Driving Sustainability Through LCA Software

As global sustainability pressures intensify, lifecycle assessment (LCA) software has emerged as a critical enabler for organizations seeking to reduce environmental impacts, comply with regulations and deliver credible sustainability claims. The Verdantix Smart Innovators: LCA Software (2025) report benchmarks innovation across 13 providers and highlights trends shaping this fast-evolving market.

LCA software automates the process of evaluating environmental impacts across a product’s entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life disposal. This automation addresses the challenges of manual LCAs, which can take 6 to 18 months and cost up to $100,000 for complex products. By streamlining workflows and scaling assessments, LCA tools enable firms to make evidence-based decisions, optimize resource use and substantiate sustainability claims through standardized disclosures such as Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).

Investment in LCA software is accelerating due to growing regulatory pressure and market expectations. The EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), in effect from July 2024, mandates lifecycle-based disclosures for a wide range of products, while the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation requires recyclability assessments using LCAs. At the same time, customer demand for transparency is rising sharply. A 2025 Bain & Company survey found that 80% of B2B buyers pay a premium for sustainable products, with one-third willing to pay more than 5% extra. Verdantix research shows 58% of organizations already use LCA software, and 52% plan to increase spending in 2026, underscoring its growing strategic importance.

Despite progress, firms still face hurdles including data quality, methodological complexity and integration with existing systems. High costs and resource intensity remain barriers for smaller businesses, but cloud-based, user-friendly tools are lowering entry thresholds. As regulations tighten and stakeholder expectations rise, investing in advanced, scalable LCA solutions will be key to futureproofing products and brands.

Vendors are responding to these challenges by innovating – not only to improve accuracy and scalability, but also to democratize LCA access, enabling non-experts across R&D, procurement and marketing to leverage sustainability insights for product development and business growth. Verdantix analysis reveals that the most impactful advancements are emerging in:

• AI-driven automation to reduce manual data mapping and accelerate modelling.
• Supplier engagement tools to improve primary data quality and streamline collaboration.
• Scenario modelling and digital twins to enable firms to test design alternatives and optimize sustainability outcomes before production.

As these capabilities mature, software providers must strategically position their innovations in go-to-market efforts to differentiate themselves and create competitive advantage. To explore the full landscape of innovation in LCA software and understand where vendors should focus their product development, read Verdantix Smart Innovators: LCA Software (2025).