Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) investigate the possible environmental impacts during the entire life of a product (from cradle to grave). Generally the different stages of a product life are:

• Acquisition of energetic and mineral ressources
• Production of raw materials and energy
• Manufacturing of the product
• Use of the product
• Disposal/Recycling of the used product
• Transport processes within and between the different stages of the product life

LCAs help us in that they provide environmental information about our products. With them we can identify those stages of the life cycle which contribute to the overall environmental impact of the product and, thus, conclude where the optimization potentials are. In this way LCAs support product development as well as marketing or the indroduction of a new product into the market.

For the tire sector of the Continental Corporation a LCA for Passenger Car Tires is available. LCA about other products are currently conducted.