In a previous post, we introduced environmental product declarations (EPDs) and eco-labels, and gave some examples of them in the garment and textile industries. Both EPDs and eco-labels are environmental declarations, and the International Standards Organization (ISO) has provided useful descriptions and guidance on 3 different categories of environmental declarations.

According to ISO 14020, an environmental declaration is a “claim which indicates the environmental aspects of a product or service.” The ISO separates environmental declarations into 3 categories – Type 1 environmental labels, Type II environmental labels, and Type III environmental declarations.

Type 1 Environmental Labels

According to ISO 14024, a Type 1 environmental label is a “voluntary, multiple-criteria-based third party programme that awards a licence which authorizes the use of environmental labels on products indicating overall environmental preferability of a product within a particular product category based on life cycle considerations.” Type 1 environmental labels cover the eco-labels described in the previous post on the garment industry – both Bluesign and OEKO-TEX Standard 100 would be examples of Type I environmental labels. Although the ISO definition states that the overall environmental preferability is based on life cycle considerations, this does not mean that it must be based on a life cycle assessment. Instead, the eco-label should develop product environmental criteria that take into account impacts during each production stage – extraction of resources, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal. Type I environmental labels must be run by a third party; labels produced by the manufacturer are not eco-labels.

Type II Environmental Labels

A Type II environmental label, according to ISO 14021, is a self-declared environmental claim. A manufacturer stating the recycled content of its own product would be an example of a Type II environmental label. For these labels, the manufacturer, or claimant, is responsible for evaluation and provision of data necessary for verification of the environmental claims, not a third-party organization. ISO 14021 standard provided requirements for claims about a product being compostable, degradable, recyclable, recycled content, reduced energy consumption, and reduced water consumption, amongst others.

Type III Environmental Declarations

According to ISO 14025 standard, an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), or a Type III environmental declaration provides “quantified environmental data using predetermined parameters and, where relevant, additional environmental information.” The quantified environmental data are based on a life cycle assessment that conforms to ISO standards 14040 and 14044. As described in the previous post, an EPD can be thought of as a summary of an LCA. But the LCA and EPD must follow a set of technical directions on how each will be developed called Product Category Rules (PCR). The PCR is developed by a program operator (generally an entity separate from the manufacturer of the product) in a process open to the input of interested parties, and the PCR is reviewed by a third-party panel. The EPD is also independently verified.

EPDs are designed to assist in the comparison of similar products on environmental performance. However, care must be taken in making comparisons between EPDs – each EPD compared must have followed the same PCR, have the same functional unit, and should have used similar assumptions and methods in generating the LCA. Here is an example of an EPD for North American softwood lumber, which used this PCR to develop the EPD.

In future posts, we will delve into the details of EPDs and how to interpret them.

Like many industries, initiatives are underway to increase the sustainability of textile and garment manufacturing. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition is working with the Earthsure program of The Institute for Environmental Research and Education (IERE) to produce a framework for declarations on the environmental impacts derived from life cycle analysis for some typical clothing products. Bluesign operates an auditing system to decrease human and ecological toxicity and resource use in all manufacturing steps. And the OEKO-TEX Association has produced standards to ensure very low levels of harmful and toxic substances in final textile products. These sustainability programs can be roughly divided into two methods – those using environmental product declarations (EPDs) and those using eco-label programs.

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a document that discloses quantified environmental data from a life cycle assessment (LCA) for a product or service. An EPD can be thought of as a summary of a LCA, or as Earthsure describes it, “a nutrition label” for environmental impacts. All EPDs must follow a set of rules, called Product Category Rules, which stipulate how the LCA will be conducted, what the functional unit is, and what environmental impact categories will be modeled. EPDs are designed to assist in the comparison of similar products on environmental performance. However, care must be taken in making comparisons between EPDs – each EPD compared must have followed the same PCR, have the same functional unit, and should have used similar assumptions and methods in generating the LCA. In general, most EPDs are produced for business-to-business communication to facilitate purchasing decisions. However, EPDs can be produced for business-to-consumer use. For the garment industry, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition with Earthsure has produced a series of Product Category Rules (PCRs) to assist the production of EPDs for garments such as T-shirts, Trousers/Slacks/Shorts, and Coats/Jackets. Ecosystem Analytics Inc. participated in the comment period for these PCRs – both comments to the draft PCRs and responses by Earthsure can be found here.

According to the Global Ecolabeling Network , an eco-label is a “label which identifies overall, proven environmental preference of a product or service within a specific product/service category”. GEN states that “In contrast to ‘green’ symbols, or claim statements developed by manufacturers and service providers, the most credible eco-labels are based on life cycle considerations; they are awarded by an impartial third-party in relation to certain products or services that are independently determined to meet transparent environmental leadership criteria”. For the programs we have described, both Bluesign and OEKO-TEX Standard 100 would be considered eco-labels, not EPDs.

For further information on the differences between these approaches for these programs, see Eileen Ekstrom’s comments in the LCA in Industry LinkedIn group.