Product Environmental Footprint (PEF)

Consumer demand for the disclosure of a product’s environmental impact is rising. This has prompted some European countries to consider making environmental labelling mandatory. In response, the European Commission has developed the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method to establish a standardised approach for accurately quantifying environmental impact. The PEF framework establishes rules for modelling a product’s life cycle and calculating and presenting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results to ensure coherence in environmental labelling.

As well as the framework, the PEF details criteria for the databases that can be used. Currently, few PEF compliant datasets exist, making PEF-compliant studies difficult. However, this does not make the method redundant. Instead, completing a study for your product aligned with the PEF framework ensures:

1. Transparency: Clearly communicating the environmental impact builds trust with your stakeholders.

2. Identification of environmental hotspots: Analysing each stage of your value chain reveals key contributors to your environmental impact, enabling targeted reduction efforts

3. Product comparability: The PEF method provides a standardised single score for environmental impact, facilitating comparison between PEF-compliant products.

4. Preparedness for upcoming regulations: Although there is no current indication of if, or when, the PEF method will become mandatory within the European Market, completing a PEF-compliant study ensures readiness for the data requirements of potential future PEF studies.

To streamline reporting efforts within industries, rules for similar products are organised in documents called PEF Category Rules (PEFCR). A PEFCR is created at industry level, usually by an (European) industry association or similar market organisation. Ecomatters has experience in developing and reviewing PEFCR.

Ecomatters has been involved in developing the PEF/ OEF rules over the last 9 years. We are direct members of the PEF Technical Advisory Board and are active in PEFCR development.

By collaborating closely with your team, Ecomatters can:

• Support with the completion of PEF aligned studies
• Develop PEF Product Category Rules, including conducting PEFCR supporting studies
• Develop simplified calculation tools
• Develop EF-compliant databases
• Review PEFCR, PEF studies, and EF-compliant datasets

If you are looking for experienced support, Ecomatters can help you in understanding how PEF impacts your business. Schedule a call with one of our consultants, visit our contact page, or get in touch via our online form below.