Carbon Footprint, PCR, EPDs, PEF

Question 1

Single issue LCAs

Answer 1

Carbon footprint

Question 2

Carbon footprint

Answer 2

• Basically…LCA with focus on one impact category: climate change
• Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) measures and communicates greenhouse gas
  (GHG) emissions related to goods and services.
• Different definitions, concepts, approaches and labelling schemes in different countries, e.g. in the UK, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden
• ISO 14067, PAS 2050 and the GHG Protocol are the main
  standards (all are build on ISO 14040/44 )

Question 3

Biogenic carbon vs. fossil carbon

Answer 3

• From tree into atmosphere –> Emissions and intake related to the natural carbon cycle
• fossil carbon use from fossil fuels into atmosphere

Question 4

Ecolabels and ISO

Answer 4

• Environmental labels (ecolabels) and declarations:
  – Claims that provide information on the environmental characteristics of products
  – Serve different communication purposes  different formats exist
• ISO on ecolabels and declarations:
  – ISO 14020:2000 on general principles of labels and declarations
  – ISO 14024:2018 – Type I ecolabels - qualitative, B2B (e.g. “Blauer Engel”
  – ISO 14021:2016 – Type II self-declared environmental claims - qualitative/quantitative B2C/B2B
  – ISO 14025:2006 – Type III environmental declarations - quantitative B2B (e.g. EPD)

Question 5

Corporate Carbon Footprint

Answer 5

• …a greenhouse gas balance of a company including the value chain
• • …Scope 3! ( → without Scope 3 it is not a footprint)

Question 6

Product Category Rules (PCR)

Answer 6

 based on ISO 14040/44; introduces two concepts: PCRs & EPDs

Product Category Rules (PCR):
* Specific rules for conducting an LCA for a particular product group (specify e.g. the functional unit, impact categories and LCIA method)
→ basically a product-specific predetermined Goal and Scope Definition
* Developed based on an LCA and according to ISO 14025
* Basis for EPDs

Question 7

How to develop PCRs? (Product Catergory Rules)

Answer 7

1. Initiation phase
   o Consider available PCRs
   o Seek cooperation with other parties
2. Preparation phase
   o Identify the pre-set parameters
   o Specify content
   o Select additional environmental information
3. Consultation phase
   o Identify the consultation parties
   o Prepare the open consultation procedure
   o Invite/alert people to take part in the open consultation
   o Modify the draft PCR document according to comments received
4. Approval and publication phase
   o Finalization of PCR proposal
5. Updating phase
   o After certain period document is revisit and can be commented on again

Question 8

What is an EPD?

Answer 8

Environmental Product Declaration (EPD):
* Environmental report/declaration based on an LCA, which was conducted acc. to defined product category rules (PCR) –> Type III-Declaration

The overall goal of an EPD is:
– To provide relevant and verified information to meet the various communication needs
– To provide the basis of a fair comparison of products and services by their environmental performance
– To reflect the continuous environmental improvement of a product or service over time and is able to communicate and adds up relevant environmental information along a product’s supply chain

Question 9

How to create an EPD?

Answer 9

1. Consideration of available PCRs and preparation of PCR document
2. Collection of LCA data, which to be included in the EPD
3. Compilation of environmental information into the EPD reporting format
4. Verification
5. Registration – depending on the operator

Question 10

Product Environmental Footprint (PEF)

Answer 10

PEF is a multi-criteria measure of the environmental performance of products and services along the life cycle

• PEF process was aiming at implementing LCA in policy and in the market

Goals:
* Harmonization of existing LCA based methods
* “Comparability over flexibility”
 Decreases the flexibility provided by the ISO standards regarding methodological choices in order to generate more comparability

Introduction – Product Environmental Footprint (PEF)
What does this mean in reality?
* A new label for consumers?
* Analysis of environmental hotspots?
* For product comparisons?

Critic:
- we have too many env. labels, but PEF will not stop it because it’s not mandatory

Question 11

climate/carbon neutral/ity

Answer 11

• Uptake and release -> cycle
• Uptake only, e.g. afforestation
• Challenges:
  – We have to make sure that the trees are not cut down in a few years  Delayed emissions
  – How long does the tree have to be in nature to account for it? * Different according to different standards/ initiatives