LCA-RSIN: The UK LCA Regulatory Science and Innovation Network

Abstract

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can provide evidence to support policy making and regulation, whilst identifying trade-offs between impact categories and potential unintended consequences. However, barriers such as inconsistent methodology, data challenges, lack of transparency, and a skills and knowledge gap hinder its broader application in regulation. Here, we explore the stakeholder engagement undertaken to develop the UK Life Cycle Assessment Regulatory Science and Innovation Network (LCA-RSIN). Initial findings have been synthesised into five research areas (data, bio-based and upcoming materials, methodology, practice and accreditation, and skills) to deliver practical insights, including briefing papers and methodological guidelines, to the UK government on the use of LCA in regulatory science.

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Item Type:	Book Section
Authors/Creators:	Walker, S. Armstrong, K. Ferris, L. Franca, R.C. Rothman, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3408-9555
Editors:	Traverso, M. Nangah Mankaa, R. Bonaffini, D. Covais, A.
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© 2026 The Author(s). Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this license to share adapted material derived from this chapter or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
Keywords:	Built Environment and Design; Building; Policy, ethics, and research governance; Generic health relevance
Dates:	Published (online): 13 May 2026 Published: 13 May 2026
Institution:	The University of Sheffield
Academic Units:	The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Funding Information:	Funder Grant number INNOVATE UK 10114584 INNOVATE UK / KTP, TSB 10139850
Date Deposited:	28 May 2026 11:22
Last Modified:	28 May 2026 17:46
Status:	Published
Publisher:	Springer Cham
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1007/978-3-032-17987-6_37
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:241492

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LCA-RSIN: The UK LCA Regulatory Science and Innovation Network

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