P RODUCT E NVIRONMENTAL F OOTPRINT
MEASURING IMPACT USING THE ONLY EU-BACKED METHOD
WHY WE MEASURE
PRODUCT ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT
(PEF)
METHOD
The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) measures the environmental impact of products and services throughout their life cycle. PEF is the only EU-backed method for measuring a product’s environmental footprint across its entire lifecycle –from raw material extraction to disposal.
PEF ensures reliable and comparable assessments using strict rules and high-quality data, helping companies build trust in their sustainability claims.
PEF supports the EU Green Deal and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) by promoting transparency, accuracy and comparability in sustainability reporting.
Learn more at the European Commission’s official PEF webpage: Environmental Footprint Methods - European Commission ONLY EU-BACKED
By using PEF, companies can meet high standards, comply with regulations, and respond to demands for responsible production.
PEF helps businesses transition to a circular economy and to stay competitive.
HOW WE ENSURE VALIDITY
THIRD PARTY ASSESSMENT
To guarantee the highest accuracy, we collaborate with Danish company MAALBAR, experts in PEF methodology.
MÅLBAR’s tool uses the EU’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology for standardised and comparable climate footprint calculations.
MÅLBAR’s system ensure we can’t pick and choose what to include and every dataset we provide is meticulously assessed for accuracy, relevance, and quality.
PEF supports the EU Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan by promoting transparency and enabling robust environmental impact documentation.
Their solution meets the growing demands regarding sustainability and documentation in European regulations and competitive markets.
Learn more at MÅLBAR’s official webpage www.maalbar.dk
RAW MATERIAL AQUISITION & PRE-PROCESSING
POST CONSUMER RECYCLING
POST CONSUMER RECYCLING OR REUSE
MANUFACTURING
PEF-BASED LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
REUSE REUSE
DISTRIBUTION USE END OF LIFE
PEF –
SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST CO 2 e
Unlike traditional LCA methods, which often focus primarily on carbon footprint, the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) is much more comprehensive.
A product's environmental harm is about more than the CO2e it emits. CO2e emissions do not account for elements like water use, toxicity, resource depletion, habitat destruction, and pollution throughout its lifecycle.
By incorporating 16 distinct impact categories, PEF ensures that all scientifically relevant environmental factors are considered and accounted for.
It also prevents companies from selectively including or excluding impact areas and product data, ensuring a truly transparent and standardized assessment.
However, this also means that PEFbased footprint results cannot be measured solely in CO2e emissions. Instead, a single aggregated score is used to capture the product’s overall environmental performance.
HOW WE MEASURE PEF SINGLE SCORE
IMPACT CATEGORIES
The environmental impact is measured on 16 categories that all describe how humans harm the planet through production and construction.
NORMALIZATION
As the different categories are measured by different units i.e., air pollution is measured in CO2e and water usage is measured in M3, a common reference conversion ratio is needed. This conversion ratio has been defined by the European Commission as a normalization number*
* The common reference unit in PEF LCA is the environmental impacts of an average global person over one year.
The PEF single score is the sum of all the normalised and weighted numbers a product has scored in each of the 16 impact categories.
WEIGHTING
Not all impact categories are considered equally damaging. To get the weighted results, the normalized results are multiplied by their weighting factor, also set by the European Commission. Now, the product’s impact on all 16 environmental categories is comparable and we can calculate the PEF Single Score.
OUR IMPACT UNDERSTANDING THE PEF SINGLE SCORE
The PEF single score is not expressed in kg CO2e because PEF data accounts for multiple environmental impact factors beyond the six CO2e emissions commonly referenced in the GHG protocol. Målbar’s system produces a single climate impact number that incorporates all these factors, applying normalization and weighting. This number can be broken down and interpreted to provide a clearer understanding of the product's overall environmental footprint.
PUTTING THE SCORE INTO PERSPECTIVE
To make the score more relatable, it can be compared to familiar activities or products. For example, a certain PEF value might be equivalent to producing a large café latte or driving a few kilometers in a gasoline car. These comparisons help translate abstract numbers into real-world context.
BREAKING DOWN THE SCORE
Additionally, the score can be visualized using a climate bar, where each phase of the product’s components & lifecycle contributes a specific portion of the total PEF Single score. This break down makes it easier to identify which stages have the greatest impact, paving the way for targeted improvements and more responsible decision making.
* IN THE PEF STANDARD, THE SINGLE SCORE CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING NORMALIZED & WEIGHTED AREAS:
PEF SINGLE SCORE: Climate Change (CO2e), Particulate matter formation (kg of PM2.5), Water usage (m3), Resource use - fossils (MJ), Land use (Pts), Resource use - minerals and metals(kg Sbeq), ozone depletion potential (kg CFC-11eq), acidification (mol H+eq), Ionizing radiation (kgU235eq), Photochemical ozone formation (kg NMVOCeq), Eutrophication - terrestrial, freshwater and marine (mol Neq)/(kg Neq)/(kg Peq), Ecotoxicity (CTUe) & Human toxicity cancer and noncancer (CTUh).
MATERIAL AQUISITION & PRE-PROCESSING
TOTAL CLIMATE IMPACT
DISPOSAL USE PHASE
TRANSPORT
PACKAGING
PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION WASTE
SURFACE TREATMENT
0,00 0,10 0,20 0,30 0,40 0,50 kilometers in average car pcs 300g red steak kilometers flight hours streaming days average power of weekly emissions, sustainable living days average home heating pcs large café latte 2.4 0.05 2.7 1.1 0.12 1% 0.0 6 0.87
MATERIALS
Your decisions have a great influence on your emissions
YOUR IMPACT
HOW TO REDUCE YOUR FOOTPRINT
UNDERSTAND YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN’S IMPACT
Demand PEF data from suppliers. This data allows you to compare products and services which enables you to identify where improvements can be made.
CHOOSE SUPPLIERS WITH SCIENCE-BASED NET-ZERO TARGETS
Choose supplier that works to reduce its environmental impact. If you have chosen dbramante1928, a supplier working with net-zero targets approved by the SBTi (Science-based targets initiative), you can mark this one as checked.
STAY AWAY FROM AIR TRANSPORTATION
The lowest hanging fruit with a humongous impact is to use lower emitting transportation e.g. train or ship. To be able to do so, you must order in good time.
LESS PACKAGING
Choose bulk whenever you can, to reduce packaging.
PRODUCT SELECTION
Ask us if you would like some guidance to choose our products with the lowest environmental impact.ights.
