|
Manual on Product-Oriented Environmental Work Annex 3. VocabularyEMAS EMAS stands for Environmental Management and Audit Scheme. Parallel with an ISO 14001 certification, a company can be registered under EMAS after verification by an impartial third party. The scheme is European and more extensive than ISO 14001 with respect to environmental performance and publication of the company's environmental performance. ISO 14001 ISO stands for International Standard Organisation. ISO 14001 is a globally recognised and used standard for an environmental management system that can be certified by an impartial third party. Life cycle assessment Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a method for systematically calculating and assessing the environmental impacts (resource consumption and emissions) during the production, use and disposal of a product or a service. International standards have been developed for life cycle assessments (ISO 14040-43) and a national (Danish) method has been developed: Environmental Design of Industrial Products (EDIP), see Wenzel et al. (1997) and Hauschild & Wenzel (1998). Ecolabels Eco-labels (type I; ISO 14024) are a means of classifying the best third of the products in a given category of products and are awarded to products that fulfil a number of specified criteria. In Denmark, the Nordic eco-label (the Swan) and the European eco-label (the Flower) are used. Environmental performance A company's environmental performance is an expression of the extent and nature of its environmental impacts. Environmental performance is a relative concept with a high degree of subjective perception. Environmental product declaration Environmental product declarations are a means of providing neutral, qualitative and quantitative environmental information about products and services. There are two types of environmental product declarations: type II, which are self-declaration environmental claims (ISO 14021) and type III, which are LCA-based, third party-controlled declarations (ISO TR 14025). Products (Chemical) products are defined as both solutions and solid, liquid or gaseous mixtures of two ore more (chemical) substances. Substances (Chemical) substances are defined as elements and their compounds occurring naturally or produced industrially. Product function A product's function is the user's need that is covered by the product. The product itself can, for example, be 1 litre of paint, while the function is protection of 4 m2 surface for five years, i.e. the function includes some qualitative elements.
|