How the pilot project “Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules” (PEFRC) benefits the

coatings industry

Emilie Carasso25 September 2014

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Overview

• What are we talking about, and why are we talking about it?

• Didn’t we already work on that?

• What’s PEF about then?

• And what’s in it for us?

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What are we talking about, and why are we talking about it?

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Definitions LCA methodology

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA):• Compare the full range of

effects assignable to products and services

LCA(Life Cycle Assessment)

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Life Cycle Inventory (LCI): • Data of the various

inputs and outputs within a certain system (energy/water consumption, CO2 emissions, etc.)

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LCA(Life Cycle Assessment)LCI

(Life Cycle Inventory)

Definitions LCA methodology

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Definitions LCA methodology

Quote from CEPE’s Sustainability charter:CEPE members will be encouraged in future to also identify and analyse the broader environmental effects of their products (carbon footprint, water usage etc.) over the product’s Life Cycle (from cradle to grave).

CEPE sustainability charter

Voted in Seville in 2012

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Why is it important?

Pressure on the industry from various sides:

• Consumers (Ecolabels, etc.)

• Retailers (B&Q and Brico working on their green image)

• Legislators (e.g. France & Germany request EPDs in specific situations)

• Green building schemes

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Didn’t we already work on that?

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Goals CEPE LCI Project

To get the coatings industry started with understanding and managing its products’ environmental footprints throughout the life cycle:

• Collect industry data on the paint production processes to define standard industry LCI data

• Jointly build an LCI database for the most common raw materials used in the industry, and make it the recommended database for paints

• Help CEPE members understand and answer Life Cycle / EPD / footprint questions

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• Input from all CEPE sectors • Total of 290 RM identified • Contacted RM associations

• 3 processes identified• Collection of on-site information

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Cradle

CEPE LCI Project deliverables

Further utilization by:Sector groups

Country organizationsIndividual companies

Databases + documents

CEPE Eco footprint tool

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What about this part?

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Cradle

Communication on environmental performanceDiscussion on labels, scorecards etc. (started in France)

Other points not tackled yet

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Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) Construction VS Coatings needs; national requirements

What’s PEF about then?

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Problem statement EU (April 2013)

“A company wishing to market its product as green in several Member State markets faces a confusing range of choices of methods and initiatives, and might find it needs to apply several of them in order to prove the product's green credentials. This is turning into a barrier for the circulation of green products in the Single Market.”

• PEF (Product Environmental Footprint) is the European standard method to declare your environmental impact

• PEF pilot project to test the methodology on 27 real products

EU Single Market for Green Products

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• Started in November 2013

• 2014 – 2016 PEF pilot decorative paints– 2014: Write PCR’s (PEF calculation rules)– 2015: Create PEF studies and background reports– 2016: Communication of PEF study results to users

• 2017 – 2018: Evaluation of results by commission

• 2019 onwards: (if successful) Possible to use of PEF method in legislation and voluntary schemes

PEF Pilot - high level planning

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PEF – Technical Secretariat

Paint manufacturers- AkzoNobel - Crown / Hempel- DAW - Jotun - PPG- ONIP (SME)

CEPE VdL - German National Association

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Suppliers- IMA – industrial minerals- PlasticsEurope

PEF – Other TS of interest

Construction related: • Decorative paints• Hot and cold water supply pipes• Metal sheets• Photovoltaic electricity generation• Thermal insulation

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Chemicals related: • Household detergents

Other pilots • Batteries and accumulators; Intermediate paper product (JRC); IT equipment;

Leather; Non-leather shoes; Stationery; T-shirts; Uninterruptible Power Supply• Beer; Coffee; Dairy; Feed for food-producing animals; Fish; Meat (bovine, pigs,

sheep); Olive oil; Packed water; Pasta; Pet food (cats & dogs); Wine

• Scope: decorative paints

• 84 % market represented

a) ‘matt coatings for interior walls and ceilings'b) ‘glossy coatings for interior walls and ceilings‘

-> Together = 58% of 2012 EU market per volume

c) ‘coatings for exterior walls of mineral substrate'-> 19% of 2012 EU market per volume

d) ‘interior/exterior trim and cladding paints for wood, metal or plastic'-> 7% of 2012 EU market per volume

PEF Pilot – Representative(s) product(s)

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• Decision to look at 6 real products for screening

• Indoor variations covered: colored/white + mat/glossy• Trim variation: waterborne / solventborne• At least one product per category

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PEF Pilot – Representative(s) product(s)

• Life Cycle Analysis : look at details of our supply chain : define average distances travelled, downstream scenario (typical paint job, emissions, end of life etc. )

• Work on quality level of paint – which properties matter? Both decorative and protective parameters to look into, differences in geography etc.

• Discussions to get agreement between companies as scrutiny from European Commission afterwards

PEF Pilot – work done

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• On average – 1 meeting / confcall per month since November

• Time consuming - Paints pilot project management done by CEPE, some pilots have hired consultants • Different approach leading to shorter documents, “straight to the point”

• Dynamics are very positive – part of a group of people pushing for LCA, more attention on the topic (increase with food pilots)

PEF Pilot – work done

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And what’s in it for us?

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PEF – Benefits for us

• Creation of level playing field in sustainability-> Similar goal as CEPE LCI project

• Alignment of PEF methodology with Construction Products EN 15804- > Currently, paint industry in between the construction / coatings world

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• Avoid multiplication of labels / schemes in EU

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PEF – Benefits for us

PEF = same calculation -> different ways to communicate

• Future use of PEF in voluntary schemes (e.g. Ecolabel)• If LCI data available generally, potentially in mandatory policy

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PEF – Benefits for us

Being a part of the pilot phase = making PEF work for us by influencing methodology and key parameters

Any question?

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