Procedure

Technical Report

Overview

Every product has an impact on the environment during all stages of its life-cycle, for instance extraction and acquisition of raw materials, production, distribution, use (application), reuse, end-of-time treatment, including final disposal. The impacts range from slight to significant; they can be short-term or long-term; and they occur at global, regional or local level. Provisions in product standards have an influence on environmental impacts of products. The potential adverse environmental impacts of products can therefore be reduced by taking into account environmental issues in product standards. This guide provides guidance on these issues. In the first place it addresses the standard writers, who - with the help of this guide - are encouraged to identify and understand basic environmental aspects and impacts related to the product under consideration, and to determine if it is possible to deal with an environmental issue through a product standard. The purpose of this guide is - to outline the relationship between the provisions in product standards and the environmental aspects and impacts of the product; - to assist in drafting or revising provisions in product standards in order to reduce potential adverse environmental impacts at different stages of the entire product life-cycle; - to emphasize that taking into account environmental issues in product standards is a complex process and requires balancing competing priorities; - to recommend the use of life-cycle thinking when defining environmental provisions for a product for which a standard is being drafted; and - to promote the future development of relevant sector guides for addressing environmental issues in product standards by standards writers, consistent with the principles and approaches of this guide. In addition to an overview of basic principles and approaches which shall be taken into account when addressing environmental issues in product standards, and an explanation regarding environmental aspects, the guide provides, amongst other things, the following support: - recommendations regarding the identification of product environmental aspects using a systematic approach with the environmental checklist; - a guide for integration of environmental aspects in product standards. A table gives examples of basic ideas for each stage of the product-life cycle that should be reflected in environmental provisions. This includes possible limitations and examples of possible choices to be made, based on life-cycle thinking; - specific examples of how environmental issues have already been taken into account in existing standards on the national, European and international levels. Whenever a new product standard is prepared, or an existing standard is revised or shall be revised, the project managers and committee coordinators or secretaries and the chairmen of their standardization committees are requested to actively promote the application of this guide. Furthermore, the experts are requested at each stage of development of a standard to include environmental impacts in their comments. In order to cover the diversity of products and their specific environmental impacts, as well as the need for relevant environmental knowledge, it is useful for the standard writers to work together with environmental experts. The guide is the German version of ISO Guide 64, which has been prepared by ISO/TC 207 "Environmental management". It has been adopted without any amendments and is also identical to CEN Guide 4. The responsible German Committee is Working Group KU-AK 1 "Berücksichtigung von Umweltaspekten in Produktnormen" ("Inclusion of environmental aspects in product standards") of the DIN Environmental Protection Helpdesk (EPH). Should you require help regarding the contents or the implementation of this guide, please contact the Environmental Protection Helpdesk (EPH) (Koordinierungsstelle Umweltschutz (KU)) of DIN (ku@din.de). Please find the contact persons at EPH and further information on the EPH website (www.ku.din.de).

Document: references other documents

Document: referenced in other documents

Responsible national committee

KU-Fachbeirat 1 - Advisory Body of the Environmental Protection Helpdesk  

Responsible international committee

ISO/TC 207 - Environmental management