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In-depth interpretation | | What is an environmental product declaration (EPD recognition & LCA life cycle assessment)?

SRF 2024-10-14 11:02
Environmental Product Declaration (Environmental Product Declaration, EPD) is a quantitative product environmental impact assessment methodology, Life Cycle Assessment (Life-Cycle Assessment, LCA) as the basis, standardized and standardized type III environmental statement. Through effective EPD management mechanisms, countries, regions and industries can increase the control of corporate environmental information, improve the transparency and traceability of product environmental impacts, and increase the reliability of data and calculation models.

The EPD, also known as the Type III Environmental Declaration, is a systematic, third-party audited and registered document that provides transparent and comparable information on the environmental impact of a product's life cycle. Such statements are prepared and audited in accordance with the international standard ISO 14025 and are based on the results of a life cycle assessment in accordance with ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards.

Why do it? EPD certification

EPD delivers third-party certified environmental information related to a product or service from a lifecycle perspective. Internationally, the EPD system is the third most widely used environmental declaration in the world, covering almost the whole world and covering all types of products and services. Based on objective and detailed data, we can improve the ecological environment protection through scientific decision-making and targeted communication.
Through the Environmental Product Declaration, you can help:

improve the environmental decision-making of the enterprise itself;

02 Quantifying corporate environmental performance;
03 highlighting corporate social responsibility;
04 to enhance corporate brand image;
05 breaking through international trade barriers;

06 Promote green consumption.

EPD Certification information contained

the environmental product declaration file generally contains the following audited and certified information: enterprise information, product information, content statement, environmental impact, resource usage, certification information, expiration date, and other product-related environmental information.
The EPD can also contain information other than life cycle assessment calculations, such as instructions for proper use of the product, repair and service of the product, and information on product recycling.
The mandatory reporting information of the EPD: any omission at each stage of the life cycle, access to the materials used, a statement that the claims of environmental products obtained by different systems may not be comparable, and relevant information on certification.

Companies can make an environmental product declaration for a product as a whole, such as a refrigerator, or only for a certain functional unit, such as the annual environmental impact per liter of refrigeration capacity, but they must provide the necessary information so that different products can be compared.

EPD Certification the advantages

1. International

the international EPD system is based on international ISO standards, ensuring its international application, wide acceptance and continuity.

2. Applicability

open to all types of products, target users and markets, with no minimum standards and restrictions on environmental performance.

3. Reliability

based on the scientific principles of life cycle assessment and audited by an independent third party.

4. Contrastive

specific rules for different types of products (product category rules) ensure that environmental product declarations are calculated in the same way for the same type of product.

5. Comprehensive

the environmental product declaration also provides a tool to communicate additional information, including social responsibility, quality control and environmental management.

6. Neutral

any type of goods or services can be monitored, and environmental product claims are designed to provide neutral factual data, not to meet specific needs.

EPD Certification ability to support decision making

the information in the environmental product declaration is objective and practical, so the product is certified by EPD and can influence decision makers in many ways, such as the product's eco-design engineer, environmental director, customer and consumer.

Common areas where decision makers use information related to environmental product claims:

1. Internal environmental management

monitor and improve the environmental performance of products. Environmental product declaration is a method to establish the enterprise environmental performance benchmark, through monitoring can continuously improve the enterprise's environmental performance level.

2. Business-to-business
deliver environmental performance information with relevant and reliable data. Any company in the supply chain can benefit from implementing an environmental product declaration. EPD provides buyers with the expected environmental information. In this way, it can promote efficient corporate management and reduce the workload of the bidding process.
3. Business to Consumer

deliver the distinctive actions of enterprises in environmental protection. If the product is a consumer product, the environmental product claim can be reflected in the product's packaging and marketing materials and communicated to the end user. It is important that environmental product claims for consumer products be simple and understandable.

4. Professional buyers

verification of environmental compliance through environmental product declarations. Environmental product declarations can provide professional use in many ways. For professional buyers, EPD means that in addition to function, quality and design, the supplier's products can also meet the environmental requirements of the contracting entity.

epd certification foreign development status

europe started the earliest, established a sound standard system, accumulated a large number of basic materials and products LCA database, EPD registration agencies.

In order to achieve the carbon emission reduction target, the EU began to establish a unified green product market in 2013, and began to try out the Product Environmental Footprint Act (Product Environment Footprint,PEF) based on LCA method in 2020. It is mandatory that 23 products sold in the EU must provide EPD labels based on LCA, and the products involved include metal plates, packaging materials, batteries, IT equipment and other industrial supplies, and dairy products, feed, red wine, olive oil, pasta and other daily necessities.

epd certification domestic development status

the State will" carbon Peak Carbon Neutral"Incorporated into the overall layout of ecological civilization construction," double carbon "has become the frontier hot spot and trend of China's green and high-quality development, as the standard language of international dialogue in the field of green and low-carbon, LCA and EPD in the policy side, the market side, the industry and other levels are more and more attention and attention.
In the iron and steel industry, the China Iron and Steel Industry Association is actively promoting China's iron and steel industry at the call and request of enterprises. EPD Item To carry out industry-wide EPD training, organize industry experts to prepare EPD rule documents "Product Category Rules (PCR): General Products and Special Steel Products", "Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Guidelines for the Steel Industry" and other relevant standards, and actively promote the construction of EPD platforms in the steel industry. Shanghai Easy Carbon Digital Technology Co., Ltd. also participated in the construction of the EPD platform of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, responsible for the development of the built-in special computing tool (EPD Tool) and database of the EPD platform.

LCA and EPD facing the whole life cycle process of upstream and downstream products, the environmental characteristics reflected by it will certainly promote the upstream and downstream industrial chain, promote the whole industrial chain to participate in green and low-carbon work, and effectively guide and support products made in China. to actively participate in international market competition with a more green and low-carbon image.

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