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How do impact reports from Pickler differ from EPD's?

This article explains why you need Pickler's impact report instead of an EPD

Daan van Hal avatar
Written by Daan van Hal
Updated over 2 months ago

Consumers can ask for an EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) of products. While an EPD provides detailed and standardized information on the environmental impact of a product, other methods of proving environmental claims can provide additional context and assurance to consumers. Ultimately, it is up to the company to determine which method(s) of proving environmental claims align with their values, goals, and budget. So far, there is no obligatory method for reporting environmental information of a product. In this article the pro's and con's of EPD's are discussed and compared with Pickler's impact report.

What is an EPD?

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a comprehensive report that provides information about a product's environmental impact throughout its life cycle, including raw material extraction, transportation, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life disposal. The report is based on a life cycle assessment (LCA), which evaluates the product's energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and waste generation. A packaging company may want to obtain an EPD for various reasons, such as demonstrating its commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability, complying with environmental regulations and standards, gaining a competitive advantage by highlighting its environmental performance, and improving its product design to reduce its environmental footprint.

What are PCR's?

Product Category Rules (PCRs) are a set of guidelines and requirements that must be followed when conducting an LCA for a particular product category. PCRs define the scope and boundaries of the assessment, including the functional unit, system boundaries, data requirements, and calculation methodologies. While the European Union is working to create mandatory PCRs for packaging, the process is expected to take years. However, industry organizations and associations have developed voluntary PCRs.

What is the difference between EPD and Pickler's impact report?

Pickler's impact report is an automated tool that provides packaging companies with a dynamic and easily understandable report on their product's environmental impact. Unlike an EPD, which requires time-consuming data collection and analysis by an LCA expert, Pickler's impact report uses a combination of generic and specific data to calculate the product's environmental impact. The calculation rules used by Pickler's impact report are mutually agreed upon with scientific experts from the Technical University of Delft and are comparable to the system boundaries from PCRs for packaging. This makes Pickler's impact report more objective and less sensitive to human error and subjective interpretation than an EPD. The report provided by Pickler's impact report is easily accessible and includes clear visuals and graphs that are understandable for non-experts. The methodology used by Pickler's impact report is robust and in line with ISO 14040/14044/14067, and the data is transparent and verifiable for everyone. Finally, Pickler's impact report is scalable and available at a low cost, making it a more cost-efficient alternative to EPDs.

Table: EPD vs Pickler impact report

EPD

Pickler's impact report

Data collection

Time consuming (months-years), performed by LCA consultant

generic and specific data

Automated

generic data tuned with specific input data

Life cycle assessment

Calculation rules based on PCR (mutually agreed upon by companies)

Performed by an LCA-expert, but sensitive to human error and subjective interpretation

Calculation rules mutually agreed upon with scientific experts from the Technical University of Delft and comparable to system boundaries from PCR for packaging)

Performed by algorithm, therefore not sensitive to human error and more objective

Background report

Detailed but hard to interpret for non-experts

Dynamic impact report with clear visuals and graphs that are understandable for non-experts. In depth explanation that is easily accessible.

Credibility and thirth party verification

EPD's of packaging can have different system boundaries or follow different standards depending on the request of the company, since there is no obligatory PCR yet

A thirth party (LCA consultancy or expert) verifies the methodology, not the data.

Pickler’s methodology is objective and robust, data is in line with ISO 14040 / 14044 / 14067.

Methodology is verified by third party (Pickler) and data and methodology is transparent and verifiable for everyone.

Publication

Standard template that can be published on the site or EPD databanks.

Hard to find or interpret for customers.

Dynamic and offers labels and QR codes that are easy to share with customers.

Under regular control of Autority for Consumers & Markets.

Marketing target for business

The consumer has to look up and interpret a report that is written for an expert

Proof reaches the consumer easily

Costs

Not scalable, around $15.000 per EPD

Scalable at low price

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