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EPD

On the way to EPD 

The need for environmental information 

The need for qualified and quantified environmental information about products - goods and services - is constantly increasing. The demand is characterised by information on contents of substances that are environmentally hazardous and the impact that a product may have on the environment in a wider perspective. 

A simplified environmental declaration 

Small and medium sized enterprises (SME) may have well founded ambitions to work with environmental issues in a proactive manner, but not the resources to support their work. In order to meet the needs of these companies, we, the Sirii Institutes, have gathered our competence to work out guidelines for simplified environmental declarations based on a lifecycle perspective. These guidelines are flexible and adaptable to the individual company. Our intent is that this concept shall make the work with environmental declarations easier, more cost-efficient and more attractive, as it includes a step-by-step procedure to a final certified Environmental Product Declaration, EPD. 

A step-by-step procedure 

The lack of relevant and well-documented environmental data representing up- and downstream processes of a company may initially be an obstacle in the process of putting together an environmental declaration, with a lifecycle perspective. In order to facilitate the work of collecting information for the environmental declaration, the concept of the Sirii Environmental Declaration allows for a stepwise procedure; 

  1. At an initial stage focus lies on the environmental impact of the in-house manufacturing of the product. The environmental impact of up- and downstream activities (e. g. extraction and refining of raw materials or waste treatment) is included to the extent where relevant and fairly easily accessible, generic data to describe it may be found. 
  2. The initial environmental declaration may be registered for a small administration fee at the national and international EPD websites of the Swedish Environmental Management Council - www.environdec.com/swe and www.environdec.com. The declaration will be subject to exposure in national and international search databases, which enables the marketing of the environmental work of the company. The Swedish Environmental Management Council is also responsible for a government-supported, internet-based tool for ecologically sustainable procurement (the EKU-tool), through which the environmental declaration will be given high visibility. 
  3. The lifecycle perspective around the product is extended step by step. As more product-specific data become available, these may be used instead of generic data. And thus, the declaration may be updated gradually to become more complete. The internet-based database of the Swedish Environmental Management Council allows for continuous update of the declaration, as more information on the environmental aspects of the product become available. 
  4. When the environmental declaration is complete i.e. contains environmental information that includes all significant activities in the lifecycle of the product, it may be verified by a third party, pre-certified or certified, and registered in accordance with the regulations of the EPD system. The regulations of the EPD system are based on the upcoming international standard ISO 14 025 - www.environdec.com/swe/documents/pdf/epd_msr19992.pdf. 
  5. The Sirii Institutes offer cost-efficient support, which is adapted to the needs of the individual company, to this stepwise procedure.

Area of use 

The Sirii Environmental Declaration may for example be used successfully to illustrate the following: 

The environmental performance of the company's products and services 
The pro-active, environmental work of the company 
The process of sustainable product development 
The work with contiual improvement of the environmental management system 
The marketing and communication of the environmental work of the company 

Marketing of the Sirii Environmental Declaration 

The concept of On the way to EPD is a collaboration between the Swedish Environmental Management Council and the Sirii Insititutes. The Sirii Environmental Declaration may be marketed for a small administration fee at the websites of the Swedish Environmental Management Council. 

These sites hold an open, internet-based database system where the initial version of the environmental declaration may be registered and updated when relevant. The environmental work of the company is hereby marketed continuously through all stages of the process. This marketing may in turn lead to; 

Information that is easily accessible as a basis for all public and private procurement. 
Motivation of suppliers to generate specific environmental data for delivered raw material or semiproducts as input to the product of focus in the environmental declaration. 
Stimulating contacts and networking between companies or groups of companies that may lead to fruitful co-operation with further work in the field of environmental communication. 
Good possibilities for increased markets shares for a company's products through the increased accessibility of environmental information about the company. 

Documents to download 

Information folder (in Swedish). Short description of the concept of the Sirii Environmental Declaration. Download pdf. 
Key of interpretation (in Swedish). Description of what information a Sirii Environmental Declaration contains. Download pdf. 
The EPD® system. A presentation of the objectives, contents and advantages of environmental product declarations, EPD. Download pdf. 
EPD®-systemet (In Swedish). A quick guide for purchasers and procurers. Download pdf. 
Guidelines to Type III Environmental Declarations - "On the way to EPD". The Sirii Concept. This document contains guidelines that form the basis for a compilation of a (type III) Sirii Environmental Declaration. Download pdf. 
Inventory chart (In Swedish). Document to facilitate the process of inventing environmental emissions and resource use of the in-house manufacturing. Download pdf. 

Contacts 

This website is administered by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute Ltd. For more information please contact Anna-Sofia Carlsson at: anna-sofia.carlsson@ivl.se For information about the Swedish Environmental Management Council and the EPD® system, please contact Sven-Olof Ryding at: ryding@miljostyrning.se. 

Links 

http://www.miljostyrning.se 
http://www.environdec.com/swe
http://www.environdec.com