Understanding Impact Categories in XYCLE

Impact categories are the lens through which XYCLE translates life cycle inventory data into meaningful results. These categories are consistent across projects, aligning with the Environmental Footprint approach, which measures environmental effects at the midpoint stage of the cause–effect chain. This ensures your results are both comparable and grounded in established scientific methodology.

Beginner’s Guide: What an impact category is

An impact category takes various environmental effects and translates them into a single, measurable indicator with a defined unit. For example, different greenhouse gases are expressed in kg CO₂ equivalent under the Climate change category. This makes it easier to compare impacts and track performance over time.

The main categories in XYCLE

In XYCLE, results are presented across a consistent set of impact categories that capture the breadth of environmental pressures. These typically include:

• Climate change – total, fossil, biogenic, and land use related emissions

• Nutrient enrichment and acid gases – acidification, terrestrial, freshwater and marine eutrophication

• Toxicity – human and ecotoxicity impacts, split into sub-groups for more precise interpretation

• Air quality and radiation – photochemical ozone formation, particulate matter, ionising radiation

• Resource use – fossil energy, minerals and metals

• Water use – freshwater consumption and depletion

• Ozone layer and land – ozone depletion and land use effects

While each category has sub-indicators and specific units, these high-level groups give a quick overview of the environmental scope covered.

Advanced detail: Why categories are split

Some categories, like Climate change, are split into sub-indicators to separate different types of emissions. This is important for reporting and for understanding the source of impacts. For example, fossil CO₂ and biogenic CO₂ have different implications for climate strategies.

In XYCLE: Reading and using the categories

• Tables and exports: Each category appears as its own column with its unit shown.

• Charts: You can filter by category to view specific impact areas, or compare across categories to check for trade-offs.

• Decision-making: Focus on the categories most relevant to your sustainability goals, while keeping an eye on others to avoid shifting burdens.

Next steps checklist

• Identify the categories most relevant to your compliance requirements or corporate strategy.

• Use category filters to focus on these first when reviewing results.

• Drill down into sub-indicators for more specific insight.

• When sharing data, always include the unit with the value.