Product Carbon Footprint
Calculation of greenhouse gas emissions from connection and control cables
Sustainability is at the heart of LAPP's corporate strategy. An important part of this is calculating the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF). This summarises all the greenhouse gases emitted by a product in the various phases of its life cycle and provides answers to the increasingly important question in the pursuit of climate neutrality: How high are the greenhouse gas emissions of our products?
To find out, we analysed the Product Carbon Footprint for our ÖLFLEX® cable solution. Our calculations and results were independently verified by DEKRA. This enables us to provide transparent and well-founded information on the greenhouse gas emissions from the manufacture of our products (cradle-to-gate).
Our goal is to calculate the Product Carbon Footprint for other products in our portfolio and, in the next step, to take measures to reduce the climate impact of our products.
The Product Carbon Footprint – or CO₂ footprint – often abbreviated to PCF, records all greenhouse gases in the unit of measurement CO₂ equivalents (CO2e) that a product causes in its life cycle. The ‘e’ stands for ‘equivalents’ and describes that not only carbon dioxide (CO₂) is included in the calculation, but all greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, including, for example, methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases).
The unit of measurement CO₂ equivalent (CO2e) can be used to compare the climate impacts of different greenhouse gases, as they are expressed in relation to the climate impacts of CO₂. The mass of the emitted and extracted greenhouse gases is multiplied by the Global Warming Potential (GWP) 100 specified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. GWP 100 describes the greenhouse potential for a period of 100 years. This is used to illustrate the short-term effects of climate change.
Calculating the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) helps us to quantify the emissions of our connection solutions from the extraction of raw materials to the manufacture of the product and to understand their impact. This enables us to set specific reduction targets. At the same time, specifying a Product Carbon Footprint increases transparency and creates understanding for the impact of a product on climate change. Measures for reducing the CO₂ footprint can be derived and possible optimisation potentials identified.
Analyses of the product carbon footprint can have an impact on the development of products with reduced CO₂ emissions, the improvement of production processes, strategic planning and preparation for future legislation and regulatory requirements.
We calculate all greenhouse gas emissions according to the ‘cradle-to-gate’ principle, i.e. we look at the product life cycle from raw material extraction, production, delivery to our logistics centres, storage and packaging – until the product leaves the logistics centre.
While the mathematical calculation of the carbon footprint is quite simple, the challenges lie in the data. Data on energy consumption, materials, transport and waste generation are collected for each phase in a product's life cycle. The amount of each input or output is multiplied by the respective emission factor. In the third step, the results are interpreted and the areas with the largest share of CO₂ emissions are identified. This can be used to derive measures for reducing the PCF. ISO 14067 provides the normative basis for measuring, reporting and verifying the PCF.
The carbon footprint of products from different manufacturers is not currently comparable. Even choosing a different calculation basis – for example, using a different CO₂ database for standard values – can lead to varying results, even though the same standard was applied. To address this problem, the EU is working on standards and guidelines to enable better comparability and thus transparency for consumers and companies. All LAPP PCF calculations are carried out according to a uniform accounting standard. This ensures comparability between LAPP products, so that optimisation potential can be identified across product groups.
DEKRA is certifying the PCF results of the LAPP products.
To ensure conformity of the accounting in accordance with ISO 14067, a critical review was carried out by DEKRA Assurance Services GmbH (verification). The critical review was carried out in accordance with ISO/TS 14071.