Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics & Life Cycle Assessment

Greenpeace recently published the 18th edition of its Guide to Greener Electronics, which evaluates leading consumer electronics companies based on their commitment and progress in three environmental criteria: Energy and Climate, Greener Products and Sustainable Operations.

It coincides with the publication of PE INTERNATIONAL’s whitepaper ‘Calculating the carbon footprint of electronic products,’ which presents an approach to quantify the environmental impacts of electronic products. Both publications aim to contribute to greener electronics.

The Guide to Greener Electronics by Greenpeace scores companies on overall policies and practices (not on specific products), aiming to provide consumers with a snapshot of the corporate sustainability of the biggest names in the industry.

PE INTERNATIONAL’s whitepaper, on the other hand, has its focus on providing the industry with a framework to quantify and reduce the environmental profile of products. Based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), it presents a methodology for calculating Product Carbon Footprints of electronic products. LCA is a widely-used approach which allows assessing a product’s environmental profile across its entire life-cycle, considering environmental impacts such as global warming potential and resource depletion, as well as other environmental aspects like energy consumption and material efficiency.


An LCA study can help to find out:
1) How a product is currently performing,
2) Where to focus potential improvements and how to measure them,
and 3) How to report product sustainability according to standards.

This framework helps companies to design better products, for example by discarding harmful materials and replacing them with more environmentally friendly ones, or replacing parts and materials which are difficult to recycle (Ecodesign). Besides, companies can use the LCA results to reliably communicate their products’ performance and improvements.

Download your free copy of our whitepaper ‘Calculating the carbon footprint of electronic products’

or contact PE’s Electronics Team: electronics@pe-international.com

Free Whitepaper - Transparency and the Role of Environmental Product Declarations

As the world’s consumption of natural resources continues to grow at an ever increasing rate, the design and manufacture of environmentally responsible products is no longer a luxury but a necessity. From electronics to textiles to food production, producers are giving increased attention to the environmental impact of their products across the entire product life cycle. These considerations span design and manufacturing through actual use to end-of-life. Such efforts from producers are now leading towards the collection and compilation of relevant environmental data. This data helps identify opportunities for improvement along the supply chain, often taking the form of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However, there are many ways to
distribute this data.

Everyone benefits when a product’s claim of environmental sustainability is easily validated against objective and transparent criteria, thereby simplifying the process of making informed direct comparisons among similar products. An environmental product declaration (EPD) is a validation tool that offers manufacturers a standard approach for assessing the environmental impact of their products and provides buyers with an effective framework for making direct product comparisons. As such, an EPD addresses the needs of both manufacturers and buyers seeking clear, credible and precise information.

This UL white paper discusses the use and importance of EPDs in the validation and certification of life cycle-based product environmental impacts. The paper then reviews the steps in creating EPDs consistent with the requirements of ISO 14025 2006, Environmental labels and declarations—Type III environmental declarations— Principles and procedures, and discusses the important role of an EPD program operator in developing and running an effective EPD program. The report concludes with a look at potential developments regarding the use of EPDs in support of product environmental claims.

Open publication - Free publishing - More building

Find more studies, whitepapers and presentations in our resource section on www.pe-international.com

Free webinar: Business Success through Sustainability

It may seem like hard work integrating sustainability into your company’s strategic plan.  It’s not enough to reduce carbon and gain certifications. Your plan has to add value to the business and goals need to be realistic and achievable. This one-hour webinar will be held by David Metcalfe, Director at sustainability analyst firm Verdantix, and John Heckman, Managing Director of PE INTERNATIONAL, Inc.

Webinar How to build the business case for your sustainability strategy
Join our exclusive webinar for business executives and senior sustainability professionals to learn how to build better business cases for your sustainability initiatives.

All attendees will receive an exclusive copy of our free white paper ‘Ten insider tips for building the business case for sustainability’.

New whitepaper about the environmental performance of chemical products

The environmental benefits of chemical products are often unknown to the public. PE newest Whitepaper describes the pathways for quantifying and improving of the environmental performance and shows how to choose the right option.

Read more about it in PE’s new whitepaper.

New! Whitepaper Recycling Lightweight Automobiles

Lightweight design is an important pillar of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the automotive sector. But using lighter materials does not lower emissions in general. Lighter materials need more energy in manufacturing. So, only a life cycle analysis can show, whether a special lightweight design has an environmental benefit or not.

Read more about it in PE’s new whitepaper.