06 Jul EPD update for the FITT Bluforce system, the first certified PVC-A system in Europe
FITT operates in the thermoplastic sector, but strongly believes that this is compatible with being a responsible company, who cares about the future of its stakeholders and the Planet.
To know and measure the impact that FITT has on the environment, the Vicenza-based company uses the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): a scientific tool based on the collection and analysis of data, which in the case of the FITT Bluforce system is verified and certified by a third party through an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), an important certification of truthfulness and transparency.
Last year, FITT Bluforce and FITT Bluforce RJ PVC-A pipes were the first in Europe to obtain the EPD environmental product declaration, issued by SGS according to the ISO 14025 and UNI EN 15804 standards.
FITT’s pipelines fall under the PCR (Product Category Rules) of construction materials according to the UNI EN 15804 European standard “Sustainability of construction works – Environmental product declarations – Core rules for the product category of construction products”, which was updated in 2019.
The new UNI EN 15804:2012 + A2:2019 standard has introduced new rules for completing the LCA study, in order to move closer to the European Product Environmental Footprint method:
- the obligation to declare the end-of-life impacts of the product and potential environmental benefits associated with the recycling of materials;
- the analysed impact categories change and increase;
- special attention is paid to biogenic carbon fluxes. Moreover, the impact associated with greenhouse gas emissions is now broken down into 4 subcategories.
In addition to the stages already analysed in the previous LCA – ranging from raw materials to production – for FITT Bluforce and FITT Bluforce RJ the modules relating to the transport of the products to the installation site (module A4) and their installation (module A5), have also been added. In spite of being optional, the two modules have still been considered by FITT to ensure objective measurement of all the potential environmental impacts associated with each stage of the life cycle.
For FITT, being a responsible company means, in fact, knowing and minimizing the negative impacts of the entire product life cycle – from cradle to grave -, implementing a supply chain approach capable of actively involving all the various subjects on the basis of interdependence.
On the other hand, the new modules dealing with the removal of the product from the site of installation and the end of life are mandatory, and were completed by the company through the implementation of a complex data system capable of describing all the relevant stages.
Updating the EPD makes communication between FITT and its stakeholders – authorities, integrated water services utilities, construction companies -, even more complete, efficient and transparent, and plays a key role in public sector purchasing procedures. Since FITT Bluforce and FITT Bluforce RJ come with an EPD environmental product declaration, they comply with the requirements for Green Public Procurement and with the Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM), making them suitable for actively participating in the awarding of contracts.
Together with innovation and interdependence, for FITT the third fundamental pillar of the corporate responsibility strategy is transparency: knowing and measuring impact, and communicating it to all stakeholders. The EPD is the tool that helps FITT to guarantee transparent, scientific and measurable data. An environmental identity card for FITT Bluforce and FITT Bluforce RJ that objectively measures the performance of the Vicenza-based company in favour of the environment.