The Critical Review Process According to ISO 14040-43: An Analysis of the Standards and Experiences Gained in their Application (5 pp)

Abstract

The critical review is an important, though not always well understood and correctly applied element of Life Cycle Assessment studies. It is the intention of this paper to analyse the relevant standards and to present personal experiences in conducting critical reviews. A peer review for LCA-studies was first proposed in the SETAC guidelines ‘A Code of Practice’ (1993). The ISO standard 14040 (1997) describes three types of ‘Critical review’ which are optional in general, but mandatory ‘for LCA studies used to make a comparative assertion that is disclosed to the public’. For this purpose, the most comprehensive form according to section 7.3.3, the panel method, has to be (‘shall’ in ISO terminology) be used. From personal experience, this method is found to be the most frequently performed in practice (60%), the average panel size being three experts. Large panels with more than 4 experts are rare. Personal experience leads to supporting the recommendation by SETAC of the accompanying or ‘interactive’ critical review, which should be preferred, over the review ‘a posteriori’, which offers considerable risks in regards to the duration and costs of an LCA study. ISO 14040, on the other hand, does not recommend one or the other way of performing the critical review.