FAQs
The aim of the PEP Ecopassport® non-profit association is to drive the international development of the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) relating to electrical, electronic and HVAC equipment.
FAQs are provided to answer any questions or concerns you may have. If you cannot find the answer, please do not hesitate to send us an email as we are continually updating our FAQs.
The overall cost of PEP depends on three individual costs:
- Internal costs incurred for the Life-Cycle Assessment to be performed before the declaration,
- The cost of the independent verification of the PEP: internal/external, depending on whether a third party is used,
- The registration cost of the PEP: this depends on whether the declarant is a member of the Association.
The current fee schedule can be found here.
The PEP Ecopassport® programme’s international scope meets the requirements of current ISO standards. The documents required for joining the programme and developing PEPs are available in English and in French. PEPs can be drafted in multiple languages and require only a single registration. They can then be used worldwide, in accordance with their geographical scope.
No, as carbon balances are based on a specific methodology that represents greenhouse gas emissions converted into a single carbon indicator and cover a much wider scope than the specific product scope set out in the PEP. It is therefore strongly recommended to avoid mixing PEP data and a site’s carbon balance data, for example.
No. ISO 14001 addresses environmental management systems, not environmental product declarations. It is ISO 14025 that sets out the requirements for Type III environmental declarations.
It is a declaration which meets the requirements of the ISO 14025 standard:
- It is based on life-cycle assessment,
- It quantifies relevant environmental impacts,
- It is developed as part of a declaration programme which includes a critical review of the rules and stakeholder consultation on these rules, as well as independent verification of the declarations.
Environmental Product Declarations (EDP) are internationally recognised as they are based on ISO standard principles for Type III environmental declarations (ISO 14025). The standard sets out the principles and procedures for establishing Type III environmental declarations intended for intercompany communication.
The Type III Environmental Product Declaration offers quantified environmental data on product life cycles to allow comparison of products sharing the same function, as they are developed using predetermined parameters set out in the PCR and, where applicable, in the PSR (Product Specific Rules).
Type III EDPs are verified independently with regard to Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life-Cycle Inventory (LCI) data, and to information modules compliant with the ISO 14040 series standards and, when applicable, to supplementary environmental data.
Manufacturers are not currently required to provide EDPs, except in France, where they are obliged to do so if they want to make environmental claims which are not already regulated.
The market is making increasing use of EDPs across a range of applications. More and more manufacturers are providing PEPs to ensure reliable communication and offer an environmental assessment of their products.
The PEP Ecopassport® programme sets out to provide a common and rigorous reference framework:
- Compliant with international best practices (ISO 14025 & ISO 14040)
- To objectively and reliably assess product environmental performance
- To provide customers and specifiers with the information to make informed and well-considered choices
Referencing PEP Ecopassport® means:
- A guarantee of rigour and transparency
- A guarantee of reliability and trust.
It is not necessary to be a member of PEP Ecopassport to register PEPs compliant with our programme.
Membership of the Association does, however, allow you to:
- Take part in the development of the technical reference framework
- Discuss technical questions with fellow members within the Technical Committee
- Participate in the Programme governance
- Enjoy reduced PEP registration fees
Choosing to join the PEP Ecopassport Association reflects a desire to improve expertise and/or to share it for a given product family at company or industry organisation level. Companies joining the Association are required to pay a membership fee. (find out more about fees).
For an industry organisation or association seeking to join, please contact us.
The PEP Ecopassport® programme is a voluntary industry initiative that covers electrical, electronic and HVAC products. It is tailored to the specific features of these products and cannot therefore be used for any other products, such as food, cosmetics etc.