How to get an EPD Certification, Why is it important?

Textile industry, for example, is one of the major polluting industries in the world. From dyeing and finishing products, textile production is estimated to be responsible for approximately 20% of global clean water pollution. Washing synthetics releases an estimated 0.5 million tonnes of microfibres into the ocean a year. Chemical industry, one of the biggest industries in the world, has the third-largest carbon footprint. Chemical sector consumes more than 10% of fossil fuels produced globally and is estimated to emit 3.3 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions a year. And finally, according to new research, the construction industry contributes to 23% of air pollution, 50% of the climatic change, 40% of drinking water pollution, and 50% of landfill wastes. With the effects of climate change, all these polluters face increased pressure placed on their shoulders to minimise their environmental impact.

The heavy toll the human race has put upon the environment is difficult to ignore anymore. Consequently, sustainability has become both a key factor and an important concept used to differentiate companies within the construction industry, especially due to increased pressure placed on specifiers by both international and governmental policies, in order to minimise the environmental impact, from building to the required materials during the construction process. Therefore, it is crucial that specifiers are aware of what Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) is, and the benefits, such as detailed information it can provide about products and their sustainable attributes, as it has the ability to impact the decision-making process.

What is EPD Certification?

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), also known as a type III environmental declaration, is an important validation tool that provides quantified and independently verified environmental information of goods and services. For manufacturers, it provides transparent data about the environmental sustainability of their products, and for specifiers, it helps them make informed purchasing decisions.

EPDs are based on the ISO 14025 standard and contain objective, comparable, and third-party verified data, in order to transparently report a product or a service’s environmental impact/performance, from a lifecycle perspective.. One can think of EPDs as similar to nutrition labels on food products but are intended for quantifying environmental attributes.

Although an EPD is the final report, the foundation of any EPD is a life-cycle assessment (LCA). Meaning, it allows companies and organisations to evaluate their products’ performance over their entire life-cycle, from raw material extraction to its disposal. This evaluation of the full value chain starts from the extraction of raw materials and includes both the manufacturing processes and distribution. Additionally, it also evaluates a product’s end-of-life value, such as whether it can be recycled or reused.

EPD can be broken down into two sections in what it consists of: