LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT Combining risk assessment, life cycle assessment, and multi-criteria decision analysis to estimate environmental aspects in environmental management system Kevin Fong-Rey Liu & Chih-Yuan Ko & Chihhao Fan & Cheng-Wu Chen Received: 28 September 2011 / Accepted: 1 March 2012 / Published online: 8 May 2012 # Springer-Verlag 2012 Abstract Purpose The rating of environmental aspects plays a central role in the ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) and EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme because it is the basis for the identification of an organization's envi- ronmental targets. The existing methods for the assessment of environmental aspects are grouped into three categories: risk assessment-based (RA-based), life cycle assessment (LCA)- based, and criterion-based methods. The first category accu- rately determines abnormal, or accidental aspects, as well as the probabilistic causality of aspect–pathway–receptor– impact relationships, but when evaluating environmental im- pact, it cannot provide a sound theoretical basis. The second category provides a theoretical foundation for the assessment of environmental impact, due to LCA, but cannot adequately represent the probabilistic aspect–pathway–receptor–impact relationship. The third category puts emphasis on the signifi- cance criteria, but the scoring methods are too simple. To combine the benefits of these three categories of research, this study proposes an integrated framework, combining RA-, LCA-, and criterion-based methods. Materials and methods The integrated framework incorpo- rates LCA techniques for the identification of the causal linkage for aspect–pathway–receptor–impact, uses fuzzy logic to assess aspects, considers fuzzy conditions, in like- lihood assessment, and employs a new multi-criteria deci- sion analysis method—multi-criteria and multi-connection comprehensive assessment (MMCA)—to estimate signifi- cant aspects in EMS. Results and discussion The proposed model is verified, using a real case study—a waste-recycling factory. The results show that this method successfully prioritizes the environmental aspects. Compared with criterion-based methods, the case study demonstrates that the proposed method provides a more solid theoretical basis. Conclusions This study integrates RA, LCA, and MMCA, to assess environmental aspects. The method identifies the probabilistic causality of aspect–pathway–receptor–impact relationships, enhances the theoretical foundations, and strengthens decision-making. Keywords Environmental aspect . Environmental management system . Fuzzy comprehensive assessment . Fuzzy logic . Life cycle assessment . Multi-criteria and multi-connection comprehensive assessment . Risk assessment Responsible editor: Hanna-Leena Pesonen Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11367-012-0407-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. K. F.-R. Liu (*) : C. Fan Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City, Taiwan 24301, Republic of China e-mail: kevinliu@mail.mcut.edu.tw C.-Y. Ko SG Development Environmental Consultants Ltd., Changhua, Taiwan 51591, Republic of China e-mail: cgu1982@gmail.com C.-W. Chen Institute of Maritime Information and Technology, National Kaohsiung Marine University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 80543, Republic of China e-mail: chengwu@mail.nkmu.edu.tw C.-W. Chen Global Earth Observation and Data Analysis Center (GEODAC), National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan 70101, Republic of China Int J Life Cycle Assess (2012) 17:845–862 DOI 10.1007/s11367-012-0407-x