Zero Waste Europe commissioned us to carry out a study considering the use of embodied energy (the consideration of the energy in materials and products) as a measure for product performance.
The results of the report were used by Zero Waste Europe to develop a public-facing document setting out the organisation’s views on the use of embodied energy in waste and product policy, which included our six proposals for an embodied energy indicator.
The aim of the study was to consider how embodied energy savings could be used alongside existing targets for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), as well as identifying ways in which embodied energy measurements could be used to assess product performance within the EU policy framework.
In the course of the study, our policy team considered the potential for:
- An embodied energy indicator for MSW;
- An embodied energy indicator applied to industrial waste streams; and
- A product-based embodied energy indicator.
Our team investigated the impact an embodied energy indicator for MSW would have by exploring different ways of calculating an embodied energy target. We also considered different scenarios based on variations in recycling rate and approaches to residual waste treatment. Our analysis then considered ways in which the indicator might account for reuse and prevention, as well as the recycled content of materials, and the scope for a combined climate change and embodied energy indicator.
Our analysis found that for products there was scope to link the collection of the embodied energy data to the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) process.
Further work considered the interface between the potential embodied energy indicators and waste and product policy – the latter including consideration of the Eco Design Directive and the Energy Labelling Directive. We also explored the potential for incorporating embodied energy impacts within the Computer Aided Design process used when designing products.
We produced a technical report setting out our findings on the viability of developing and using embodied energy indicators, which laid the foundation for Zero Waste Europe’s public-facing document.
Project Manager Ann Ballinger said:
“Our analysis suggests there is potential for using an embodied energy indicator as a proxy for the wider environmental impacts, and that this could be incorporated into both waste and product policy. The project is an example of one where Eunomia’s detailed knowledge of the policy landscape and quantitative data has been used to explore innovative ways of quantifying environmental impacts, with the aim of helping businesses and policymakers to better understand the impacts of their future decisions.”
Picture: DG Environment