The Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF) initiative of the European Commission and the Nordic Swan Ecolabel both aim at more sustainable consumption and production. We compared the two schemes in relation to their environmental information concerning the retail sector. The Swan aims to push stores to perform better and to help customers make environmental choices, whereas the OEF aims to create a common Life Cycle Assessment based methodology to assess impacts related to a retailer’s product portfolio. Overall, the OEF is considered a broader approach still under development, while the Swan is well-known in the Nordics. Their scopes, relevant impact categories and life cycle stages differed. However, climate change, resource use and biodiversity impacts were significant in both schemes. Possible synergies concern criteria setting, measurement and communication.

Reliable information is needed to drive the market towards ecologically sound products. Product Environmental Footprint has many properties that are new to the Life Cycle Assessment tradition, increasing the consistency, accuracy and comparability of the results. It is important to start the organization of the PEF scheme, and invest in efforts to rapidly increase the number of product and service groups and actual product-specific PEF reports involved in the PEF scheme. Possibilities for common information basis and coordination between environmental information sources for the various product policy instruments and the PEF should be explored. Cooperation between type 1 eco-labels like the Nordic Swan and the forthcoming PEF scheme(s) is important.

The purpose of this report is to compare the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and the Product Environmental Footprint with a focus on environmental information. The report compares the methods used by the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and the PEF to identify the product-group-specific relevant environmental aspects. The analysis is based on the currently valid Swan Criteria and pilot phase final PEF Category Rules (PEFCRs). The report concludes that there are methodological differences in the way product comparisons are made. The report proposes recommendations for both schemes in terms of co-operation and required further work, related to the differences in methodological approaches, to avoid very different results in what will be considered as an environmentally sound product.

These are the proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Science and Production Management, 16th 17th April 2015, Tatransktrba, High Tatras Mountains - Slovak Republic . The proceedings contain articles focusing on:- Production Management, Logistics- Industrial development, sustainable production- Planning, management and pr

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Life Cycle Assessment