Glass for Europe on environmental product performances’ claims

The Commission plans to put forward a proposal of regulation in 2021 on environmental product performances’ claims to harmonise practices among Member States. Glass for Europe welcomes this initiative and supports the recognition of the EN 15804+A2 standard, as a similar method to PEF, to assess construction products, and promotes the recognition of PCRs as PEFCRs.

While the generic Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method can be directly used to assess the environmental impacts of many generic products, a specific EU harmonised method has been developed for construction products to integrate their specificities. This method, set in the EN 15804+A2 standard developed in CEN TC 350, has been updated in 2019 to be aligned with the PEF methodology, notably on the End of Life calculations. Over the years, flat glass producers have edited many European Product Declarations (EPDs) based on the EN 15804 to present, in an objective and standardised manner, the environmental impacts of their products.

More specifically, the flat glass sector has developed in 2019 the EN 17074:2019, a Product Category Rules (PCR), harmonising the practices for the assessment of flat glass products. This European standard should be recognised as an equivalent to a PEFCR (Product Environmental Footprint Category Rule).

Glass for Europe looks forward contributing to new rules on environmental product performances’ claims, which can be fit for construction products.