1Copyright (c) (2019) thinkstep – All rights reserved

Hannes Partl

Juliane Franze

Ulbert Hofstra

An De Schryver

thinkstep AG

SGS Germany GmbH maki Consulting GmbH

Production Coordinator, European Commission, DG Env

2 April 2019

How to Take Part in the EF Transition Phase

Webinar

Marc-Andree Wolf

SGS Intron B.V.

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1. Introduction

2. About the Environmental Footprint (EF) Transition

Phase

3. How to Participate in the EF Transition Phase

4. Link Collection

5. Questions

Agenda

3

Introduction

4

The Bigger Picture

» Integrated Product Policy

o LCA is the foundation (→ European Platform on LCA, ILCD Handbook →

Environmental Footprint)

» Circular Economy Strategy

o The European Commission adopted a comprehensive report on the

implementation of the Circular Economy Action Plan (4 March, 2019)

o Assessment to what extent EU policy tools are supporting circular, sustainable

products

» Towards a sustainable Europe by 2030

o “Life-cycle assessments of products should become a norm and the eco-design

framework should be broadened as much as possible” (30 January, 2019)

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Environmental Footprint Initiative: Why?

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Environmental Footprint: How?

» Any product on EU market

» 16 impact categories covered – Climate change,

Water use, Ecotoxicity, Particulate matter…

» 280 organisations involved (industry associations,

large OEM’s )

» ~3.000 stakeholders involved

» Key terms:o PEF - Product EF

o OEF - Organisation EF

o PEFCR – PEF Category Rule

o OEFSR – OEF Sector Rule

o RP – Representative product

o RO – Representative organisation16 impact categories Impacts of the same

category are summed

up along the life cycle

Impacts categories are

combined

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What is a PEFCR / OEFSR?

Product Environmental Footprint Category Rule (PEFCR):

Consistent and specific set of rules to calculate the relevant environmental information of products belonging to the product category in scope.

Organisation Environmental Footprint Sector Rule (OEFSR):

Consistent and specific set of rules to calculate the relevant environmental information of the organisations belonging to the sector in scope.

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Existing PEFCRs and OEFSRs

» OEFSRs:o Copper production

o Retail

» PEFCRs:o Beer

o Dairy

o Decorative paints

o Household liquid laundry detergents

o Hot and cold water supply pipe systems

o Intermediate paper product

o Thermal insulation

o Metal sheets

o Feed for food producing animals

o IT equipment

o Leather

o Packed water

o Pasta

o Pet food

o Photovoltaic electricity production

o Rechargeable batteries

o T-shirt

o Uninterruptible Power Supply

o Wine

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About the EF Transition Phase

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About the EF Transition Phase

» For the period between the end of the Environmental Footprint (EF) pilot phase and the possible adoption of policies, the EF transition phase was established by DG ENV and DG GROW of the European Commission.

» The EF transition phase will run for 3 years until end of 2021.

» The call for volunteers addressing industry to develop new PEFCRs/OEFSRs was launched in March 2019.

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Aims of the EF Transition Phase

» There are 3 main aims of the EF Transition Phase:

1. monitoring the implementation of existing Product Environmental Footprint Category

Rules (PEFCRs) and Organisation Environmental Footprint Sector Rules (OEFSRs)

2. developing new PEFCRs/OEFSRs

3. advancing methodological developments:

o Test the updated PEF and OEF methods

o Working groups on specific methodological issues will be formed

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Governance Bodies

» EF Transition Phase is run by DG ENV and DG GROW; they work closely together with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and other Commission services

» To guarantee smooth governance, two groups will be consulted regularly:o EF sub-group of the IPP (Integrated Product Policy) and Sustainable Consumption

and Production (SCP) expert group:

› Consists of representatives from EU Member States, industry sectors and key NGOs

› Provides advice and expertise to the Commission, e.g. about new PEFCRs/OEFSRs

o Technical Advisory Board (TAB)

› Consist of LCA /EF experts; any LCA/EF expert can register as a member in the TAB

› Provides technical advice and expertise to the Commission on developed PEFCRs/OEFSRs

(e.g. related on content, consistency of approaches, technical advice in case of issues, new

methodological developments, etc.)

» PEFCRs/OEFSRs are developed by Technical Secretariats (TS)o Any organization or group of organisations of all sizes from any sector may set up a

TS, including non-European organisations or governments

o A TS shall represent at least 51% of EU market share (=> turnover in EU)

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Timing of the EF Transition Phase

Application phase

» 7th March 2019: publication of new documents |

call for volunteers

» 7th June 2019, 12h: deadline for applications

» End of July: selected TS will be announced.

Development of new PEFCRs/OEFSRs

» September 2019: TS start work

o First PEF-RP | OEF-RO

o First draft PEFCR | OEFSR

o Supporting studies

o Second PEF-RP | OEF-RO

o Second draft PEFCR | OEFSR

o Final draft PEFCR | OEFSR

» December 2021: end of EF transition phase

15 –

20 m

onth

s

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Support during the EF Transition Phase (I)

» To support organisations taking part in the transition phase and to provide technical assistance for the Commission services, a technical helpdesk was contracted.

o It is run by external service providers: project consortium of thinkstep, maki

Consulting, SGS and Kirana (Chomkhamsri) Wolf

o The helpdesk can be reached by email: EF_Helpdesk@thinkstep.com

o Main tasks are:

› Expert support for working groups and TS

› Webinars and trainings

› Methodological advice and administrative support for the Commission

› FAQ

› Management of the Environmental Footprint wiki

• Open to all registered stakeholders

• Each TS will receive own space to share documents

• Commission will provide general information of interest to all TS in this wiki (presentations, training materials, etc.).

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Support during the EF Transition Phase (II)

» Face-to-face trainings and online webinars on specific methodological topics open for all stakeholders

» 2019 training calendar is already online at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/smgp/ef_trainings.htm

» For 6 – 8 projects, the Commission will also provide:o Comment on draft documents (PEF-RP | OEF-RO reports, draft PEFCRs |

OEFSRs, supporting studies, models developed, etc.)

o Advice on applying the JRC report on the PEF and OEF method

o Acquisition of the user rights for secondary datasets needed to develop the

PEFCRs | OEFSRs and later implement PEF/OEF studies

o Participation in Technical Secretariat meetings and provision of meeting

rooms (limited to the Commission´s meeting rooms in Brussels)

» Note: The EC does not cover any costs for the application and participation in the transition phase (e.g. for consultants, LCA software, travel, etc.)!

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Upcoming Trainings and Webinars

» 26.05.2019: Diving into the details of PEF/OEFo 1-day face-to-face training

o back-to-back with the SETAC Europe Conference in Helsinki

» 04.06.2019: What is an EF-compliant dataset?o 1h online webinar

o 16 – 17h CET

» 01.09.2019: How to develop a PEFCR/OEFSRo 1-day face-to-face training

o Back-to-back with the LCM Conference in Poznan

» October 2019: The CFF in detailo 1h online webinar

» December 2019: How to apply the DNM?o 1h online webinar

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How to Take Part in the EF Transition Phase

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How To Take Part in the EF Transition Phase?

» As member of a new Technical Secretariat (TS)o Development of a new PEFCR or OEFSR

o Integration of a PEFCR or OEFSR developed outside the official pilot

phase („shadow pilots“) in the period 2013 – 2018

o Revision of an existing PEFCR or OEFSR developed during the

official pilot phase

» As member of the Technical Advisory Board (TAB): send a request to https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/1dfff82e-cc6d-773e-4ad1-5c2296017f51

» As Sector Representative to take part in the meetings of the advisory board, subgroup of the IPP/SCP group (call for recruiting already closed)

» As active Stakeholder replying to the consultations that will take place: register at http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm

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Responsibilities of TS (I)

» Developing PEFCR/OEFSR in compliance with the rules included in the EC reports on the PEF and OEF methods. This includes:

» Harmonising with existing PCRs/PEFCRs, sectoral guidance/

OEFSRs

» Organising public consultations on draft versions of the

documents, analyse comments, and provide written feedback

» Coordinating supporting PEF/OEF studies on real products

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Responsibilities of TS (II)

» Managing the Wiki page for the respective PEFCR/OEFSR

» Ensuring the selection and appointment of competent independent PEFCR/OEFSR review panel members

» Appoint a TS leader, who shall coordinate the different tasks of the TS and be the contact person

Note: The acquisition of the user rights for secondary datasets needed by the projects without involvement of the Commission services will take place depending on the availability of budget. In case no resources are available from the Commission services, the TS needs to be ready to acquire the user rights for the secondary datasets based on a process co-ordinated with the Commission services.

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Process of Developing new PEFCRs/OEFSRs

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Shadow PEFCR

» Shadow PEFCRs or OEFSRs have been developed outside the pilot phase.

» Draft (final) PEFCRs and OEFSRs must at least be in compliance with the PEFCR/OEFSR template of the Guidances for the pilot phase.

» Commission services may:

o Accept the PEFCR or OEFSR as it is

o Provide comments and request actions to align with JRC reports

o Ask for additional actions to take (e.g. further review)

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Consultation Process

» Each TS shall organize at least 2 open consultations, which can be held online or through in-person meetings:

o 1st consultation shall focus on the first draft PEFCR | OEFSR and

related documents

o 2nd consultation shall focus on the second draft PEFCR | OEFSR

and related documents

» The duration of each consultation shall be 3-6 weeks (7 over Christmas or Easter)

» The TS shall provide written replies to each comment received. The file will be made available in the wiki.

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Who Can Apply?

» Any organisation or group of organisations of all sizes from any sector, including non-European organisations or governments

» TS shall include companies representing directly (or through their members in case of associations) at least 51% of the EU consumption market for each of the products in scope of the proposed PEFCR

o based on number of market value of the items sold

» TS shall include at least one representative for SMEs and one representative from environmental NGOs

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How To Apply?

» Before preparing the proposal, it is strongly recommended to have a close look into:

o JRC reports on the PEF and OEF method

o Description of the governance structure

o Rules for developing EF compliant datasets

(training webinar on EF compliant datasets on 4th June)

» All details about the call for volunteers are online available at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/smgp/ef_transition.htm

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Which Documents Have to be Submitted? (I)

» The application package must include the following information:

1. Filled in application form, including the list of TS members (template

available)

2. Commitment letter signed by each member of the TS (template

available)

3. Evidence that the TS attempted to involve programme operators of

programmes that have any PCR, sectoral reference document, PEFCR

or OEFSR that pre-exist and are relevant for the considered product

category or sector

4. Confidential report on fulfilling the representativeness criteria

(max. 10 pages based on market data that is more recent than 3 years)

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Which Documents Have to be Submitted? (II)

5. Description of goal and scope of the PEFCR/OEFSR following the

rules in the JRC report on the PEF or OEF method

6. Description of the representative product(s)/representative

organisation(s) according to the rules in the JRC report on the PEF and

OEF method

7. Preliminary list of secondary datasets that the TS will need to develop

the PEFCR/OEFSR, if already available

» Applicants for integrating a „shadow“ PEFCR/OEFSR among the officially listed PEFCRs and OEFSRs shall in addition submit documentation as described in Annex 1 of the call for volunteers

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Which Documents Have to be Submitted? (III)

» To describe the goal and scope, representative products and organisations the TS shall follow the instructions from the JRC reports

» For PEFCRs, the following chapters of the PEF method shall be considered:

o 3.1 Goal definition

o 3.2 Scope definition

› 3.2.1 Functional unit and reference flow

› 3.2.2 System boundary

› 3.2.5 Assumptions/ limitations

o A.2.3 Definition of the representative product(s)

o A.3.1 Product categories and sub-categories

o A.3.2 Scope of the PEFCR

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Which Documents Have to be Submitted? (IV)

» Goal definition shall include:

o Intended application(s)

o Reasons for carrying out the study and decision context

o Target audience

o Commissioner of the study

o Identity of the verifier

» Scope definition shall include:

o Functional unit and reference flow

o System boundary

o EF impact categories

o Additional information to be included

o Assumptions/Limitations

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Which Documents Have to be Submitted? (V)

» For OEFSRs, the following chapters of the OEF method shall be considered:

o 3.1 Goal definition

o 3.2 Scope definition

› 3.2.1 Reporting unit: organisation and product portfolio

› 3.2.2 System boundary

› 3.2.5 Assumptions/ limitations

o A.2.3 Definition of the representative organisation(s)

o A.3.1 Sectors and sub-sectors

o A.3.2 Scope of the OEFSR

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Where To Send the Application?

» Deadline for sending applications: 7th of June 2019, 12h (mid-day)

» Send all requested documents by email to: env-environmental-footprint@ec.europa.eu

» Proposals will be discussed with all EC services, and the IPP/SCP sub-group. EC will make the selection

» Selected projects will be announced by end of July 2019.

» The Commission will publish the following details related to applications on the DG ENV website:

o Product categories and sub-categories (for PEFCRs) or sectors and

sub-sectors (for OEFSRs)

o Organisation name and email address of the TS leader

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Link Collection

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Link Collection

» Further reading about the EF transition phase

» Call for tender and related documents

» Email address for applications: env-environmental-footprint@ec.europa.eu

» Helpdesk

» EF Wiki

» Training calendar

» PEF method

» OEF method

» Description of governance bodies

» Existing PEFCRs/OEFSRs, e-learning tools, and technical reports

» Rules for EF compliant data sets

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Thank you for your attention!