The electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) sector, particularly for building, faces growing requirements regarding environmental impact. In France, regulation imposes strict standards to assess and communicate these impacts. PEPs filed under the PEP ecopassport® programme, based on rigorous LCAs, are essential tools for ensuring compliance and improving the environmental performance of products.
Let us decipher together these fundamental standards, their role in structuring a valid PEP and how to comply with them in concrete terms.
Rigorous environmental data, based on the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards
Above all, a PEP rests on a product Life Cycle Assessment, that is, a complete evaluation of its environmental impacts, from raw material extraction to end of life.
Life Cycle Assessment: the essential foundation of PEPs
This analysis must imperatively meet the requirements of the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards, which define the methodologies to follow:
- ISO 14040: defines the general principles and phases of life cycle assessment.
- ISO 14044: details the implementation rules, including the inventory, impact assessment, interpretation and critical review.
Without adherence to these standards, the PEP can neither be verified nor recognised.
The critical review: a sine qua non condition for a recognised PEP
For a PEP to be considered valid, the LCA on which it rests must be reviewed by an independent expert. This step, provided for by the ISO 14044 standard, guarantees the impartiality of the analysis. Without a critical review, the PEP cannot be verified by an official programme or integrated into a public database, such as that of the PEP ecopassport Association.
A transparent declaration according to the ISO 14025 standard
The ISO 14025 standard specifically governs type III environmental declarations, that is, PEPs. It requires:
- A standardised format for presenting the results.
- Validation by an independent third-party body.
- The use of product category rules (PCR) adapted to each type of equipment.
This framework ensures that PEP declarations are comparable, reliable and accepted internationally — a major asset for manufacturers exporting their products.
The standards taken into account evolve with PEP ecopassport
Edition 4 of the PEP ecopassport® PCR, published in 2021, also integrates two new standards:
- EN 50693, which details the method for carrying out an LCA for environmental declarations specific to EEE;
- EN 15804, which details the method for carrying out a type III environmental declaration for construction products.
This demonstrates PEP ecopassport's commitment to offering an ever more relevant assessment framework in light of the evolution of European and local standards.
ISO 14001: integrating the environment into company strategy
Another essential standard to know: ISO 14001. Although it does not directly govern PEPs, it structures an environmental management system within the company. Indeed, an ISO 14001-certified organisation will find it easier to organise the collection of the environmental data needed for LCAs, to involve its teams and to integrate the results into a continuous improvement approach. The link with the quality of the PEPs produced is therefore direct.
Extra-financial reporting: the role of the ESRS standards under the CSRD
With the CSRD directive coming into force, organisations with more than 250 employees must publish extra-financial information, drawing on the ESRS standards (European Sustainability Reporting Standards). These standards require fine traceability of environmental impacts, notably GHG emissions, resource consumption and product durability.
The data from LCAs and PEP ecopassport® declarations therefore represents a strategic lever for meeting CSRD obligations and structuring consistent reporting. It makes it possible to detail and quantify environmental impacts throughout the products' life cycle, which facilitates compliance with transparency requirements and helps companies demonstrate their sustainability efforts.
At Qweeko, we help you at every step
At Qweeko, we support manufacturers, distributors and installers in the EEE industry in creating, verifying and showcasing their PEP ecopassport® declarations. Thanks to a proven methodology, based on ISO standards and the most recent regulations, we help you produce robust, critical and fully usable LCAs.