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The 2013-2016 Environmental Footprint (EF) pilot phase has three main objectives:
- test the process for developing product- and sector-specific rules;
- test different approaches to verification;
- test communication vehicles for communicating life cycle environmental performance to business partners, consumers and other company stakeholders.
This is tested by groups of organisations called Technical Secretariats, who volunteered to develop the rules for their product or sector. For a list of the products and sectors concerned, see the Product EF pilots and Organisation EF pilots.
The pilot process
All pilots carry out the following steps (steps in grey are completed by all 26 pilots):
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Whenever possible, the rules in Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) and draft Organisation Environmental Footprint Sector Rules (OEFSRs) are based on existing work. |
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This is a simplified Environmental Footprint for the representative product/ organisation. It is performed to understand which are the most relevant life cycle stages, processes and environmental impacts. This document is checked by the European Commission (screening review). |
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The draft PEFCRs and draft OEFSRs are prepared based on the results of the screenings. They are the "recipe" for calculating the environmental footprint for the product or sector. |
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This draft should also include a preliminary indication of 3-4 communication vehicles that the pilot judges to be appropriate for the product / sector. |
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The Environmental Footprint profile is calculated for at least 3 products or companies based on the 2nd draft PEFCR/ OEFSR. The results of this exercise are going to be the basis for the communication phase and for the testing of verification approaches. |
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The testing of communication vehicles will be carried out based on the Background Document for the Testing of Communication Vehicles in the Environmental Footprint Pilot Phase 2013-2016. |
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The final PEFCR/ OEFSR is based on the experiences with the supporting studies and communication phase. A four-week consultation will take place. |
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Each pilot appoints a 3-member review panel. The panel's remarks will be taken into consideration for the final version of the documents. |
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The final documents will be discussed at the December 2017 and January 2018 meetings of the Steering Committee and Technical Advisory Board. |
The Steering Committee (SC) is composed of one representative for each Member State, key stakeholder groups (e.g. small and medium-sized enterprises, consumers, environmental NGOs), Environmental Footprint pilots and representatives of the European Commission. The role of the SC is to take strategic decisions and to approve milestone documents. Read more on the Steering Committee and its proceedings
The Technical Advisory Board (TAB) mirrors the composition of the SC, and is composed of experts nominated by the SC members. Their role is to propose solutions to technical challenges and advise the SC on technical issues.
Product Environmental Footprint pilots
Each PEFCR contains a set of rules on how to measure the life cycle environmental performance of the product in scope. The factsheets state the scope and status of the project, and the companies participating in the Technical Secretariat. A link to the factsheets and wiki page containing all documents can be found in the first column of the table below. Comments to the documents can be provided through the Environmental Footprint Wiki. To access the wiki, please create an external ECAS account and then sign up as stakeholder to the pilots that are of interest to you (see instructions).
Pilot (wikis & factsheets) |
Date of 1st consultation meeting |
Virtual consultation |
Consultation on the draft final PEFCR |
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Batteries and accumulators |
25/2/2014 | 24/8/2015 |
16/9/2016 |
Decorative paints |
6/3/2014 | 13/9/2016 | 11/11/2016 |
Hot and cold water supply pipes |
20/3/2014 |
29/8/2016 |
26/9/2016 |
Household detergents |
24/3/2014 |
6/5/2015 |
1/7/2016 |
Intermediate paper product (JRC) |
17/3/2014 |
10/8//2015 |
27/6/2016 |
IT equipment |
6/3/2014 |
21/8/2015 |
24/10/2016 |
Leather |
22/1/2015 |
2/8/2016 |
15/9/2016 |
Metal sheets |
7/3/2014 |
2/6/2015 |
16/7/2016 |
Footwear |
13/3/2014 |
29/7/2016 |
9/9/2016 |
Photovoltaic electricity generation |
9/4/2014 |
6/9/2016 |
27/9/2016 |
Stationery (discontinued) |
30/4/2014 |
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Thermal insulation |
15/10/2014 |
12/9/2016 |
10/10/2016 |
T-shirts |
14/3/2014 |
29/7/2016 |
12/9/2016 |
Uninterruptible Power Supply |
26/2/2014 |
6/9/2016 |
27/10/2016 |
Beer |
26/9/2014 |
2/8/2016 |
15/9/2016 |
Coffee (discontinued) |
16/10/2014 |
30/9/2015 |
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Dairy |
31/10/2014 |
29/7/2016 |
9/9/2016 |
Feed for food-producing animals |
28/10/2014 |
22/7/2016 |
9/9/2016 |
Marine fish (discontinued) |
20/11/2014 |
8/3/2016 |
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Meat (bovine, pigs, sheep) (discontinued) |
19/12/2014 |
16/12/2015 |
16/9/2016 |
Olive oil |
30/10/2014 |
11/12/2015 |
25/10/2016 |
Packed water |
8/10/2014 |
28/7/2015 |
8/9/2016 |
Pasta |
14/11/2014 |
18/7/2016 |
30/8/2016 |
Pet food (cats & dogs) |
24/10/2014 |
26/7/2016 |
5/9/2016 |
Wine |
25/11/2014 |
29/7/2016 |
9/9/2016 |
Organisation Environmental Footprint pilots
Each OEFSR contains a set of rules on how to measure the life cycle environmental performance of the organization in scope. Comments to the documents can be provided through the Environmental Footprint Wiki.
To access the wiki, please create an external ECAS account and then sign up as stakeholder to the pilots that are of interest to you (see instructions).
First consultation |
Second consultation |
Consultation on the draft final OEFSR |
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21/2/2014 |
27/5/2015 |
26/9/2016 |
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Copper production (JRC) |
10/3/2014 |
1/6/2015 |
A 3rd pilot on household sanitary goods and toiletries had been selected to be led by the EC Joint Research Centre. However, the European Commission decided to stop this OEFSR pilot as it became progressively evident that the pilot was not sufficiently backed by the major producers and the relevant European associations. Considering that the Commission position about this exercise has always been not to impose anything to industry but rather to help addressing needs on their side, the pilot is stopped starting from 7/4/2014.
E-learnings
The Environmental Footprint Helpdesk developed 3 e-learning tools for interested pilots. The aim of the tools is to help companies understand the Environmental Footprint and the type of information they will find in PEFCRs/OEFSRs. The e-learnings were prepared based on the draft PEFCRs/ OEFSRs.
Intermediate paper product PEFCR |
E-learning in English |
Footwear PEFCR |
E-learning in English |
Retail OEFSR |
E-learning in English |
Communication phase
One of the objectives of the EF Pilots is to test different communication vehicles to convey environmental footprint information. A background document was prepared by the Commission to help testers with carrying out communication tests.
Download the final report on the assessment of different communication vehicles for providing Environmental Footprint information (2018).
SME Tools
The European Commission initiated a contract for the proof-of-concept of software tools for SMEs to provide information on their environmental performance. The tools will be shaped around 4 pilot cases :PEFCR beer, PEFCR leather, PEFCR olive oil and PEFCR T-shirt. The tools will have to accessible to non-experts, be simple and attractive to use.
On the 28th of March 2014 a webinar took place to consult on the software concept.
- Watch the recording (wmv format)
- Download the presentation
A webinar was held on the 3rd of December on the prototype. The prototype shows the basic functionalities of the software, it is not yet possible to carry out any EF calculations and it is not yet adapted to any PEFCR or OEFSR.
- Watch the recording: part 1; part 2; part 3
- Download the presentations
- Download the prototype (the file to start is nw.exe). Stakeholders could send comments on this version to sme-tools@tools4env.com until January 2015.
- Download the Q&A from the webinar
The SME tool will be further developed as soon as the final PEFCRs will be available. We expect the tools to be ready during the first half of 2018.
Verification
The European Commission commissioned a study to support the task of developing appropriate compliance system(s) / mechanism(s) for PEF and OEF. The operational objectives of the study were to 1) review and describe existing compliance systems used for mandatory or voluntary policy tools used for products or organisations, for which embedded/indirect impacts are considered; 2) define and characterise various options for compliance systems; 3) assess the estimated costs of compliance of selected options and the estimated reliability rate of selected options, and 4) provide recommendations on the most suitable option for PEF/OEF declarations.
Different approaches to verification were tested during the Environmental Footprint pilot phase. The audit approaches were:
EF compliant datasets
The European Commission launched a number of contracts with the goal to provide Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) datasets. The user of these datasets is allowed to use, reproduce and adapt the datasets for all media and using all channels, methods and processes, whether known or unknown on the date hereof, including for derivative use as part of the datasets to be used in the 26 PEFCRs/OEFSRs developed during the environmental footprint pilot phase, , or in the context of a contract with the European Commission.
The reproduction right includes the right to reproduce all or part of the datasets on all current and existing media and, in particular:
- The right to digitize the datasets, to save them on all media, to modulate, compress, decompress or use all other technical processes of the same type with regard to the digitized datasets for the purpose of the storage, transfer, IT processing, adaptation and/or use thereof.
The adaptation right granted includes the right to modify, reformat, extract or incorporate the datasets or any part thereof, assemble and incorporate the datasets, or any isolated component or part thereof, in any other work or document, by any means and using any technical or artistic process.
Said granting of rights shall be valid for the entire world and till 31st December 2020.
Energy and transport datasets: can be downloaded here.
Reports on the pilot phase
Several reports were carried out on the specific activities within the pilot phase. The following reports are available:
- Technical evaluation of the EU Environmental Footprint pilot phase, carried out by the Environmental Footprint Helpdesk (April 2017)
- Final report of the Environmental Footprint pilot peer reviewers (August 2017)
- Final report on the verification stage, carried out by Ernst & Young (2017)
Documents and links
- Learnings from review of EF supporting studies
- Background document for the testing of communication vehicles in the Environmental Footprint Pilot Phase 2013-2016
- Annex 2 of the Recommendation: Product and Organisation Environmental Footprint methods (2013)
- Short analysis of applications in the call for the 1st wave of pilots
- Environmental Footprint Wiki (e-commenting) pages and instructions on registration
- Proceedings of the Steering Committee
- Materials of the PEF training for piloters (January 2014)
- JRC Technical report on normalisation methods and data (September 2014)