EN ISO 14045 Environmental Management - Eco-Efficiency Assessment of Product Systems - Principles, Requirements and Guidelines

The standard “EN ISO 14045 Environmental management - Eco-efficiency assessment of product systems - Principles, requirements and guidelines”, a European standard and later published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), describes the principles, requirements and guidelines for eco-efficiency assessment of product systems. These include:

• Objective and scope definition of eco-efficiency assessment
• Environmental assessment
• Product system value assessment
• Quantifying eco-efficiency
• Interpretation (including quality assurance)
• Reporting
• Critical review of eco-efficiency assessment

This standard does not include requirements, recommendations and guidelines regarding specific selections of environmental impact and value categories. The intended application of the eco-efficiency assessment is taken into account at the stage of defining the objective and scope, but the actual use of the results is outside the scope of this international standard.

For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions apply in addition to those defined in ISO 14050:

• A product is any good or service.
• Product flow refers to products entering or exiting another product system.
• A product system is a set of unit processes with basic and product flows that perform one or more defined functions and model the life cycle of a product.
• An environmental aspect is an element of an organization's activities or its products or services that can interact with the environment. A significant environmental aspect has or can have a significant environmental impact.
• Environmental performance is measurable results related to environmental aspects.
• Eco-efficiency is the aspect of sustainability that links the environmental performance of a product system to product system value.
• Product system value is the level of worth or desirability attributed to a product system. Product system value can encompass different aspects of value, including functional, monetary, aesthetic, etc.
• A product system value indicator is a numerical quantity that represents the product system value. Various units such as physical and monetary units or relative ratings and scores can be used to express the product system value indicator.
• The eco-efficiency indicator is a measure that relates the environmental performance of a product system to the product system value.
• The eco-efficiency profile is the eco-efficiency assessment results that link the life cycle impact assessment results to the product system value assessment results.
• A weighting factor is an eco-efficiency factor derived from a weighting model and applied to convert an assigned life cycle inventory result, a life cycle impact category indicator result, or a product system value indicator into a common unit of the weighting indicator.
• Sensitivity analysis is a systematic procedure for estimating the effects of choices made about methods and data on the outcome of a study.
• Uncertainty analysis is a systematic procedure for quantifying the uncertainty in the results of a life cycle inventory analysis or product system value assessment due to the cumulative effects of model inaccuracy, input uncertainty, and data variability.

The following principles are fundamental and guide decisions regarding both planning and conducting an eco-efficiency assessment:

• Life cycle perspective: Eco-efficiency assessment addresses the entire life cycle, from raw material extraction and acquisition, through energy and material production and manufacturing, to use and end-of-life treatment and final disposal. Thanks to such a systematic overview and perspective, a potential impact shift between life cycle stages or individual processes can be identified and assessed in terms of overall eco-efficiency.
• Iterative approach: Eco-efficiency assessment is an iterative technique. Individual stages of an eco-efficiency assessment use the results of other stages. The iterative approach within and between stages contributes to the comprehensiveness and consistency of the eco-efficiency assessment and the reported results.
• Transparency: Due to the inherent complexity in eco-efficiency assessment, transparency is an important guiding principle in conducting eco-efficiency assessment to ensure accurate interpretation of results.
• Comprehensiveness: An eco-efficiency assessment considers all attributes and aspects of environmental and product system value. By considering all attributes and aspects within an eco-efficiency assessment, possible trade-offs can be identified and evaluated.
• Priority of the scientific approach: Decisions within an eco-efficiency assessment shall preferably be based on scientific data, methodology and other evidence. If this is not possible, decisions based on international agreements may be used. If neither a scientific basis nor international agreements can be consulted, decisions may be based on value choices.

An eco-efficiency assessment consists of the following stages:

• Objective and scope definition (including system boundaries, interpretation, and limitations)
• Environmental assessment
• Product system value assessment
• Quantifying eco-efficiency
• Interpretation (including quality assurance)

Among the numerous testing, measurement, analysis and evaluation studies that our organization has carried out for businesses in various sectors, it also provides testing services defined in the standard “EN ISO 14045 Environmental management - Eco-efficiency assessment of product systems - Principles, requirements and guidelines” with its trained and expert staff and advanced technological equipment.