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EU Circular Economy & Product Design Domain

EU Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) Standardization

ENFORCEMENT TIMELINE

Non-binding Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 of December 15, 2021 (recommended use of the Environmental Footprint methods)

Enforcement: Non-binding Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 of December 15, 2021 (recommended use of the Environmental Footprint methods)
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Overview

The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) is a method developed by the European Commission to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products. Its counterpart for organisations is the Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF); together they are called the Environmental Footprint methods. Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) standardize the calculation at the level of each product category. Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 of 15 December 2021 recommends that Member States and private and public organisations use these methods when they measure or communicate life cycle environmental performance. It is a recommendation and does not create binding obligations, although EU legislation or policy may refer to it as a calculation method.

Enforcement Timeline

2013: Commission Recommendation 2013/179/EU recommends the use of common methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations.

2013 to 2018: The European Commission runs the PEF pilot phase; 19 PEFCRs and 2 OEFSRs are finalised.

December 15, 2021: Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 is adopted (published in the Official Journal on December 30, 2021), replacing the 2013 Recommendation and recommending the use of the PEF and OEF methods and the related PEFCRs/OEFSRs.

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Business Impact

Companies that decide to measure or communicate the life cycle environmental performance of their products or organisation are recommended to use the PEF method and the relevant PEFCRs (Recommendation, point 4.1). Where PEF studies are disclosed to third parties, the Recommendation calls for them to be verified according to the requirements of the PEF method and any specific indications in the PEFCRs (point 7.1). Where EU mandatory legislation prescribes its own calculation methodology, that methodology applies instead (point 1.3).

Official Sources & Reference Links