Understanding the environmental impact of your products is vital, particularly as consumers and businesses alike are placing greater emphasis on sustainability. Two key tools for assessing the impact of your product are the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and a Carbon Footprint of a Product (CFP). While they both provide useful insights, they differ in scope, detail, and intended use. Which one should you choose when thinking about measuring the environmental impact your product? We will break them down for you in this article.
What is an EPD?
An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a detailed, standardised document that provides verified information about a product’s environmental performance throughout its life cycle. It uses a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, analysing impacts across all stages—from raw material extraction to manufacturing, distribution, use, and disposal.
Key Features of an EPD:
Broader scope: Includes multiple environmental impact categories such as energy use, water use, resource depletion, and carbon emissions.
Standardised and comparable: EPDs follow international standards like ISO 14025, 14040/14044 and EN 15804, ensuring consistency and allowing comparisons between similar products.
Verification: Requires third-party certification to guarantee credibility and accuracy.
Confidentiality: because EPD’s are verified by qualified assessors, sensitive information can be kept confidential between the company and verifier, while users of the data can remain confident in the results.
Timeframe: Developing an EPD can take several months due to the data collection, analysis, and verification involved.
Who should consider an EPD? EPDs are most beneficial for businesses in B2B industries, such as construction or manufacturing, where clients often require detailed environmental data for compliance, certifications, or green building schemes like LEED or Green Star.
What is a CFP?
A Carbon Footprint of a Product (CFP) measures the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with a product over its lifecycle. While it’s also based on Life Cycle Assessment principles, a CFP focuses exclusively on carbon emissions, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e).
Key Features of a CFP:
Specific focus: Concentrates solely on climate-related impacts, offering a simpler alternative to an EPD.
Flexible methodology: While it follows standards like ISO 14067 or PAS 2050, CFPs can be completed with less data, allowing for faster assessments.
Versatility: Useful for both B2B and B2C contexts, particularly when communicating carbon reduction efforts to climate-conscious clients or consumers.
Timeframe: Generally quicker to complete, taking weeks to a few months depending on data availability.
Who should consider a CFP? CFPs are ideal for businesses looking to quantify and address carbon emissions without committing to the extensive requirements of an EPD. They’re especially effective for identifying emission hotspots and reducing emissions. They’re good for communicating sustainability efforts to consumers or meeting basic climate-related procurement needs, and good for quantifying emissions so customers or your company can offset them to product a carbon zero product.
Key Differences at a Glance
Feature | EPD | CFP |
Scope | Broad environmental impacts | Carbon emissions only |
Standards | ISO 14025, ISO 14040/44 | ISO 14067, PAS 2050 |
Potential standards | EN 15804, ISO 21930:2017 | GHG protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard |
Verification | Mandatory third-party verification | Optional, but recommended |
Audience | Primarily B2B (e.g., construction, manufacturing) | B2B and B2C (climate-focused businesses) |
Time Investment | Higher (months) | Lower (weeks to months) |
In general, it takes about 3 months for a company to complete this journey. The times can vary greatly based on the size of the organisation, the amount of data collected and any challenges that might arise in the process. The time investment from the organisation could be around 40 hours but may be more or less depending on your organisations complexity.
How to Choose Between an EPD and a CFP
Understand your audience: Are you addressing businesses that require detailed lifecycle data, or consumers seeking simple carbon metrics?
Define your goals: Is your focus on compliance, certifications, or brand reputation?
Evaluate resources: Assess the time, cost, and expertise available for the chosen assessment.
Both EPDs and CFPs are valuable tools for understanding and communicating the environmental impact of your products. The choice between them depends on your specific objectives, stakeholder expectations, and available resources. Whether you’re aiming to meet industry standards or appeal to eco-conscious customers, either approach demonstrates a commitment to transparency and sustainability.
If you would like to learn more about the difference between the two and which approach will be better for your specific business, reach out to our sustainability specialists.
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