Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
Also known as: EPD, environmental product declaration, Type III environmental declaration, ISO 14025 declaration
Independently verified Type III environmental declaration to ISO 14025 with LCA data for a product — basis for B2B comparisons and tenders.
Description
An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD; German Umwelt-Produktdeklaration) is a standardised data sheet that quantifies the environmental impacts of a product across its full life cycle. It is based on ISO 14025 (Type III environmental declarations), built on a life-cycle assessment to ISO 14040/44. What exactly is reported is defined by Product Category Rules (PCR) — for construction e.g. under EN 15804, internationally under ISO 21930.
An EPD is not a “good/bad” certification but a report of indicators (global warming potential, acidification, water use, etc.) — verified by an independent third party and published by a programme operator. Well-known operators include IBU (Institut Bauen und Umwelt) in Germany, EPD International (Sweden) and the European umbrella platform ecoplatform. An EPD is usually valid for 5 years. In textiles the format is increasingly required in commercial tenders (public sector, corporate procurement) and in GRI/ESG reporting.
- Standard basis: ISO 14025 (Type III), ISO 14040/44, PCR
- Always independently verified, published by a programme operator
- Validity usually 5 years
- For textiles mainly used in ESG reporting and tenders
Properties
| Standard basis | ISO 14025 (Type III), ISO 14040/44, PCR |
|---|---|
| Verification | Always by an independent third party |
| Validity | typically 5 years |
Related product categories
Sources & references
2- Wikipedia: Environmental product declaration Wikipedia — Freie Enzyklopädie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_product_declaration
- ISO 14025 – ISO Norm-Seite ISO — International Organization for Standardization https://www.iso.org/standard/38131.html
