Ecodesign Directive for Sustainable Products (ESPR): 2023 Overview
What is the Ecodesign Directive? The EU’s Ecodesign Directive (2009) prescribes energy-related Ecodesign criteria for certain products and communicates this through energy labels. So far, it saved consumers 120 Billion euros of energy expenditure (!!), and lowered energy consumption of the regulated products by 10% in 2021. The Ecodesign Directive is based on the sustainable […]
Cradle-to-Gate in LCA: What Is It and How Does It Work?
Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) following “Cradle-to-Gate” – measure a product’s environmental footprint up to the point where it leaves the factory gate. This means the environmental footprint results don’t include the footprint of product use by customers and its end-of-life processes (waste/recycling/upcycling). Cradle-to-gate simplifies and speeds up the LCA process. This is handy in certain […]
How to Use LCA for Credible Environmental Claims
Customers increasingly want sustainable products. Companies are therefore eager to “put on a green shirt” and market vague sustainability claims- but only some of them are actually changing their behavior. The only way for customers to check which companies are better for the environment is by looking behind the green facade: i.e. asking for environmental […]
EU’s Right to Repair: Updates for Product Design
The Right to Repair is a policy movement aiming for longer-lasting products. Right to Repair Legislation can force producers to enable product repairs in various ways. And empower consumers by offering repair information and DIY options. The lifetime of our electronic appliances is generally lower than what they’re originally designed for. This disappoints consumers as […]
Real vs. Fake Christmas Tree: Which is More Sustainable?
Ecochain’s two Christmas enthusiasts Zazala Quist and Host Hanni Larma answer the pressing question: Which tree is more sustainable? A real or a fake Christmas Tree? In this episode: What’s the difference between a good fake Christmas tree you use for years vs cutting down a real tree every year? Real vs. Fake Christmas […]
Sustainability tips from the world’s first circular denim brand: MUD Jeans.
To find out, we spoke to the man himself – Bert van Son the Founder and CEO of MUD Jeans. MUD Jeans being a client of Ecochain, we are very familiar with the measurement side of their sustainability, but we wanted to dig deeper. What do they do with this data and how do […]
LCA Webinar – LCA for Beginners
How to start measuring the environmental footprint of a product Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is thé scientific method for measuring the environmental footprint of your products. But LCA is often still perceived as ‘too complex’, or ‘academic’. Let’s make LCA accessible to businesses. In this webinar our Environmental Specialist Artjom Janssen shares everything you need to know […]
Energy Crisis: How to lower your company’s energy bill & environmental impact
With his head in the numbers, Sensorfact’s Founder and CEO Pieter Broekema was the perfect person for us to speak to about how to become energy efficient in your production processes. And deal with the ongoing energy crisis. In the episode: How is the energy crises shifting discourse in companies; How does lowering your […]
CO2 footprint vs. Environmental Footprint of Products: The Main Differences
A product CO2 footprint (or product carbon footprint) tells you how much global warming your product causes throughout its life cycle. But dig deeper – and you find many more environmental crises worth caring about. That’s why next to product CO2 footprints, there are also product environmental footprints. Environmental footprints cover 15+ different impact outcomes […]
Key Learnings From 3 Sustainable Apparel Frontrunners
Sometimes, learning about sustainable apparel is like going to school again. And like in school, there are those straight-A students that blurt out the answers while you still try to understand the question. What answers do MUD jeans, Patagonia, and MATE the label frontrunners have regarding sustainable apparel? Fancy a peek at their homework? In this […]