Evaluation of life cycle impacts: Identification of societal weights of environmental issues

A new method for identification of weights of environmental issues is suggested using the societal approach in the context of a weighting step in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The weights assigned by different economic groups to eleven environmental issues is obtained through analysis of linguistically stated relative rankings using a fuzzy partial ordering method. The system identification technique based on neural networks is used to identify logical connective in the stated relative rankings and this obviated the inconsistency problem normally encountered in the analysis of relative preference statements. The transitive property of a matrix of relative weights is used to minimise the number of responses to be elicited from a respondent.