Cirkulär ekonomi koncept. kristallglob med en cirkulär ekonomi ikon runt den. cirkulär ekonomi för framtida tillväxt av företag och design för att återanvända och förnybara materialresurser. återanvändning, återvinning.

Vägledning för EPD-ägare

This guidance aims to help EPD owners to highlight circular aspects in their EPD.

How can we demonstrate circularity in our EPDs?

EPDs follow more or less strict rules and formats for how data should be reported, and it can sometimes be challenging for EPD owners to know how to present their product's circular aspects in a permitted and clear way – but there are several possibilities. Firstly, the environmental impact of a circular product is generally lower than that of a non-circular product, meaning that the LCA results for the environmental impact categories – which are the main content of an EPD – will often be lower the more circular a product is. Additionally, some LCA results more directly reflect circular aspects, such as the result for the LCA indicator for the use of secondary (recycled) materials.

Besides the LCA results, there are other opportunities to report circular aspects in a EPD. In the content declaration, you should report the proportion of recycled and bio-based content in the product and packaging. In the chapter on additional environmental information, you could, for example, report how the product should be used, maintained, and reused or recycled after its use.

It is important to remember that different program operators may have different rules, so it is crucial to ensure that you follow the correct rules depending on which program operator you plan to register your EPDs with.

Where can I find the rules for what can be included in EPDs?

Below are the standards and directives that need to be followed when creating an EPD.

ISO 14025 is the standard that regulates Type III Environmental Product Declarations, or EPDs. There may also be additional ISO or EN standards that need to be followed depending on national or European standards and/or depending on the product category. An example is the EN 15804 standard, which applies to construction products and is also used for furniture by several program operators. Since furniture EPDs often follow the standard for construction products, references to it are made several times on this page. All program operators have an established GPI that must also be followed when creating EPDs.

Furthermore, suitable PCR, or product-specific rules, must also be followed, which are established by all program operators. It is worth noting that even if EPDs follow the same standards, they can look very different. Program operators vary in how strictly they enforce reporting formats, and different aspects may be more or less relevant for different products.

Where can circular aspects be reported in an EPD?

As mentioned earlier, circularity can generally be reflected directly in the results in such a way that the impact from a circular product is often lower than from a non-circular product.

In the section "additional environmental information," additional environmentally-related aspects can be included. It is important to only report aspects that are explicitly allowed according to the aforementioned rules and not to include irrelevant information. According to the ISO standard, these additional environmental aspects must be verifiable, specific, relevant to the product, and not subject to misinterpretation. Comparisons with other products or the market may not be included.

Circular Aspects at an Organizational Level

It is important to remember that an EPD is product-specific, and therefore there are limitations on how much information related to the company can be included in an EPD. It is recommended to be sparing with organizational information that is not specific to the product.

There are some circular aspects on organizational level that may be mentioned. Besides the product-level information mentioned above, companies can present environmentally related circular commitments at the organizational level under the section "additional environmental information" and include a reference to where stakeholders can read more about this work. This is also where conformity with environmental management system standards and references to recycling and reuse initiatives within the organization can be mentioned.

Items that do not comply with the standards, GPI, and PCR rules cannot be included, such as claims about carbon neutrality of the organization, or product or claims about environmental performance that express comparisons with other products or companies in the market. Claims about emission reductions are also something that EPD owners should be cautious about, as this can be difficult to verify. Everything in the "additional environmental information" section must be verifiable.

Produktens cirkulära aspekter

Examples of how circular aspects of products can be included in an EPD are presented below. This is followed by in-depth discussions on how specific circular aspects can be reflected in an EPD and how they should and can be interpreted.

Se här var i en EPD cirkulära aspekter kan inkluderas

Below are some examples of circular aspects for furniture that could be included in an EPD under the heading additional environmental information, unless otherwise specified by program operator-specific rules. However, note that rules may vary between different program operators, so it is important to ensure that the specific PCR being used allows the additional aspects you plan to report.

Circular Aspect	Examples and Tips on Information to Include	Where in the EPD?
Spare Parts	Spare parts for the furniture are available to the consumer.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
	Spare parts are available for at least X years after the furniture model has ceased production.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
	Spare parts have the same quality as the original parts of the furniture.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
	Spare parts are compatible with more furniture, even with furniture from other producers.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
Instructions for Repair and Service	Instructions for common repairs or references to where these can be found.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
	Repairs and spare parts can be carried out with standard tools and do not require special tools.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
	Alternatively, the supplier provides a service where the furniture can be sent for repair.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
Disassembly Possibility and Instructions	Instructions for disassembly or references to where these can be found.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
	The disassembly can be done with standard tools and does not require special tools.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
	Alternatively, the supplier provides a service where they help with the disassembly.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
Product Content	Information about the furniture's materials and chemical content must be presented.	Must be included in the "content declaration."
	If it is relevant for the product and/or geographical aspects, it is possible to specify that a certain substance is not present in the product by using the phrase "… free." This is only allowed when relevant and should be used with caution.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
User Instructions / Care Advice	Instructions on how the furniture is expected to be used effectively to reduce environmental impact.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
	Instructions on how the furniture is expected to be used to reduce impact on the environment and/or health.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
	Care advice and instructions to maximize the furniture's lifespan.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
Recyclability and Instructions	The different parts of the furniture can be easily separated with standard tools for recycling.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
	Clear instructions on how different parts of the furniture should be recycled.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."
	Recommendations on how the product should be handled at the end of its life cycle.	Can be included in "additional environmental information."

In-depth: Description of the Product's Lifespan

A product's lifespan can express circularity. If companies can demonstrate a long expected/technical lifespan this can be reported in the EPD and may be reflected directly in the results of the EPD if it uses a functional unit. The actual lifespan is reported in the product description. See the term description of RSL and lifespan for further explanation regarding this.

When reporting expected/technical lifespan in the EPD, it is advantageous to present recommendations (or assumptions) for the product's use to meet the specified lifespan. Below is an example of how this information can be included in an EPD.

In product information, the following information can be reported:

The expected lifespan of the product is ____ years, and the furniture comes with a warranty of X years. For more information on the recommended use of the product, see “additional environmental information.”

I “additional environmental information” the following can be reported as an example:

When calculating the expected lifespan, the following conditions and assumptions were made:

Expected load or stress

Usage Frequency:
- The chair is expected to be used X hours a day, Y days a week, year-round.
- The drawers are expected to be opened X times a day, Y days a week, year-round.
- The lifespan of the furniture is based on standard use by children or adults.
Load
- The load on the chair is expected to be between X-Y kg.
- The contents of the drawers / on the shelves / on the table are expected to weigh between X-Y kg.

Environment

IIndoor or outdoor environment
Average temperature, max and min temperature
Average humidity, max and min humidity

Maintenance:

Cleaning: instructions on how the furniture is expected to be cleaned, and, if appropriate, which chemicals are recommended.
Repair: Is it expected that repairs will be made during the lifespan? If so, what do these entail?

In-depth: The Proportion of Recycled and/or Bio-based Materials

Information is available in the EPD's “content declaration” and in the LCA results.

Recycled material is reported as “secondary material” according to the construction standard EN 15804.

Note that the reuse of materials within the life cycle, i.e., materials that are recycled in production, is not reported as “secondary material.” This type of recycling reduces the need for virgin material and will therefore result in lower scores in the environmental impact categories.

Bio-based material can also result in lower environmental impact for a product, and this is reflected in lower LCA results in the raw material phase, part of module A according to the construction standard EN 15804. This can lead to negative results for the GWP-Biogenic indicator for module A, as this module includes the uptake but not the release of biogenic carbon. It is important to note that it is impossible for a product to achieve negative results for GWP-biogenic across the entire life cycle, as this considers when the product is eventually disposed of.

In-depth: The Final Phase of the Product's Life

According to the construction standard EN 15804, this phase is called module C. The environmental impact of module C will be lower for a product that is reused and/or recycled to a significant extent.

In-depth: How Circular Management of End-of-Life Products is Reflected

In EPDs that follow the EN 15804 standard, circularity can also be reflected in module D, where reuse and recycling are reported. This means benefits from avoiding virgin material or production as a consequence of a product being expected to be recycled or reused when disposed of. This can lead to negative LCA results for module D, which, however, must not be aggregated with the result for the product's life cycle (modules A-C).

More Information on EPD in Procurement

For more information on the view and application of EPD in circular procurement, visit: EPD and Circular Procurement.

For more information and guidance on how to use EPDs for climate-smart and circular procurement from a life cycle perspective, visit: Assessment of Climate Impact in Procurement.

Last updated: 2025-01-31