With the emergence of global resources and environmental issues and the improvement of public environmental awareness, people are paying more and more attention to the environmental behavior of products, and the global trade integration and the intensification of green trade barriers have also prompted countries around the world to develop corresponding environmental information evaluation and exchange tools. Environmental Product Certification EPD(Environmental Product Declaration, also known as Type III Environmental Product Declaration) is a third-party verification, scientific, comparable, internationally recognized, comprehensive disclosure of environmental impact information on the entire life cycle of a product. EPD does not evaluate the conformity of products and does not compare the advantages and disadvantages of products, but helps buyers and consumers better understand the sustainability and environmental impact of products. The Swedish EPD system, originally created by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), is the longest-running international EPD system. In Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam) and Turkey exist INTERNATIONAL EPD authorized Independent EPD system, other countries need to pass INTERNATIONAL EPD system Registration Application EPD.
In the ISO14020 series of standards, environmental signs and declarations are divided into three types, type I (based on qualitative LCA analysis), type II (self-declaration) and type III (based on quantitative LCA analysis), of which type III environmental signs, which are completely based on the LCA method, are more and more respected by governments. The introduction of Type III Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and its international standards also has a strong support for product ecological design, green procurement, green consumption, etc, certification results of environmental labels and declarations can be incorporated as reference factors ecological design link medium, among them, type III environmental label, because it is based on quantitative LCA analysis, can be directly used as the basis for ecological design, providing data support for material selection in ecological design, the results of EPD's certification provide purchasers and consumers in addition to the performance, price, function and other parameters of the product. Another parameter option-environmental impact, consumers can also include environmental impact in the purchase criteria, so as to guide and promote consumers to carry out green consumption. EPD also helps buyers comply with relevant environmental regulations, such as product carbon footprint data, acidification impact, water eutrophication, natural resource depletion and energy consumption.
Declaration EPD types of products
from INTERNATIONAL EPD official website, it is clear there are 12 categories of products that can be EPD certified: Chemical products, construction products, power energy products (such as photovoltaic modules), food and beverages, furniture products, infrastructure and buildings, machinery and equipment, metal plastics and other packaging materials, service products, paper products, textiles and clothing Products, vehicle transportation products, products that can declare EPD almost cover the entire industry.
At present, the EPD that can be found on the website is the most food category; construction products follow closely. If you press region find, EPD in Europe as many as 495, Australia has 68, the United States has 13, there are only 18 copies in China, of which 12 copies of EPD for construction products. In the EPD official website, building products from steel bars to aluminum alloys to glass and other building materials have EPD certification records, medium there are only three kinds of building materials: pipeline, paint and composite board materials; in foreign countries, some concept buildings, subway tracks and other buildings and infrastructure have also been EPD certification.
EPD certification process
the complete EPD certification process consists of five main steps:
1, select the appropriate PCR(Product Category Rules product category rules),2, product life cycle assessment (LCA),3, write EPD,4, EPD verification, 5, register and release EPD.
Choosing the right PCR
each EPD relies on the corresponding PCR PCR is a set of specific rules, requirements and guidelines for the development of product environmental claims to comply with equivalent functions. The PCR product category rules specify what information should be collected, how that information should be evaluated, and how it should be reflected in an environmental statement. If a corresponding PCR does not exist, a corresponding PCR needs to be developed. There are 154 existing and developing PCRs for the 12 product categories.
2, Product Life Cycle Assessment
EPD certification requires a description of the environmental impact of the product from a life cycle perspective, write a separate LCA report. When assessing the product life cycle, the whole life cycle of the product (cradle to grave) is divided into A1-A3 (raw material production, raw material transportation, product manufacturing), A4-A5 (transportation to the construction site, on-site construction), B1-B5 (product use, maintenance, repair, replacement, renovation), B6-B7 (energy use, water use), C1-C4 (demolition, transportation to waste treatment plant, reuse treatment, disposal) and D (recycling benefits). 6 stages. The stage that must be considered in the 6 stages is the A1-A3 stage ( new version of the EN15804 ((《 III type A Environmental Statement) needs to consider A1-A3, C1-C4, D) other stages can be selectively considered according to the characteristics of product use. If Phase B is an operation and maintenance phase, if the evaluated product does not involve an operation and maintenance phase, then Phase B may not be considered. Stages A1 to A3 include all materials, energy and manufacturing processes for the production of the product, as well as the transportation process of all materials to the factory gate and the waste processing (waste up to the end-of-waste state) generated in this stage. The report begins with a description of the product's performance, appearance, and the software and database sources we use in our calculations. The following is the main content of the LCA report, including the environmental indicators selected during the assessment, the calculation results and the analysis of the results. When presenting and analyzing the results, we can use charts to make the results clearer and better express the environmental performance of the evaluated products.
3. Preparation of EPD
in this step, the results of the life cycle assessment and other product information required in the PCR are used in the international EPD.®The EPD is written in the format required by the system. The EPD shall meet the following requirements: comply with the requirements and guidelines of the ISO14020 Environmental Labels and Declarations-General Principles; the content is verifiable, accurate, relevant, and not misleading; there shall be no comparison with other products, nor shall the product's rating be included.
4, EPD Verification
the verification process must be carried out by an approved individual verification body or an accredited certification body, and prior to verification, it is required. Contact in advance the verification expert of the verification institution, after negotiating the verification fee, the verification expert can. Verify LCA-based data, additional environmental information, and other information provided in the EPD according to the general protocol description and valid PCR.
5. Register and publish EPD
after the verification is completed, some can be registered and submitted in the EPD official website. Mandatory documents after the completion of the entire EPD certification, the EPD certificate is valid for 3 years based on ISO 14025 (Principles and Procedures for Environmental Signs and Declarations Type III Environmental Declarations). If ISO 21930 (Environmental Declarations for Sustainable Building Products in Building Construction) and EN 15804 are used as standards in the construction industry, the EPD certificate is valid for 5 years. The certificate does not need to be renewed annually, but an annual membership fee is required.
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