{"id":8165,"date":"2017-09-19T11:37:57","date_gmt":"2017-09-19T01:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/?p=8165"},"modified":"2019-09-27T13:58:18","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T03:58:18","slug":"pefs-european-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/cl\/2017\/09\/19\/pefs-european-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"European sustainability is now talking about PEFs \u2013 but what are they?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8167\" src=\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/PEFs.jpg\" alt=\"PEFs\" width=\"3360\" height=\"1191\" \/>Like a cool friend, Europe is often the continent setting the sustainability agenda. PEFs, Product Environmental Footprints, are a new development, now joining EPDs as a pinnacle assessment of sustainability \u2013 but how are they different and should we adopt the approach?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Global Environmental Policy 101: Europe likes to lead by example and sometimes succeeds<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Many of the recent significant global sustainability developments originated in Europe, so staying\u00a0abreast of latest developments in sustainability means watching the European front and taking anticipatory measures. See:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The successive, aggressive, UN-mediated pushes to curb climate change worldwide, coming from a continent that\u2019s responsible for only 14% of our global emission budget;<\/li>\n<li>the <em>Modern Slavery Act<\/em> (of the Parliament of the United Kingdom) from 2015, which is making its way <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/national\/big-business-will-be-forced-to-report-annually-on-slavery-in-supply-chains-20170815-gxwv20.html\">to Australia<\/a> and has got people\u2019s and corporation\u2019s attention;<\/li>\n<li>Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), albeit not EU-stamped, became a popular cross-sector environmental certification there before being adopted in Australasia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">So, what\u2019s the latest?<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The answer seems to be Product Environmental Footprints (PEFs). This approach to footprinting was launched within the EU\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/environment\/eussd\/smgp\/index.htm\">Single Market for Green Products Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The basic principle of PEFs is similar to that of <a href=\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/services\/life-cycle-assessment\/epd-environmental-product-declaration\/\">EPDs<\/a>, but the program includes organisation environmental footprints (OEPs) as well.<\/p>\n<p><em>The goal is to assess and compare products being traded and organisations trading in member states on equal, standardised grounds with the blessing of the European Commission.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The chimera is for the world to unite under one approach to product and organisational footprinting.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>PEFs: What\u2019s going to happen next?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The PEF pilot stage is expected to end in 2017. Since 2013, the EU\u2019s Joint Research Centre has been testing and developing the PEF methodology in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including companies, industry governing bodies and sustainability professionals. The immediate focus is mostly on consumer goods, reflecting the industry and corporate actors participating in the pilot project.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unclear what\u2019s going to happen next.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>PEFs could become a point of product-level competition, used also by retailers in procurement criteria.<\/li>\n<li>The format of compliance schemes <a href=\"http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/environment\/eussd\/smgp\/pdf\/Compliance_finalreport.pdf\">seems to be under consideration<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>If it becomes a matter of compliance or at least competitive advantage, it is likely that ripples will be felt across the world as well. Australasian companies with an eye on the European market or keen to stay one step ahead in mandatory and voluntary environmental credentials, might want to jump on board.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">EPDs and PEFs: is the continent big enough for both?<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"http:\/\/environdec.com\/en\/News-archive\/FAQ-How-does-the-International-EPD-System-relate-to-the-EU-Product-Environmental-Footprint-PEF-initiative\/\">International EPD programme<\/a>\u2019s official blog, the evolution of the PEF Guide might eventually influence the EPD General Programme Instructions.<\/p>\n<p>Whether or not EPDs and PEFs will be aligned (and what alignment consists of) will depend on the level of compliance of PEFs with relevant standards. We\u2019ll know more once the pilot stage ends and its outcomes are divulged.<\/p>\n<p>Until then, EPDs will remain a robust LCA-based environmental certification that is globally recognised.<\/p>\n<p>Watch this space.<\/p>\n<p><em>A version of this article was first published on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.alcas.asn.au\/\">ALCAS<\/a> website.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like a cool friend, Europe is often the continent setting the sustainability agenda. PEFs, Product Environmental Footprints, are a new development, now joining EPDs as &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":8167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":""},"categories":[518,1,276,284],"tags":[757,756,759,758,28,754,760,579,755,522],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/cl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/09\/PEFs-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Joana Almeida","author_link":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/cl\/author\/joana-almeida\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>European sustainability is now talking about PEFs \u2013 but what are they?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PEFs, Product Environmental Footprints, are joining EPDs as an assessment of sustainability \u2013 but how are they different and should we adopt the 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