The chain of stages a product passes through, from resource extraction and production to use and end-of-life treatment.
Life cycle is a foundational concept for product sustainability, carbon accounting, and digital passport logic. It provides the structure that connects sourcing, manufacturing, use, maintenance, and end-of-life into one regulatory and analytical frame.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products
the consecutive and interlinked stages of a product’s life, consisting of raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources, pre-processing, manufacturing, storage, distribution, installation, use, maintenance, repair, upgrading, refurbishment and reuse, and end-of-life;
Reference: Article 2, point 12
ISO 14067:2018 - Greenhouse gases — Carbon footprint of products
consecutive and interlinked stages related to a product (3.1.3.1), from raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources to end-of-life treatment
Reference: 3.1.4.2
Life cycle refers to the linked stages in a product’s existence, from raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources through use and end-of-life treatment.
This term originates in ISO 14067:2018 and/or ISO 14044 LCA methodology. It is used in EU product regulation — particularly under the EU Battery Regulation (PEF method for carbon footprint) and ESPR (environmental footprint) — because both regulations require lifecycle-based quantification of environmental impacts. Practitioners applying these regulations should be familiar with these LCA/PEF concepts to correctly scope, conduct, and verify product-level environmental assessments.
This term matters whenever a company needs to decide which product stages must be covered in an assessment, disclosure, or data workflow. It is especially important for lifecycle assessments, battery passports, and product-level environmental reporting.
For Minespider, life cycle is a structuring concept rather than a decorative sustainability phrase. It is what allows separate traceability events and environmental data points to be assembled into a coherent regulatory picture.
Directly relevant to the concept and methodology built around lifecycle stages.
Read on MinespiderUses life-cycle framing in a regulatory battery context.
Read on MinespiderConnects lifecycle thinking to circularity and traceability.
Read on MinespiderShows lifecycle-related sustainability reasoning in a battery materials context.
Read on MinespiderProvides Minespider context for life cycle in an article where “life cycle” is a natural glossary bridge.
Read on MinespiderHigh-value bridge term for batteries and product-passport content.
Read on Minespider