Lucia ManciniSerenella SalaDavid Pennington2024-03-022024-03-022024-03-022015-10-16https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/205738In order to tackle the challenges related to natural resources, the European Union has launched the flagship initiative "Resource Efficient Europe", which aims at reducing use of resources and improving the efficiency of their use. Other policy initiatives have been started to ensure the access to resources over time. Environmental impacts associated with resource extraction and use should be evaluated through integrated assessment. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-established methodology for assessing the impacts of goods along the supply chains. In the context of LCA, however, there are several impact assessment methods, so far limited to assessing the depletion potential. Based on the results of an expert workshop and other research activities carried out in the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, this paper provides a theoretical rationale for the development of a comprehensive impact assessment of resources.In order to tackle the challenges related to natural resources, the European Union has launched the flagship initiative "Resource Efficient Europe", which aims at reducing use of resources and improving the efficiency of their use. Other policy initiatives have been started to ensure the access to resources over time. Environmental impacts associated with resource extraction and use should be evaluated through integrated assessment. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-established methodology for assessing the impacts of goods along the supply chains. In the context of LCA, however, there are several impact assessment methods, so far limited to assessing the depletion potential. Based on the results of an expert workshop and other research activities carried out in the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, this paper provides a theoretical rationale for the development of a comprehensive impact assessment of resourcesnatural resourceslife cycle assessmentcritical raw materialsimpact assessmentresource depletiontext::book/monograph::book part or chapter