Two new PCRs have been published in the International EPD® System. The two documents are:

• PCR 2014:03 Anodized aluminium actuator and ferrul for spraying and atomization systems
• PCR 2014:04 Parts and accessories of computing machines

The PCRs are now available for any organisation to use to develop and register EPDs of their products.

The Product Category Rules (PCR) for virgin olive oil and its fractions have undergone a major update, and is now available once again.

The update of the PCR was led by George Michalopoulos at RodaxAgro Ltd as the appointed PCR Moderator in accordance with the PCR Process described in the General Programme Instructions of the International EPD System, based on ISO 14025. During the development of the document, it has been subject for an open consultation on www.environdec.com as well as a review by the Technical Committee.

The former version of the PCR has been used by five different companies to produce EPDs of their products:

• Apolio Srl
• Assoproli Bari
• De Cecco
• the Farmers Groups of Nileas, Peza Union and Mirabello Union
• Monini S.p.A

With the PCR now once again available, any company is welcome to voluntarily develop and publish information on the life cycle environment impact of their olive oil in a transparent and comparable way.

The Swedish food, energy and agriculture company Lantmännen was recently awarded "Sweden's most sustainable brand" 2014 in the Sustainable Brand Index survey. The survey consisted of 9,000 consumers assessing how some of Sweden’s major brands performed in terms of environmental and social responsibility.

Lantmännen was one of the first companies to register Climate Declarations in the International EPD® System. In a comment to the Secretariat, Claes Johansson Head of Sustainable Development at Lantmännen writes:

It is gratifying that the consumers appreciate our long-term work with responsibility from field to fork. Transparency in the food chain is an important part of this. We have been working with Climate Declarations on a selection of our products and that has contributed to the spread of knowledge about the impact of the raw materials on the environmental impact of food products from a life cycle perspective. It is an important tool to drive improvements in the food sector. 

A big congratulations to Lantmännen from the International EPD® System!

The Product Category Rules (PCR) document for professional cleaning services has now been updated to comply with the latest General Programme Instructions. The changes were minor why the document still has the same validity as before.

Since its first publication in May 2011, the PCR has been used by one copmany to publish an EPD of its services. With this update, we hope this PCR will be used to develop and register many more Environmental Product Declarations (EPD®) in the International EPD® System for communication to stakeholders on national or international markets.

The Italian comany Beltrame has recently issued a certified EPD for merchant bars produced in two of their production plants in France and Italy. Another Italian company, Fresa Alluminio has issued an EPD for four of their windows profiles of aluminium. 

Read the EPDs:

Merchant bars from the Beltrame Group

Aluminium window profiles from Fresa Alluminio

After a revision of the product categories used to categorize EPDs and PCRs, an updated set of statistics have been produced. They show that the categories where most EPDs are currently published in the International EPD® System are:

1. Food & agricultural products
2. Construction products
3. Machinery & equipment
4. Wood & paper products (non-construction)

EPDs may be found by browsing per category:

• Food & agricultural products
• Construction products
• Constructions & infrastructure
• Electricity
• Furniture & other goods
• Textile & leather products
• Machinery & equipment
• Transport vehicles & equipment
• Wood & paper products (non-construction)
• Fuels & chemical products (non-construction)
• Metal products (non-construction)
• Services

Product Category Rules (PCR) for declaring the environmental impact of buildings have now been published in the International EPD System. The document is applicable for the European context, and aims towards compliance with the European standards:

• EN 15804 (Sustainability of construction works - Environmental product declarations - Core rules for the product category of construction products), and
• EN 15978 (Sustainability of construction works - Assessment of environmental performance of buildings - Calculation method).

The development of the PCR was led by Ulf Wiklund at Tyréns as the appointed PCR Moderator in accordance with the PCR Process described in the General Programme Instructions of the International EPD System, based on ISO 14025. During the development of the document, it has been subject for an open consultation on www.environdec.com as well as a review by the appointed Technical Committee.

The PCR is now available for any company to voluntarily develop and publish information on the life cycle environment impact of buildings in a transparent and comparable way.

COOP Italia has as the first company produced and published EPD®s for beef and veal meat. The EPDs declares in a transparent way the resource use and environmental impacts that arises from the life cycle of 1 kg of bone-free meat at the shelf of a retailer in Italy. The document also includes a scenario for the cold storage and cooking of the meat in an Italian home.

The EPDs were developed with the technical support of Studio LCE, based on the Product Category Rules (PCR) for "Meat of mammals" that were published in 2013. The EPD document and the underlying life cycle assessment study was verified by an approved individual verifier to ensure that the rules and standards were followed.

The EPD library of the International EPD® System now contains a wide range of food items, such as burgers, pasta, flour, pastries, fruits, olive oil and dairy products, from companies wishing to be transparent of the environmental impact of their products.

The Italian wine producer Feudi San Gregorio have issued an EPD for their wine Pietracalda Fiano di Avellino. Although there have been EPDs for wine earlier, this is the first EPD for wine according to the PCR 2010:02, Wine of fresh grapes, except sparkling wine; grape must.

The EPD describes the environmental performance from the wine, from the activities on the wineyard, through the wine production and distribution of the product and end-of-life of the packaging.

Read the EPD