ABB Power Protection has recently obtained the PEP ecopassport for their MegaFlex DPA UPS.
We were very glad to be involved in this project.
PEP stands for Product Environmental Profile and is registered under the PEP ecopassport® Program, a type III environmental declaration according to the ISO 14025 standard.
This declaration is dedicated to electric, electronic, and HVAC-R products and requires a multicriteria LCA.
This program is characterised by Product Category Rules (PCR) which provide a common guideline to apply for Life Cycle Assessment and is completed by several Product Specific Rules (PSR). For this PEP ecopassport the Specific Rules for Uninterruptible Power Supply have been used.
We are very glad to interview Mr. Benjamin Demma, R&D Project Management Team Leader at ABB Power Protection, who was responsible for the project together with Mrs. Diana Garcia, Global Product Manager Mid-high power UPS.
Could you please tell us about your responsibilities and the role sustainability plays in your work?
In the Quartino (Switzerland) plant I deal with the management of R&D projects for the development of new products, in particular UPS, and I am the local manager for their sustainability.
For ABB sustainability is fundamental, for this reason we have decided to develop the LCA and obtain the PEP ecopassport certification for our products, starting with the most recent ones. This allows us to understand what the environmental impact is for each phase of the product’s life and to implement actions, where possible, to reduce it.
Why have you chosen the PEP ecopassport and what are the advantages it offers?
The PEP ecopassport is an international reference framework that guarantees reliable, transparent, comparable, and verified environmental performance indicators.
As mentioned before, this allows us to improve our products in terms of environmental impact.
Thanks to the PEP ecopassport program and its detailed rules, we can compare our products with those of competitors and all in an absolutely transparent way.
Obtaining an ecolabel can be quite some work, do you have one or two tips about the best way to prepare for the PEP ecopassport?
The development of an LCA is a complex process and requires the collection and processing of a lot of data. For the MegaFlex DPA product, we decided to rely on the skills of 2B who guided us in collecting the various necessary data and supported us in developing the LCA necessary to obtain the PEP ecopassport label.
I would like to thank Sofia Spagnolo and Leo Breedveld for the excellent service and support provided.
My advice is to rely on specialists in the sector for this type of activity. This to receive support for the correct data collection, that is a time-consuming activity, and for the development of the LCA.
Can you share your future projects in the field of sustainability?
Obtaining the PEP ecopassport label for the MegaFlex DPA gave us a picture of the environmental impact of our product, divided by the various life stages. This allows us to understand which parts / processes to focus on to increase the sustainability of our product.
MegaFlex DPA was the first ABB product to obtain the PEP ecopassport label.
Now, starting from the new products, we want to expand the range of products that can boast this label, and increase the overall sustainability of our products.
Thank you Benjamin.