ISO 14045:2012, Environmental management – Eco-efficiency assessment of product systems – Principles, requirements and guidelines
The ISO International Standard for applying eco-efficiency assessment to product systems, was published in 2012 and has a huge potential given ongoing economic and environmental challenges for businesses.
ISO 14045:2012, Environmental management – Eco-efficiency assessment of product systems – Principles, requirements and guidelines describes the principles, requirements and guidelines for eco-efficiency assessment for product systems.
- Eco-efficiency is an aspect of sustainability relating the environmental performance of a product life cycle to its value (refer to Life Cycle Assessment standards ISO 14040, ISO 14044).
- Eco-efficiency assessment is a necessary management tool to decrease the overall environmental impact and is increasingly becoming a key requirement for success in business
- The value may be expressed in monetary terms or other value aspects. The result: doing more with less.
In practice, eco-efficiency is achieved through the pursuit of three core objectives:
- Increasing product or service value
- Optimizing the use of resources
- Reducing environmental impact
The key objectives of ISO 14045 are to:
- Establish clear terminology and a common methodological framework for eco-efficiency assessment
- Enable the practical use of eco-efficiency assessment for a wide range of product (including service) systems
- Provide clear guidance on the interpretation of eco-efficiency assessment results
- Encourage the transparent, accurate and informative reporting of eco-efficiency assessment results