New Product Category Rules (PCR) to guide the way toward lowering the environmental impact of bottled water
The European Federation of Bottled Waters (EFBW) has announced the adoption of a new instrument for the assessment of the environmental impact of bottled water throughout its life cycle. EFBW’s Product Category Rules – or PCR – have been specifically designed to allow bottled water operators to accurately measure their environmental footprint, hereby enabling them to optimise their processes so as to reduce the environmental impact wherever possible.
- EFBW’s Product Category Rules can also be used to submit a Type III Environmental Product Declaration for waters not sweetened nor flavoured, which are specifically designed to improve operators’ ability to carry out authoritative and verifiable performance assessments, and enable clear and transparent communication about the environmental footprint.
It is intended that this tool will ultimately lead to an increase in producers’ efficiency and environmental accountability.
- The PCR tool will enable bottled water producers to measure the environmental impact of bottling, supplying and enjoying 1 litre of mineral water.
- It will provide an assessment based on information input including electricity use, storage and cooling/refrigeration.
This PCR has been designed to be entirely complementary to the ENVIFOOD Protocol recently announced by the Food Sustainable Consumption and Production Round Table, the European Commission’s draft Product Environmental Footprint (PEF), and existing ISO Standards.
Source: EFBP