On 15 October, FEICA – the Association of the European Adhesive & Sealant Industry – held a seminar explaining the benefits of its EU Model Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). An audience of some 60 professionals from the adhesives and sealants industry, supply chain partners, related industries, EPD programme operators and legislators heard a range of expert speakers describe how FEICA’s EU Model EPDs could help ensure that there is a wider range of products with proven environmental impact data available on the market for customers to choose from while reducing the costs and burden for manufacturers to collect the respective data and create EPDs for single products and applications.
After a welcome from FEICA President Steve Kenny, the seminar covered the following topics:
Why do we need EU Model EPDs? Dr Heinz Werner Lucas, FEICA
Developing FEICA’s EU-Model EPDs, Johannes Kreißig, Vice President Building & Construction, thinkstep
Industry Experience with Model EPDs, Mark Schneider, Head Global Product Sustainability, Sika Services AG
EPDs in the European and International Markets, Dr Eva Schmincke, Convenor of WG1 of ECO Platform
EPDs in the Belgian and European regulatory context, Dieter De Lathauwer, Construction products: environment & indoor air, Belgian Federal Public Service of Public Health.
The proceedings of the seminar are available on the FEICA’s website: http://www.feica.eu/ehs-sustainability/epd/feica-seminar-15-october-2015
At the end of the seminar, Frank Grootens of the IBU (Institut Bauen und Umwelt; Germany’s Institute for Construction and the Environment), which is the EPD programme operator that verified the FEICA EU Model EPDs, officially handed over the first set of FEICA EU Models EPDs for the building and construction industry, covering reactive resins based on polyurethane. The following technologies (epoxies, dispersions, sealants etc.) will follow in the coming weeks. The EPDs are now available on the IBU website and the FEICA website.
