The documentation from the first EPD stakeholder conference is now available for download.

The general programme instructions (GPI) for the International EPD System are now available for open consultation. The consultation will close August 31, 2012. The new GPI will start to apply in January 2013.

How to communicate EPDs, broader sustainability issues as part of environmental declarations, and PCRs for the construction sector were on the agenda at the first stakeholder conference of the International EPD System on 15 May. The conference took place in Stockholm, attracting some 70 delegates from all over Europe, with some delegates from North America and South America. The conference was fully booked weeks beforehand, which prompts the Secretariat to organize a larger conference in 2013.

Currently members of the international umbrella organization GEDnet send in their PCR, and these are published on the GEDnet website, Gednet.org. In the future all PCRs in the world might become available on the website. “Should everyone put in their PCRs or just members? This is not completely decided yet”, said Karin Bagge, Secretary of GEDnet, at the EPD stakeholder conference in Stockholm on 15 May. Currently there are some PCRs overlapping, and one challenge is that there are different rules.

Chile’s mining industry contributes to 16 per cent of GDP. In 2010 more than 5 million tons of copper was exported. Following global demands on sustainability Chile has become concerned about looking at environmental aspects of its mining. Environmental product declarations are one way forward. “There are clear and publicly available program instructions. We’ve looked at indicators such as carbon footprint, water footprint, land use as well as social and economic impact”, said Claudia Peña, Director of Industrial Sustainability at the Research Centre for Mining and Metallurgy in Chile (CIMM). Claudia Peña was one of the speakers at the EPD stakeholder conference on 15 May in Stockholm.

Spanish steel company Vicinay Cadenas has so far produced six EPDs covering most products in its catalogue. Vicinay Cadenas values EPD for providing information that can be used internally – its customers are yet to get involved with its life cycle analyses. Through looking at LCA Vicinay Cadenas has been able to reduce its environmental footprint by 54 per cent so far. “The user must know the true impact of their purchases and will positively value the reliable information that an EPD is. We don’t limit ourselves to the EPDs we produce but try to encourage our subcontractors to improve their processes too”, said Carlos Lopez, presenting Vicinay Cadenas’ work on EPDs at the stakeholder conference on 15 May. Vicinay Cadenas applies sustainability to social, environmental and economic aspects of their products. The whole company is involved with sustainability issues. “We know what we do and how we do it, that’s the main benefit from looking at LCA” said Carlos Lopez at the EPD stakeholder conference on 15 May in Stockholm.

American health company Pfizer integrated EPD to its environmental management practices through analyzing the LCA of its vaccine Improvac. The product is an alternative to using physical castration and thereby improves animal welfare and reduces the carbon footprint of pigs with about four per cent. Pfizer wanted to analyze the environmental burden from an average farm that uses or doesn’t use this immunological product through LCA. This is the first time that Pfizer has produced an EPD. "We see our work as a sustainability product declaration rather than just an environmental product declaration", said Joseph A. Robinson, while presenting Pfizer’s environmental work and EPD at the stakeholder conference in Stockholm on 15 May.

Italian food company Barilla is currently marketing “smart green diets” and connects this with its work on reducing its carbon and water footprint. The company is heavily involved with producing EPDs – and communicating its independently verified environmental impact. “The difference is huge when comparing the water footprint of different food groups. Eat more fruit and vegetables and less meat is the message from an environmental point of view”, said Luica Ruini while presenting Barilla’s work on EPDs at the stakeholder conference on 15 May. Barilla was the first private company to work on EPD process certification.