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Home EPD Environmental Product Declaration How It Works: The EPD System

The entire process, i.e. the preparation of an EPD, its verification and certification, is outlined in the international standard ČSN ISO 14025. The preparation of the EPD itself is commissioned by the producer and performed by an independent organisation on the basis of the so-called Product Category Rules (PCR). These rules contain criteria for individual product groups and are formulated by relevant professional institutions in cooperation with specialist organisations in the respective industrial sectors. PCRs should be globally applicable and that is why prior to the issue of their valid version, they must undergo the process of international review and comment.

The final EPD is also subject to verification, i.e. whether it is in line with the given methodology for its preparation, so that it can be officially registered with the right to use the EPD logo and entered into the public database on the Internet. This database makes it possible to obtain scientifically verified information about various products’ environmental impacts and to compare the products among themselves.

Detailed information on the EPD system and the up-to-date database of valid EPDs and PCRs are available on the Swedish Environmental Management Council’s website at www.environdec.com. They are the international EPD System coordinator. To date, 97 environmental product declarations have been issued – from mineral water to passenger cars.

Advantages and Benefits

For the end-user, an environmental product declaration is a credible document allowing them to choose the most suitable product. Since it is prepared according to a single international methodology, the parameters of an identical type of product from various parts of the world are comparable. This is also advantageous for producers/EPD issuers, because the declarations about their products are recognised all over the world.

Disadvantages and Risks

The negatives result mainly from the disadvantages and risks associated with the complexity of the LCA method, in particular the specification of a benchmark against which the results are measured and the necessity to uphold the principle of transparency, so that it is always clear how the results were obtained and the products (or their EPDs) can be compared.

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