Product environmental declarations are a reliable answer to environmental concerns. However, amongst regulation constraints, standard prescriptions and market expectations, they can be considered as an additional and complex item to implement. How to make sense of things? Encounter with Maud Jacquot, B4Green ConsultingTM founder and director.

1) How do you analyse the market evolutions concerning the product environmental declarations ?

Environmental product declaration (nb. EPD) market is very demanding and more and more mature. Some sectors of activity are driving the industrials to a high level of demand, leading to a globalisation of standards for the declarations. In recent years, there has been two trends shaping the market. On the one hand, there is a general desire to harmonise the EPD specifications with new quality criteria. On the other hand, policy makers have accounted the topic on a national and, more recently, on a European level. One of the consequences is that practitioners can access to a more exhaustive and qualitative information. But this approach could led as well to increasing costs for the industrials.

2) How to easily answer the multiple requests and with a reliable level of quality?

I identify 3 key success factors for the industrials not to undergo the market changes: the desire to create value, change readiness and change management. Value creation parameter allows the organisation to commit to a consistent enterprise project. Aspects of preparation and management of change reach to a good understanding of the context and issues. Thus industrials can position themselves appropriately and facilitate the decision process all along the project life.

3) What are the difficulties that can companies face in implementing environmental declarations?

Difficulties can be methodological, organisational, human, related to the choice of a tool or a specialised sub-contractor… Even though a company widely deployed the approach, it may be affected by the changing environment. It can be the case when the specifications of reference change for example. To avoid obstacles, rather than having to face them the day before, the recurring analysis of context can anticipate change and its consequences, which is much less time-consuming and expensive than the drone.

4) Do the PEP ecopassport® leaflets facilitate the environmental approach of products?

Environmental declarations are often a thread that gives consistency to an environmental approach of the products. It is thanks to this type of tool that a company acquires both a good level of understanding of the environmental 'behaviour' of its products, but also a new look at its supply chain. An environmental statement is also the concrete and quantifiable result of involving approach for all product development teams.

Learn more: www.b4green-consulting.com