First Italian factory to publish an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) dedicated only to hdpe fittings, another achievement to be associated to “Plastitalia S.p.A.”

It is clear to everyone that the human being has, with his social activities, a tremendous impact on the environment of this unique and collective house that we call Earth. To ensure the well-being of all its inhabitants, all available energy resources are exploited, at European level the estimated annual energy consumption of residential and non-residential construction works represents about 40% of the total consumed by the whole of Europe.

This is the reason why there is a growing attention to the environmental characteristics of construction products and which led the European Union to adopt the Directive on the energy performance of buildings. This directive is under review and with regard to the construction of new zero-impact buildings, it sets dates that Member States will have to make sure to respect: 1 January 2027, all buildings occupied by public bodies or owned by the latter; and January 1, 2030, all buildings. In this scenario, architects and designers increasingly specify products with transparent environmental impact reports based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

The environmental declaration of third type EPD (in legal documents it is sometimes also called “Type III” labeling) is a standardized method of communicating the data obtained from the LCA. The declaration is based on three regulatory pillars:

• UNI EN ISO 14040: 2006 Environmental management — Life cycle assessment — Principles and framework
• UNI EN ISO 14044:2006 Environmental management — Life cycle assessment — Requirements and guidelines
• UNI EN 15804:2012+A2:2019 Sustainability of construction works — Environmental product declarations — Core rules for the product category of construction products

An EPD cannot exist if a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the product has not been, previously, carried out.

This assessment shall be made in accordance with the provisions of UNI EN ISO 14040 and UNI EN ISO 14044. Plastitalia S.p.A. carried out this assessment for 4 (5) types of different products:

• Electrofusion fittings

• Spigot fittings

• Transition fittings with brass insert

• Steel transition fittings (bare and coated)

Today Plastitalia S.p.A. is the only company in the European panorama to have an EPD dedicated only to polyethylene fittings and, above all, so complete. We have set the bar very high and this allows us to be leaders in this new sector. The environmental product declaration (EPD) is published on the website of the “program operator” “EPD International” (https://www.environdec.com/home), one of the first.

Download our EPD: https://www.plastitaliaspa.com/company/committment-to-the-environment