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Two acronyms appear repeatedly in product environmental reporting: PEF and EPD. They are often mentioned together, but they serve different purposes and are not directly interchangeable. Understanding the distinction helps you interpret environmental claims accurately — and explains why Målbar’s calculations are built on PEF methodology.

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PEF — Product Environmental Footprint

The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) is a methodology developed by the European Commission to standardise how the environmental impact of products is calculated and communicated. Key characteristics of PEF:
  • One harmonised set of rules applied consistently across countries and sectors
  • Covers 16 impact categories, from climate change and water use to particulate matter and land use
  • Results can be expressed as a PEF single score — a single number representing overall environmental performance, obtained by normalising and weighting all 16 categories
  • Designed to enable direct comparisons between products, reducing the risk of misleading green claims
Målbar’s calculations use PEF methodology. This means your results are calculated according to the same rules as any other PEF-compliant assessment, making them directly comparable.

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EPD — Environmental Product Declaration

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a third-party verified document that communicates the environmental performance of a product. EPDs are widely used in construction, manufacturing, and procurement. Key characteristics of EPDs:
  • Independently verified by a third party
  • Based on a Product Category Rule (PCR) specific to the product type
  • Managed by different programme operators (e.g., EPD International, Institut Bauen und Umwelt, Norwegian EPD Foundation) — each with their own rules
Because different programme operators apply different rules, EPDs are not always directly comparable across manufacturers or regions, even for similar products.

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PEF vs EPD at a glance

PEFEPD
RulesOne harmonised EU methodologyVaries by programme operator
ComparabilityHigh — consistent across sectorsLimited — depends on the PCR and operator
VerificationMethodology is standardisedThird-party verified
Impact categories16Varies
Single scoreYes (PEF single score)Not typically
In short: PEF = standardised and comparable. EPD = verified and widely used, but less consistent.

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Why Målbar uses PEF

Målbar uses PEF methodology because it provides the most rigorous and consistent basis for product comparisons. When you calculate a product footprint in Målbar, you can be confident that the result follows the same rules as any other PEF-compliant calculation — making your data reliable for internal decision-making and external reporting alike.

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Download the illustration

PEF & EPD illustration (PDF)

Download the Målbar Academy visual explainer comparing PEF and EPD.