effect. In this article, we explain the LCA impact category Land Use; what it entails and how to interpret the results.
Context: What are impact categories in an LCA?
An LCA assesses the environmental impact of a product or process throughout its life cycle. These impacts are grouped into different impact categories, each focusing on a specific type of environmental effect.
Want to learn more about impact categories? Read our article here.
What does the impact category Land Use mean?
The Land Use impact category refers to the environmental effects caused by land use, and land use change, related to the product analysed in the LCA study.
It is not only about the amount of land used, but also about how that land is used and the indirect environmental consequences of land use changes. Some key effects include:
- Biodiversity loss: when natural habitats are converted into agricultural land or urban areas.
- Soil degradation: such as loss of soil fertility, erosion, or compaction due to intensive farming.
- Loss of carbon storage: for example, through deforestation, where trees can no longer absorb CO₂, and stored carbon is released into the atmosphere.
- Changes in ecosystem services: such as altered water regulation and effects on local and global climate systems.
Changes in land use are not always a direct result of choosing a specific raw material for your product. That is why a distinction is made between direct land use change and indirect land use change.
- Direct land use change occurs when the chosen raw material directly leads to a change in land use.
- Indirect land use change happens further along the production chain, as an indirect consequence of increased demand for a certain raw material.
Example: soy for animal feed
Suppose a food company decides to use soy as a protein source in its product instead of sunflower seeds. The soy used by the company has already been grown and harvested, so it does not cause a direct change in land use.
However, by choosing soy, the total global demand for soy products increases. To meet this extra demand, more soy will be grown elsewhere. This is usually done in the cheapest and simplest way, for example, by clearing forests in South America to create new soy fields. This is an example of indirect land use change.
Why is this distinction important?
Each type of land use has a different impact on the environment. The effect of a rainforest on biodiversity, soil health, and water management is very different from that of agricultural land or urban areas.
That is why it is essential to understand how land is used throughout the entire production chain to make an accurate assessment of the total environmental impact.
What falls under the impact category Land Use?
There are different types of land use, each with a distinct impact on the Land Use category.
We can distinguish three subcategories:
Land Use – Agricultural Land
This includes land use for agricultural purposes, such as crop cultivation and livestock farming.
The environmental impact depends on several factors:
- The intensity of agricultural practices (e.g., monoculture versus regenerative farming).
- The use of pesticides and fertilizers, which affect soil and water quality.
- The loss of biodiversity due to the conversion of natural habitats into agricultural land.
Land Use – Forestry
This concerns the impact of forest management and logging, including:
- Deforestation and the resulting CO₂ emissions.
- Effects on soil quality and water management.
- The degree of regeneration: is the forest sustainably managed or permanently destroyed?
Land Use – Urban & Infrastructure
This refers to the use of land for infrastructure and urban development, such as:
- Urbansation and the construction of roads, buildings, and industrial facilities.
- Irreversible land use (e.g., soil sealing, which leads to loss of water infiltration capacity and changes in microclimates).
What are the benefits of understanding your environmental impact in this impact category?
If you have insight into your environmental impact related to land use, you can take steps to reduce it. This can be done by improving your environmental performance and making more sustainable choices. Consider the following:
Optimising land use
The LCA study shows which phase of your product's life cycle has the greatest impact on land use. With this insight, you can switch to more sustainable agricultural and forestry practices, source raw materials from regions with responsible management, or develop more circular and space-efficient production methods.
Reducing environmental impact
You can also minimise your impact on land use by choosing alternative materials or production processes. For example, use recycled materials instead of primary raw materials, promote regenerative agriculture to improve soil quality, and opt for wood from sustainably managed forests with FSC or PEFC certification.
Would you like to know how your product scores on Land Use, and what steps you can take to reduce its impact? Reach out to us!
