June 12, 2002-Honda Motor Co., Ltd.'s newly implemented Honda LCA System is designed to provide a quantitative assessment of the environmental impact created by all areas of company activity. The system will aid Honda in its pursuit of the world's highest level of environmental management, by providing quantitative information on environmental impact over the entire product lifecycle, from manufacture to disposal. This will aid in establishing specific goals for environmental impact reduction, resulting in less environmental burden due to Honda's products and corporate activities and a better environment for all.

The Honda LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) System is composed of two subsystems: the Honda LCA Data System and the Honda LCA Management System. A single, unified system is applied to all of Honda's two-wheeled, four-wheeled, and power products. Since the system is used by the departments actually involved in environmental impact data collection, they are able to engage directly in environmental impact reduction activities and derive quantitative results in a timely fashion.

In the past, Honda's environmental impact reduction activities have been carried out separately with respect to each area of concern: Green Factories for production; Green Dealerships for sales activities; Green Offices for the headquarters and regional buildings; Green Purchasing for buying operations; and Green Logistics for distribution. The LCA Project was inaugurated in order to unify these independent activities to obtain a clear grasp of the overall environmental impact of each individual product, and to use this information as a basis for reducing the burden generated. Honda views LCA^* as a vital tool for environmental impact assessment. In addition to applying the lessons learned through these assessment activities in its corporate and product development activities, the company also publishes the "Honda Environmental Annual Report".

* LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) is a method of comprehensively evaluating the environmental impact of a product throughout its lifecycle, from the procurement of raw resources through to manufacture, delivery, use (consumption) and disposal, in terms of resource and energy consumption, waste generation, and other factors.

Features of the Honda LCA System

Honda LCA Data System
Inventory data on all environmental impact factors (primary/secondary resource and energy consumption, quantities of materials disposed, quantities recycled, etc.) are stored in a host computer under centralized management for retrieval as needed. A Web application is used so the data can be shared throughout the company. In the future, the system will be accessible by Honda's business partners and offices around the world.

Honda LCA Management System
In this system, target values for the activities of each department involved in environmental impact reduction are determined at an in-house environmental conference, and a PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Action) plan is implemented. The system promotes the use of common target values throughout Honda's diverse operations.

Examples of LCA System activities
Determining gross output of corporate activities (the total environmental impact produced by all of Honda’s corporate activities).
Benefits: