The article provides a comprehensive overview of the development and components of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA, which assesses all environmental impacts of a product or service from raw materials to waste removal, was invented around 1970 in the United States. Early European work followed, focusing on packaging and environmental aspects. The concept gained renewed attention in the late 1980s due to concerns about resource depletion and environmental sustainability. SETAC and SETAC-Europe played a crucial role in shaping LCA through a series of workshops culminating in the "Code of Practice" in 1993. These workshops led to the famous SETAC-triangle, which outlines the basic structure of LCA: Goal definition and scoping, Inventory analysis, Impact assessment, and Improvement assessment. The ISO 14040 standard, while similar, differs in its final element, calling it "Interpretation" rather than "Improvement Assessment." The article details the components of LCA, emphasizing the importance of goal and scope definition, which sets the parameters for the study. Inventory analysis, the most scientific and well-developed part, involves mapping all activities related to a product's life cycle, including raw material extraction, production, use, and waste removal. The results are presented in an Inventory Table, which lists all inputs and outputs per functional unit, with energy values converted to primary energy demand. Keywords: LCA, environmental assessment, SETAC, ISO 14040, inventory analysis, impact assessment, improvement assessment.The article provides a comprehensive overview of the development and components of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA, which assesses all environmental impacts of a product or service from raw materials to waste removal, was invented around 1970 in the United States. Early European work followed, focusing on packaging and environmental aspects. The concept gained renewed attention in the late 1980s due to concerns about resource depletion and environmental sustainability. SETAC and SETAC-Europe played a crucial role in shaping LCA through a series of workshops culminating in the "Code of Practice" in 1993. These workshops led to the famous SETAC-triangle, which outlines the basic structure of LCA: Goal definition and scoping, Inventory analysis, Impact assessment, and Improvement assessment. The ISO 14040 standard, while similar, differs in its final element, calling it "Interpretation" rather than "Improvement Assessment." The article details the components of LCA, emphasizing the importance of goal and scope definition, which sets the parameters for the study. Inventory analysis, the most scientific and well-developed part, involves mapping all activities related to a product's life cycle, including raw material extraction, production, use, and waste removal. The results are presented in an Inventory Table, which lists all inputs and outputs per functional unit, with energy values converted to primary energy demand. Keywords: LCA, environmental assessment, SETAC, ISO 14040, inventory analysis, impact assessment, improvement assessment.