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Construction materials · EPD

Cement

We developed an Environmental Product Declaration for a cement manufacturer, covering raw material extraction and production (A1–A3), transport of the cement to the building site (A4), and the disposal of packaging at the installation site (A5). End-of-life is not declared at the cement stage. Cement is not a finished product. It binds with aggregates and water to form concrete, so end-of-life impacts are attached to the concrete rather than the cement, in line with the relevant PCR.

  • ISO 14025
  • EN 15804+A2
  • ISO 21930

Scope: Cradle-to-gate with options · Functional unit: 1 tonne of cement

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Lifecycle scope

Modules declared

Cradle-to-gate EPD with options. Module A4 covers transport of the cement to the building site. Module A5 covers the disposal of the product's packaging (paper sacks) at the installation site. End-of-life modules (C1–C4) and benefits beyond the system boundary (D) are not declared, because cement is not a finished product in itself. Once installed it binds with aggregates and water to form concrete, and the end-of-life impacts attach to the resulting concrete rather than to the cement. This treatment is in line with the relevant PCR for cement.

Product (A1–A3)

  • A1
  • A2
  • A3

Construction (A4–A5)

  • A4
  • A5

Use (B1–B7)

  • B1
  • B2
  • B3
  • B4
  • B5
  • B6
  • B7

End of life (C1–C4)

  • C1
  • C2
  • C3
  • C4

Beyond (D)

  • D
Covered Not declared
The life cycle

How the assessment flows

Trace the life cycle to follow each declared stage in turn, or focus any stage to see the modules and components it covers. Greyed stages are not declared in this study.

  • A1
  • A2
  • A3

Raw materials & manufacturing

  • A4

Transport to site

  • A5

Construction process

Illustrative figures, not yet confirmed against the published study

The challenge

The manufacturer needed a verifiable, comparable declaration for specifiers and tenders, and one that handled the cement-specific scope question correctly, rather than over-claiming an end-of-life that does not belong to cement.

Our approach

We modelled clinker, supplementary cementitious materials, set regulators and fillers, the process energy of production, transport to site (A4) and the disposal of packaging at the installation site (A5), building the declaration to the relevant PCR and taking it through independent verification.

The outcome

A published, defensible EPD with a scope that stands up to scrutiny, including a clear, pre-emptive explanation of why end-of-life is declared at the concrete stage rather than the cement stage.

Standards & methodology

How it was done

  • ISO 14025
  • EN 15804+A2
  • ISO 21930
  • ServiceEPD
  • ScopeCradle-to-gate with options
  • Functional unit1 tonne of cement
  • Software & dataSimaPro with the Ecoinvent database
  • PCRPCR 2019:14
  • Programme operatorEPD International
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